Rewards and Awards: Recognizing Chapter Excellence!

	Texas Chapter Reception at COMPOST2022 in Austin

The 15 chapters of the US Composting Council (find them here) are critical to the success of composting across the United States. Their leaders and members are the face of composting for legislators and regulators. They hold events for education, networking, and compost facility tours so that the public and new compost advocates, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs can learn the regional landscape.
 
However, as volunteers (only a few chapters have paid staff) it is challenging to keep up with the work that is always waiting to be done. There are best practices to expand volunteer capacity (strategic planning, recruiting at events, succession planning). USCC has been providing training on these strategies, and many chapters are building momentum.

To recognize and reward these efforts, the Chapter Advisory Committee has launched the Chapter Rewards Program and is putting final touches on chapter awards to be given at COMPOST2024 in Daytona Beach, FL in February.

The Rewards Program provides a $10,000 enhancement to the annual Chapter Support Funding awarded to state affiliate chapters by USCC. The funding will be divided among the chapters who do the following:

1. Provide complete submittal of their required Chapter Checkoff forms which are due each Dec. 31.
2. Earn verifiable points on the optional Rewards form.

There are three tiers of points that reward affiliate chapters for activities such as representing the state at events, advocacy work like statehouse days, meeting with legislators/regulators, supporting USCC by promoting national programs within their state, and attending chapter leader meetings and chapter training at the conferences.

There will be two new Chapter awards as follows:

• A Chapter of Excellence award, with the winning chapter recognized at the USCC awards ceremony at COMPOST2024, and
• A Rookie Chapter award, for affiliate chapters who have formed in the past three years, which will be decided by fellow chapters at the Chapter Training Track at COMPOST2024 and awarded at the Chapter Networking Soiree.

The Chapter of Excellence Award will be included in the awards process that begins in September.

The CAC is made up of CAC chair and USCC board member/Iowa Composting Council Director Jennifer Trent; Vice Chair Kate Sullivan of North Carolina Composting Council; and members Ryan Duckett of Virginia Composting Council, Jairo Gonzalez of New Jersey Composting Council; and Wayne Koeckeritz of Tennessee Composting Council.