SWANA Executive Director Lays Out Vision for Association
Biderman Makes Safety and Member Engagement Top Priorities
Silver Spring, MD – On Tuesday afternoon, May 19, 2015, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) held a free webinar for its members and other industry professionals to formally introduce new Executive Director and CEO, David Biderman.
During the “Meet the CEO” webinar, Biderman laid out his vision for SWANA as he takes on implementing the goals of SWANA’s new strategic plan.
“Guided by SWANA’s new strategic plan, my vision involves a growing, younger, and more dynamic association, with engaged members, that exceeds its members’ expectations for service,” said Biderman. He added, “This vision includes making sure SWANA is recognized as the critical informational resource for industry professionals, the media, elected officials, regulators and the general public.”
Among his top priorities, Biderman also spoke of his passion for improving worker safety. While at the National Waste and Recycling Association (NW&RA), Biderman established a strong safety program and obtained nearly $500,000 in grant funding to support those efforts. He plans to draw on that experience to develop a safety program at SWANA that is consistent with the association’s strategic plan.
“I intend to help SWANA become the leading safety resource in the United States and Canada for waste and recycling professionals,” stated Biderman. “There are a wide variety of funding opportunities for organizations seeking to improve the environment, public health and worker safety, and I intend to aggressively pursue them as SWANA’s executive director.
The long term goal for SWANA is simple: To ensure that SWANA continues to be the leading North American professional association in the municipal solid waste sector. Biderman believes member engagement is key in obtaining this goal.
“Member engagement is critical to our success as an association. Engaged members usually comprise the leadership of an association, and are much more likely to renew their membership,” said Biderman. “By continuing to provide members with meaningful and useful member services and benefits, we can not only maintain the members we currently have, but continue to increase our membership.”
As Biderman closed out his speaking portion of the webinar, he said, “The waste stream is changing, and as the largest and oldest organization in North America representing solid waste professionals, we need to change with it.”
To listen to a recording of the webinar, please click here.
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