AEM strategic priorities and growth, advocacy and exhibitions were the topics most discussed at the recent AEM Board of Directors meeting, held Aug. 5 in Boston, Massachusetts. The meeting was led by 2022 AEM Board Chair and Senior Vice President of AGCO Corporation Robert Crain, along with AEM President Megan Tanel.
The meeting started by welcoming Pat Weiler, president and CEO of Weiler, to the AEM Board. He joins the AEM Board after serving on the CE Sector Board and fills the open position that was previously held by AEM 2021 Board Chair Steve Berglund. Berglund was thanked for his many years serving on the Board and his numerous engagements with AEM. While he continues his succession plan within Trimble, he has chosen to step down from the AEM Board. Jeff Reed, president and CEO of Reed International/VSS Macropaver, was thanked for stepping back into the Chair role of the Nominating Committee for the remainder of the year.
“We’ve had a very productive two days of Board and committee meetings,” said Crain. “It is very obvious to me that we have got a very passionate, energetic group of members and AEM staff that are doing everything possible to continue to make our association one of the best associations in the world.”
Crain highlighted several items from the consent agenda, detailing the good work being done by AEM committees, taskforces and staff, including the progress of current AEM Strategic Plan, the expanded Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard, success of the Future of Food Production and Future of Building whitepapers, and the soon-to-be-announced Sustainability Toolkit.
Association Strategy and Growth
The conversation turned to a review and update on the progress of the AEM Strategic Plan and steps for creating the next strategic plan to begin 2024. Tanel led the discussion on the focus of the current Strategic Plan (2020-2023), providing highlights on the four main strategic priorities:
- Build positive public perception of our industry
- Accelerate industry growth
- Support and empower member company decision making
- Facilitate members’ customer-facing efforts
She also shared the staff leadership team’s suggested 2023 priorities and opened the conversation up to the Board for further input and idea sharing.
Membership Committee Update
Stephen Bullock with Power Curbers and Chair of the Membership Committee shared an overview of the significant member services and benefits that AEM added to the membership since 2021. He and AEM Vice President of Membership Paul Flemming provided the Board with an overview of current membership dues and shared how AEM has increased the services it offers to the membership, while not increasing dues and keeping current with the CPI and other inflationary adjustments. After a good discussion, the Board acted on the Membership Committee’s recommendation to address dues.
Financial Report
AEM Treasurer and CEO of Linamar Linda Hasenfratz and AEM Chief Financial Officer Kathy Barke provided a review of the year-to-date financial highlights. This included an overview of the budgeting opportunities and risks and long-term financial outlook for the association.
Advocacy
The Board heard an update from AEM’s Government & Public Affairs Committee (GPAC) Chair and Global President of CASE IH Scott Harris and AEM Senior Vice President Kip Eideberg about the extensive advocacy work that is being done on behalf of the association and creating results in support of our membership, on both a state and federal level. This included a review of the GPAC recommendations and actions, policy priorities, update on the I Make America education initiative, and next steps for awarding the Champion of the Industry Awards for 2022.
Exhibitions
AEM Senior Vice President of Exhibitions and Marketing Nicole Hallada presented a review of opportunities to grow our trade show business and provide greater value to exhibitors. This included a discussion of pricing models and digital advancements.
In addition, AEM Vice President of Exhibitions and Events Dana Wuesthoff provided an update on CONEXPO-CON/AGG space sales, sponsorships, and attendee registrations. With only seven months to go until the show opens in Las Vegas, the show is on track to sell out in the coming weeks and be the largest show on record.
In other action, the AEM Board:
- Heard a recap of the CE Sector Board meeting from CE Sector Board Chair and Volvo Senior Vice President Stephen Roy. His update included a review of CE Sector priorities, the Future of Building whitepaper, and the important changes and advancements of AEM’s Safety & Product Leadership team to support the CE Sector and membership at large. Roy also highlighted the important presentation to the CE Sector Board by David Nicoll, Industrial Power Systems product manager at Caterpillar, and Chair of AEM’s Engine Emissions Strategy Task Force (EESTF), who provided an update from the task force, which continues to take a strategic look at engine emissions related to off-highway equipment.
- Heard a recap of the Ag Sector Board meeting from Ag Sector Board Chair and Kubota Tractor Corporation Senior Vice President Todd Stucke. This update included an overview of sector priorities, the Future of Food Production whitepaper and how to leverage that good content, and important advancements and improvements from the Safety & Product Leadership efforts to support the Ag Sector. He also updated the AEM Board about the engine emissions report that was provided by David Nicoll of Caterpillar to the Ag Sector Board and the next steps the Engine Emissions Strategy Task Force is taking to inform the membership and industry about policy updates.
- Received an update of the AEMPAC and new developments to encourage funding from AEM Senior Director Kate Fox Wood.
- Received an overview from AEM Senior Vice President Al Cervero about the upcoming 2022 AEM Annual Conference scheduled for Nov.16-18 in Napa, Calif., including the theme "Braving the Elements," list of keynote speakers, registration numbers, and other agenda highlights.
- Heard a presentation from Hargrove & Associates (HAI) CEO Brian Seebacher about the state of the business of HAI and opportunities for growth.
The next meetings of and AEM, Ag and CE Sector Boards are scheduled for Nov. 17-18 as part of the Annual Conference to be held at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif. For more information about the AEM Board of Directors, contact Megan Tanel at mtanel@aem.org.
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