We had a fantastic, well-attended Fall kickoff event, “Staff Retention in Construction,” with Charlie Kimmel at the Seattle Yacht on September 10th. Charlie engaged the audience who participated in several exercises that emphasized how companies can retain key employees and what the top candidates are looking for within an organization. He provided specific examples from construction professionals of some of the top reasons why employees leave a company and how a company can retain employees. Charlie's presentation provided innovative and low-cost solutions using concrete & proven tools to improve retention in their organizations. After the presentation, attendees enjoyed drinks and tasty appetizers on the outside patio on this sunny Fall afternoon.

 

Thank you to our September Sponsor

And a Big Thank you to our Annual Sponsor

Thank you also to those who participated in the Puget Sound CFMA Survey. We appreciate the feedback that was given and are excited to apply it towards a fantastic 2018/2019 education season. The $50 Amazon gift certificate winner is Robert Hayes. Congratulations Robert!   

Educational Events for the Year
Our Educational Schedule for the 2018/2019 year includes outstanding topics and networking opportunities. We hope that you will be able to join us for these informative events.

September 11, 2018 – “Break the Time Management Encryption" presented by Helene Segura
October 16, 2108 – WSCPA/CFMA Joint Conference
November 13, 2018 – GAAP/Tax Update
January 8, 2019 – Recent Advancements in Public Project Delivery
February 25, 2019 – Current Events in Labor Relations
March 19, 2019 – Herb Brownett
April 9, 2019 – Anirban Basu
May 7, 2019 – C-Suite Panel
June 20, 2019 – Puget Sound CFMA Annual Golf Tournament

We look forward to seeing you in the near future. If you would like to take a more active role in CFMA and our Puget Sound Chapter, please email us at PugetSound@cfma.org.
 
Thank you so much for your membership in CFMA. 2018/2019 promises to be an outstanding year and I look forward to sharing it with you.
 
Jim Weber                                                                              
Puget Sound CFMA Vice President                                                  
Education Committee Chair                                      

The Construction Industry Suicide Prevention Summit was a resounding success with over 160 registered for the event and a packed house of attentive and interested attendees. With our Puget Sound CFMA Chapter and AGC of WA partnering on this event, we were able to reach the trades. Cal Beyer was moderator for the Summit; much thanks for his continued impact on this life saving topic, Hope and Recovery mission and educating our industry about saving lives. KING5 TV came out and did a terrific story that was shown on Monday, October 30th. The link for the KING5 story is here. Speaker presentations, Suicide Prevention resources and directory files will be available on our website on the top bar of this page in our Resources/Library files under Construction Industry Suicide Prevention Summit.

The Architecture/Engineering/Construction industries have the highest rate of suicides among all industries (6 times the rate of the US population as a whole) according to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2016.

Progressive contractors with leading safety, mental health and wellness programs are embracing mental health and suicide prevention as the next frontier in construction safety. This half day seminar discussed ways to learn more about this life-saving initiative. Topics included discovering why suicide prevention is the next frontier in construction safety; learning how to integrate mental health, suicide prevention and addiction recovery into safety, health, wellness, employee benefits and labor relations in your company; and meeting community organizations that can help your construction company address suicide prevention and addiction recovery.

Summit speakers included Asif Choudhury, CFMA’s National Secretary; Dr. John Wiesman, Washington State Secretary of Health; Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, Clinical Psychologist, mental health advocate and international speaker; Dr. Jenn Stuber, Co-Founder of Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention; Dr. Ursula Whiteside, Executive Director of Now Matters Now; a leader in the national Zero Suicide movement; and Brett Enos, Equipment Operator, Local #302.

This free event was sponsored by Puget Sound CFMA and AGC of Washington with sponsoring partners Moss Adams LLC and Local IOUE #302.

As part of our Puget Sound CFMA Vision and Mission, we want to continue impacting the Construction Industry and our Community in positive ways. This Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Resource Directory is a living document for your organizations to use as part of your HR and Safety programs. Another great tool are these Toolbox Talks that you can put your company logo on. We are honored to be a part of this process and will continue to maintain and update all of our Construction Industry Suicide Prevention documents.

Puget Sound & South Sound CFMA Chapters came together on February 15, 2017 at the SeaTac Double Tree Hotel to attend a Joint Educational Meeting and Afternoon Social for the annual Economic event featuring CFMA’s National Partner, Anirban Basu, presenting “The Economist Who Loved Me.”

We were joined by over 50 attendees from both CFMA Western Washington Chapters, Puget Sound and South Sound. The introductions were kicked off by Cheryl Nagel, CFO of Sequoyah Electric and 2^nd year President of the Puget Sound CFMA Chapter. After welcoming all the Chapter Members and thanking them for their attendance, she welcomed Anirban Basu to Seattle and introduced Wayne Newitts, Marketing Director of Dexter+Chaney for sponsoring this Economic Educational and Social event. Wayne then took the stage and spoke at length about Anirban’s resume of accomplishments.

Anirban proceeded to educate and entertain the attendees with an hour of information focused around the Economy, specifically Washington State. He shared slides regarding Construction Growth State-by-State with Washington State among the Top Three in the United States. Anirban then focused on our State’s Employment Growth (97.4K Jobs or +3% in WA State), especially as it relates to the Construction industry (13,500 jobs), noting we are ranked #3 in the US at 13.5%. He humorously touched on the fact that Seattle/Tacoma is noted for our horrendous traffic and housing prices and that this increase in population will not help reduce those economic challenges. The conclusion of Anirban’s presentation demonstrated that Washington State’s Economy is strong while our Global economy remains weak. He strongly suggested that 2017 will be solid but beyond 2018, there may be some issues on the horizon.

We finished up the presentation with a social hour which allowed us to meet members from each chapter by sharing common ground successes and concerns. There was much to eat and drink, with many thanks to our Sponsor, Dexter+Chaney.

This Joint Meeting between Puget Sound and South Sound was a tremendous success and we look forward to sharing more educational opportunities with our Chapter Members in the future.

To view Anirban's slides, click here.

On September 22, 2015, over 80 attendees gathered at the Seattle Yacht Club to celebrate the Puget Sound Construction Financial Management Association’s (CFMA) 30th Anniversary. Cheryl Nagel, CFO of Sequoyah Electric and President of the Puget Sound CFMA, gave an inspirational speech about what motivated her to get involved with CFMA. Her message focused on four words; networking, relationships, personal growth and giving back. She reflected on her past and present mentors and thanked Dave Nichols, Executive Chairman of Sequoyah Electric, for being her current mentor of 15 years.  Her message encouraged attendees to find what motivates them to take risks, step out of comfort zones and act on opportunities; resulting in growth both professionally and personally. 

 

Cheryl's message was followed by Mark Matteson, a local nationally recognized speaker and author who then complemented the event with messages of goal setting and building lasting relationships that contribute to lifelong success. Also present was Cathy Wasner, CFMA National Director of National Services who shared more about what is happening in the US and Canada and the recent increase in chapters and growth in the membership. 

 

Special recognition to Lloyd Weibe, Koll Housemen, and Hank Waggoner original Founding Members of the Puget Sound Chapter.  Also mentioned was Rick Bellin and Herman Koempel for 27 years and Steve Palmer for 25 years of membership!  Thank you all who joined us for this celebration!

 

Pictures of the event can be viewed here under our Events page