Celebrating Success

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

-  Walt Disney

You may have never heard the above Disney quote until now. And while we as an association never recited it out loud, it kind of summarizes the past few months. As you may know, this past quarter has been somewhat pivotal for us. As we were preparing for Expo, it was more important than ever that it go well. Our relationship with our affiliates is extremely important, and we wanted to deliver on an Expo that was enjoyed by all, provided adequate attendee exposure for our affiliates, and helped us accomplish the core tenets of our Mission Statement.

“Through environmental stewardship and legislative advocacy, we protect people, property, and our food supply.”

I’m happy to say that we were able to accomplish all of the above. Huge thanks to everyone that attended, and made the Expo such a success. If you didn’t make this one, you can start planning now for the September BOD (Sept. 28th- 30th in Temecula, CA) and even start making plans to attend next year’s Expo in Tahoe, June 19th-21st, 2024. We really do need your support to be as effective as possible.

Here is a list of some of the other items we’ve been working on and finding success with:

PCOC Office is open and looks great! If you were unable to make the open house, and have not yet been able to check out the new office, I’d suggest trying to make it by when you have a chance. It really does look amazing and professional. So, next time you are in Sacramento, be sure to stop by. Our staff is now back to working in the office, so the doors should be open Monday-Friday, 8-5. Please call ahead so we can get you any needed codes to enter the main building. Michael, Sarah, and Donna would love to see you.

Great new hire- Donna Brown has joined us at our PCOC office. She started July 5th, and has been helping out with research, outreach, and helping make our association stronger. We look forward to watching her continue to succeed as we move forward.

Money is invested- We have an Investment Committee that has been charged with finding the best investment vehicle for $650,000. In the meantime, this money is now in a money market account, earning approximately 5% annual interest. We have moved a total of $882,494.73 into this interest bearing account and have already earned almost $5k of interest.

Who doesn’t like a party? The Big Valley District recently met at the PCOC office for a Calling Party. Thanks Vince Scoville, Jim Steed, and Sean Bradley for the great idea. We had around a dozen or so people show up and we called non-members for about 1 ½- 2 hours. Some of our amazing affiliates brought some doughnuts and breakfast, and it was a great time had by all. We signed up 7 new (or returning) members, and we have several more that are potentially interested. If you’ve never done this with your district, I highly recommend it. Jim Steed put together some great talking points (Thanks Jim!) for all of us to use and Sean Bradley put together a Google Doc for all of us to track our progress. It was definitely a great investment of time. You can do this as an ‘extra’ meeting, or even have it be one of your regular District Meetings, whichever you prefer.

Will you let your voice be heard? You may have seen the Voter Voice requests recently. If not, you can go here: We Need Your Help NOW to Protect Public Health in California! (votervoice.net). You may remember AB 1788. We have a new CA bill (AB1322) that would expand its impact. It is essentially a ban on all SGAR’s and Diphacinone, even if a DPR reevaluation finds no adverse impact on ecosystems and non-target wildlife. Please take a few minutes today to let your voice be heard. This is being heard 8-21-23, so please respond today.

Moving Forward- We still have lots to do. We want to get staff more involved with reaching out to potential new members. We will continue to look for ways to fulfill our Mission Statement and provide value to our members. We are constantly looking at ways to improve our association. Please let us know if you have any great suggestions. We also have an upcoming Strategic Planning meeting in November that we are looking forward to.

Sharing of Ideas- What are some of the things you and your District have been doing that are working well? Feel free to email them to me at tmickel@clarkpest.com and I’ll be glad to include them in the next Leadership Lens. One of our greatest strengths is the sharing of ideas, and I’d love to see us use that more often.

One of the greatest opportunities any leader has is to add value to the lives of others. Whether that is in your business, in your family, in your church, or right here in PCOC, we can find some of the best fulfillment of our lives when we are purposeful and intentional about finding ways to help others. As we invest in others and seek to positively change lives, the life that is typically changed the most is our own.

We have an amazing association, and it will only get stronger as we continue to do the right things right.

Here are 7 action items you can do to help:

1. Participate in the Voter Voice.
2. Come to every BOD and get involved. (https://pcoc.org/events)
3. Attend your District meetings and get involved. (https://pcoc.org/district-information).
4. Invite and encourage other members to come to District Meetings and the BOD’s.
5. Share your ideas.
6. Reach out to non-members and enthusiastically share the benefits of PCOC with them and encourage them to join. Remember, a sale happens when there is a transfer of enthusiasm. That can only happen if you are first enthused. (https://pcoc.org/join)
7. Look in your local District and see if there is someone you can add value to. Maybe someone that is currently in a Leadership role, or maybe someone that would like to be. What can you do to support them?

Working together, we can all help lead our association to an even better place.

If you have Leadership ideas you’d like to share, or a topic you’d like to see explored in a future PCOC Leadership Lens, I’d love to hear from you. 

 

All the best!
Travis Mickel
Regional Manager
Clark Pest Control
Treasurer-PCOC
831-262-8025
tmickel@clarkpest.com