I serve on both the board of directors and the executive committee of the national organization and they each met last week. ABC also hosted its annual Bizcon meeting last week. Bizcon is a conference to brings in several authors, speakers and other experts that help a business person like myself understand upcoming trends within the contraction industry and also provides education on best practices within the industry. It is an excellent conference and well worth my time.
I had the chance to have long personal conversations with people such as Karl Rove and Patrick Lencioni. Both of whom are famous and well respected within their fields of expertise. I also got to meet and talk with high level construction industry people like Carl Crowe, Wal*Mart VP of Construction, and Greg Stein, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) VP of Construction, just to name a few.
I mention all of this not to give you some huge name drop but rather as an introduction to the topic of why does Dave Chapin spend so much time at ABC meetings. It takes a lot of time away for both my home and Willmar Electric. That means a sacrifice for both the people I live with and the people I work with.
(I understand that some of you that know me well are questioning whether or not having me be gone is a sacrifice for the people in my life. I have been told that having a break from me can be more of a reward for others then a sacrifice but for the purposes of this blog we are going to assume that my family misses me when I am gone and that my co-worker are forced to do more work because I am not at the office.)
At least that is how I would like to think that it is.
The more time I spend with ABC the more people come to think that like my father before me I might become ABC's national Chairman. That would make Dad and I the first father/son combination to serve is such a role for the association.
I would guess that during my week in Florida last week I was introduced to a stranger with the opening line that went something like "if Dave becomes the National Chair the Chapins will be the first father/son combination to serve as Chairs." It is a nice sentiment and compliment. I know my Dad joins me in thinking it is an honor. As of today I told the others on the executive committee I would like to serve as the 2016 Chair.
Many people suggest that I am a second generation ABCer. That simply isn't the case.
Justin and I (plus the entire organization) are third generation ABCers. Our Dad's uncle Frank was the Treasurer for the Minnesota Chapter of ABC in it's very first years. Willmar Electric was a founding member of the chapter. Willmar Electric's first ABC leader was in fact uncle Frank!
And if you truly know Frank it should come as no surprise. ABC's core philosophy is the Merit Shop and the Merit Shop philosophy does a perfect job of describing Frank and explaining why I spend so much time with ABC.
The official definition ABC give for the phrase Merit Shop is:
Merit Shop is a way of doing business in which contractors reward
employees based on performance and encourage them to reach their
highest level of achievement, and in which contractors are awarded
business based on quality, safety, and cost effectiveness regardless
of labor affiliation.
It explain why Willmar Electric joined ABC and why Frank was willing to serve as it Treasurer in its early days.
It is what I spend my time working and fighting for when I am away from home at ABC meetings. It is what Willmar Electric has been based on for 93 years.
The Merit Shop. It is still one of our core values today.
Willmar Electric's core values are;
- Treating others the way you want to be treated
- Merit Shop
- Thrifty
- Meet Customer Needs.
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