The Chairman's Corner

by Patrick Longo

June 2015

The theme for our 97th Annual CMSA Convention was “Charting a Course to Excellence” and it couldn’t have been more fitting. All week we were surrounded by excellence in our industry from up and down the state as well as representatives from around the country gathering at the beautiful Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego. From Board meetings to general sessions to our off-site visit to the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar to, of course, our awards luncheon and Chairman’s Ball, the CMSA staff went above and beyond all expectations, making this week truly memorable for all members and their families. Thank you Steve, Renee, Brianna and Gale; we really appreciate everything you do.

I was extremely honored and excited to be installed as your 2015–2016 Chairman of the Board in front of my family, friends and colleagues. I am a firm believer in the CMSA and what it stands for, and I will do everything I can to serve our membership to the best of my abilities and strive to make a difference. We have an extremely talented and dedicated Board of Directors of whom I am looking forward to working with. I look forward to traveling up and down this incredible state of ours visiting your fine agencies, speaking at all 12 chapters as well as attending as many of our CMSA fundraisers as I possibly can fit in.

Speaking of our fundraisers beginning this year, the organization will start a new donation tradition I have requested and was approved by the Board; it is called the Chairman’s Charity of Choice. Every year, each Chairman will get to choose a special charity he or she would like CMSA to make a one-time donation to in addition to what is already raised for scholarships and the Special Olympics. For my 2015–2016 year, my request is that CMSA donates to the Alzheimer’s Foundation in honor of my father, Patrick Joseph Longo. 

The CMSA is as strong as it’s ever been thanks to the leadership of our esteemed CMSA President Steve Weitekamp and to the outstanding contributions made by our 2014–2015 Chairman Jay Casey. What I hope to accomplish is simple: Keep things moving in the right direction while adding an outside perspective. I was not brought up in the moving and storage business, so I have had to learn as I went along. Sometimes that can be a good thing and also not such a good thing, but ultimately we are all striving for the same results — how we can service our customers at the highest level possible. We need to keep looking toward the future through technology and recruiting young minds to blend together with older-generation work ethic; together, that could form a pretty good formula for success. Go out and self-police your territory if there are unlicensed movers doing business. Report them to the CMSA office or directly to the CPUC. If you have a topic you feel is important to discuss at a local chapter meeting, contact your chapter president and get it on the agenda at your next chapter meeting. Recruit new members to get out to a meeting or fundraiser. This is our association, THE BEST MOVERS ASSOCIATION around. Be proud of what this association has accomplished, and believe me when I say that so much more is yet to come.

June 2015 - CMSA Communicator