Welcome to the Southeast Wisconsin Chapter of IFMA.  It is with great honor that I serve as President of the Southeast Chapter of the International Facility Management Association for this current term.  We are a diverse group of talented facility management professionals whose mission is to provide resources and be advocates for the management of facilities.  Stepping into the new role, I am often asked “where is the Chapter going?”  My immediate response is “well, where are you going?”  By this I mean, when is the last time you invested in your own professional development?  In today’s changing business climate, it is important to differentiate yourself from your peers and seek out opportunities such as the certification and education that IFMA can provide.  The CFM classes will be available in Madison in September 2011 and the four FMP modules will be available beginning January 2011 here in the Greater Milwaukee area.

We will also be delving into what I like to call SEW IFMA 2.0.  In other words, we are going digital.  By this I mean, we will be expanding the tools and resources provided to our members through our local chapter website.  We will be placing at least one online seminar available for download from the website this year.  I want to extend the Chapter’s gratitude to Elizabeth Vorass and Allan Degner for stepping into the Chair and Vice Chair leadership positions respectively. 

Another priority we have identified for the upcoming year is membership growth, retention and increased participation among facility managers.  We will be reaching out to inactive members and asking them to come back to some of our great educational offerings.  We will be also implementing the IFMA Road Show in which we will be sending out a team of IFMA leaders to talk about the benefits of our membership to existing and potential companies with higher concentrations of facility management professionals.

A lot of planning has been put forth to reach the point where we can achieve incredible growth for our organization.  This would not be possible without the foresight and planning put in motion years ago by former Presidents such as Scott Gierhahn, Doug Verbockel and others.  I also want to thank the immediate past President Bryan Olen who spearheaded the development of the strategic plan that we have been implementing during this term.  Please show your support to your Chapter leaders, including Sue Bunker, Tom Halat and Elizabeth Vorass who serve on the Chapter’s Board of Directors.  In addition, thank you to Wisconsin Association Management who make the day-to-day operations of our organization a seamless experience for our members.  Please come to our next event and experience all that SEW IFMA has to offer.  We all look forward to seeing YOU soon.

Brian S. Parrish, MBA
Chapter President
2011 - 2012