LET'S TALK
Dr. Craig McKinley
ACA Board President
During most of our careers, either someone said to us or we said to one of our employees, "We need to talk." Many times the conversation addressed an idea for management or product improvement or it focused on a specific issue that needed to be solved. At other times, the discussion was what we might call a "do better" talk. In this case, a supervisor suggests to the employee the need to improve some aspect of job performance. Although not exactly the most exciting moments in a worker's life, a "do better" talk is often necessary simply to restate organizational ground rules, to remind the employee what is expected, and to indicate where improvement is required.
As the primary organization in the private sector, the Aromatic Cedar Association serves as the focal point for a great number of activities. These activities include educational and promotional efforts directed toward harvesting, transporting, processing, and marketing of redcedar products. As we look over the last few years, it is apparent that the Aromatic Cedar Association has been successful in many of its efforts. Conversely, the success has not been as great as we would have liked. Officers, Board Members, and many of the general membership of the Association have spent countless hours promoting the redcedar resource and its potential in the state of Oklahoma. It is now time for some of us newer officers and members to become actively involved in the promotion of redcedar to a greater extent. Without the dedicated, active participation at all levels within the Association, the educational and developmental efforts will never meet the goals that have been set forth. In 2008, a planning session was held in Stillwater. The outcome of that session was a vision for the redcedar industry in the state of Oklahoma. Interestingly enough, that vision looked forward to the year 2013, and where we would like to be at that particular time. Well, 2013 has arrived. We have met some of the goals but we haven't met all of them. Briefly stated, we're going to have to work harder and smarter if we're going to meet the objectives set out several years ago.
Part of that 2008 vision statement stated that by 2013 "Manufacturing cedar products has become one of the top 10 industries in Oklahoma." As we look around today we can see a number of existing industries or operations potentially coming to the state that would utilize the redcedar. We currently have a very successful mulch operations and there are several entities looking at pellet production, methanol/ethanol production, charcoal facilities, etc. However, redcedar is far from being a top 10 industry.
Given our stated goals and the resource at hand, we all know the potential for economic growth and benefit is right here, right now. We also know that if the redcedar resource is going to be utilized to its fullest extent, a great deal of effort and dedication to that goal is required. In short, we all need to "do better".
