President’s Letter: September, 2015

Last week felt like fall; this week's supposed to feel like summer. Depending upon what side of town you're from, either your baseball team is making you happy or making you sad. Either way, football starts for real this month and basketball and hockey camps open as we turn our eyes to the 2015-2016 season for our local teams. Last month was busy, the next several months will be busy, so let's cover what is happening and important.

Golf Outing: A success because of all of you.

You can read the whole summary of the golf outing in this post, but know that everyone who came out that day had an awesome time. The weather was great, the golfers had fun, we took a ton of pictures and while the final numbers aren't in yet, we raised a ton of money for our annual scholarships. Speaking of the IACAC Scholarship...

Scholarship applications due at the end of September.

You'll see plenty of reminder emails and posts through our various social media channels, but we've got several thousand dollars in scholarships to give away to students who meet our criteria and submit an application, their transcript and answer our three essay questions. Visit the page we've set up for more information and to download an application.

We're 60 this year. Party with us on the 24th.

Hard to believe but the IACAC has been around since 1955. This year, our 60th, we are going to celebrate with a great event at Belvedere Events & Banquets. For only $35 per person, come join us for our seventies-themed party on Thursday, September 24th. Appetizers will be served and it is a cash bar and we're featuring a DJ who will be cranking out music from 6 - 10 PM. For more information or to download a flier or register for the event, check the page.

We're looking for a few good...board members.

Are you interested in serving on the board of directors of the IACAC? We'd love to have you join us. Members in good standing of the association for the past six months are eligible to run for a seat on the board of directors. Elections are held at our November luncheon. If you are interested in learning more about the Association and the commitments you can expect as a board member, contact me at jim@basicent.com for more information.

Brandon is coming (again)! Seriously; we love Brandon.

Brandon Fried is the Executive Director of the Airforwarders Association, the national trade association for air freight forwarders. He spent many years as one of us, owning his own Adcom Worldwide franchise in Washington, DC, before selling his business. We've had Brandon join us the past several Octobers for "The View from Washington."

It is important to remember that while your membership in IACAC gets you really great local representation for issues that impact us in Chicago, Brandon's group really is focused on things happening at a national and policy level. Don't like the changes to the IACSSP? Got an issue with how lithium battery transport has been handled? Worried about advanced data filing of your inbound and outbound shipments? That is the voice that Brandon and the AfA offer. And it's so easy to join and just $199 for your first year's membership. It is a small investment to protect your business from regulatory changes that could cost you thousands of dollars. Check them out.