The Chairman's Corner

By Vince Cardinale

November 2024

Well, October has been an interesting month to say the least. The economy continued to be spotty at best. The Presidential election is over and I for one will be happy not to receive 8 or more Campaign Texts and/or emails daily.

Being the optimist that I am, I choose to view our current not so great business times not as a problem, but as an opportunity - a challenge to think outside of the box and be creative. Although it may not seem like it is possible, we can thrive in the economic situations we’re dealing with today. It all depends on where we choose to put our focus and what actions we decide to take

I am continually asked by friends, business associates, and colleagues how our business is doing. People seem to be interested in how other businesses are doing during these up and down times. What I tell them is that we seem to be doing OK, and I believe this is true because we have diverse business lines. If you are waiting for the office phone to ring and for orders to be taken instead of being sold, then you are probably not very busy.

The time has ended when all we had to do was be able to coordinate manpower and equipment to service all the moves that were being offered. Having diverse business lines means just that - be diverse, try new things.

I believe we must go out into the marketplace to find & create new business opportunities; they will not just find us. Take advantage of your CMSA membership. Reach out to fellow members. Seek out other best practices from fellow CMSA members and ask suggestions of what they are doing for means of diversification. You will be surprised to find how many members are willing to help and share best practices information.

One of the things I truly enjoy as CMSA Chairman is visiting the various chapters. During the month of October, CMSA President Steve Weitekamp and I visited the Northen Region & North Bay Chapters I enjoyed seeing many long-time friends; some I hadn’t seem in many years and also meeting new ones.

Thank you to North Bay Chapter President J.R..Maricich for your hospitality and for your commitment to our Association. And thank you to Northen Region Chapter Co-Presidents Olga Garcia & Griselda Gonzalez for introducing the fun game of Loteria to me and many other of the attendees. It was sure fun and something different other than the typical raffle prize drawing.

Visiting fellow members warehouse is also one of my favorite parts of being Chairman. A special thank you to Cal Farnsworth and Ken Robertson for the personal tour of their warehouse facility. And for Cal’s personal tour of his hometown of San Rafael. It was awesome seeing and hearing about Cal’s upbringing in this beautiful coastal town.

Thank you to John Chipman Jr. for your tour of the new and very impressive Chipman Corporation headquarters in San Ramon. And to James Thomas of NOR-CAL Moving Services for the awesome tour of their 330,000 sq ft warehouse facility in Hayward and for taking the time to introduce us to and meet with NOR-CAL Moving Services CEO Anthony Vukovic. Anthony was gracious to offer us time in his busy schedule as I don’t think we were on his calendar

October was a busy month for me and President Steve in addition to the 3 chapter visits, we also had our Fall Board meeting at the site of the 2026 CMSA Convention. The beautiful Rancho Las Palmas Hotel in Rancho Mirage CA.

We discussed many important topics affecting our Industry. Including a report from Shane Medlin of Champion Risk Insurance updating us on what to expect in the upcoming new year regarding pricing for Workers Comp Insurance and Health Insurance. We also heard updates regarding the Global Household Good Contract, BHGS update from our Government Affairs committee and many other important topics.

In closing I look forward to seeing many of you as President Weitekamp and I visit some of Sothern California chapters during the month of November. And as we a nearing the Holiday Season I want to personally wish all of you and your families a very Happy and blessed Thanksgiving Holiday.

November 2024 - CMSA Communicator