CEO Column

Transitions

By: David Biderman, SWANA Executive Director and CEO

I’ve been thinking a lot about transitions lately, as we transition into the post-pandemic world. It feels really good to hug people again and travel, and I’m ridiculously excited about getting on an airplane this week for the first time since March 2020.

The transitions I’m mostly thinking about are professional. Throughout North America, people in a wide variety of industries are retiring, getting promoted, or changing career paths. For a variety of reasons, there is a lot of “churn” taking place in the job market. The solid waste and recycling industry is no exception. We’ve got long-time industry fixtures retiring, DPW Directors getting promoted to Deputy City Managers (congratulations Ginger Spencer!) and even a Sanitation Commissioner running for Mayor in the biggest city in the United States (looking at you, Kathryn Garcia).

These transitions create opportunities for the rest of you. The hard job of running a solid waste department doesn’t go away because the director retires. The same is true for departures from positions lower down on the org chart. The work still needs to be done. Someone needs to take their place. Where will that individual get the continuing education, information, and network of peers that helps make them successful? SWANA (obviously). Our chapters, national conferences, research, expanded and revitalized training programs, webinars, and other events and initiatives establish the foundation that provide all solid waste professionals in the United States and Canada with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive and progress in their careers.

Similar transitions are occurring at SWANA. Six members of the Board of Directors rotate off at the end of the month, creating an opportunity for six new Directors to step into those leadership roles that help guide the Association. I’m pleased that our new Directors have already been serving their SWANA communities as leaders in chapters and on the YP steering committee. On the Advisory Board and at the chapter level, even more people are stepping up into leadership positions. I encourage anyone interested in playing a more active role in SWANA to volunteer to serve on a committee, in a chapter officer position, Technical Division, or Young Professional leadership role, or find another way to contribute to your association’s well-being. We need you.

We also need you to participate in SWANA events. We have two fantastic virtual Summits taking place on June 15 ( Sustainable Materials Management) and June 17 ( Landfill Challenges). SWANA has put together an all-star lineup of great speakers and sessions on the technical topics that matter to those working in sustainability or at landfills. If you have not registered yet, please do so. Hopefully, these events will be our final major virtual events before we transition (!) back to in-person conferences, starting with WASTECON^® in Orlando on November 1-4.

Transitions. If 2020 was largely about the pandemic, 2021 appears to be about transitions, both personal and professional. Make the most of the opportunities that are being presented as these transitions occur. And don’t forget to hug the people you care about.