Howdy ISA Houston Section members,
We made it! Welcome to a new term and hopefully the end of a global pandemic. As we gear up to tackle the 2021-2022 term, I wanted to take the time to say thank you. I am honored to serve as your new president and want to share a little about myself so that we can become better acquainted. I graduated from Texas A&M University with a Chemical Engineering degree in 2012 and immediately began to work offshore as a Field Engineer doing cement jobs and some fracing jobs. Later, I left the field for the office as Production Maintenance Engineer to maintain and increase levels of production in my designated oilfield area. In 2018, I became a part of the automation community when I took a job as an Account Manager where I help several corporations around the Houston area solve their automation challenges. I got married in September 2017, two weeks after Hurricane Harvey. My wife and I recently had a baby girl on New Year’s Eve 2020. I love my family more than words can say! My hobbies are volunteering at my church, cooking, long distance running, and shooting firearms when I have the time. The ISA Houston Section has been an amazing community, and it has enhanced my career through educational, networking, and leadership opportunities. The Houston Section has much to offer its members. It’s my hope that members will gain more knowledge about and take advantage of the Section’s benefits as I have.
As the President, I hope to lead humbly, to challenge the organization to grow its local impact in its education program, membership experience, and community, and to push the members to grow personally and professionally. We have all been through a lot over the past year and a half. Now that the pandemic is in its last days, the infection rates are significantly down, the country is opening back up, and employers are having their employees return to their offices, I plan to join in the effort to get back to normal and have the Houston Section return to having in-person events. However, I want to have options for everyone to feel safe and be able to participate at their own comfort level. The efforts of the previous leadership will not be in vain as we will continue to move forward virtually, and attempt to enhance the digital experience for you. This hybrid model of hosting our events live with a virtual option, will be the engine of our programs this year. For those of you who are eager to meet face-to-face, we are open. And for those of you not quite ready, we have an option for you too.
My goals and initiatives for the Houston Section for the 2021-2022 term will align with the values, vision, and mission of ISA corporate. Please see below for a list of initiatives:
- As stated above, the Houston Section will continue to host events virtually and in person. This hybrid model will hopefully offer something for everyone.
- ISA Connect will become the primary means of communication to local membership. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit ISA Connect, please take this opportunity to visit the new platform by following this link: https://connect.isa.org/home.
- Provide increased access to long-term and short-term volunteer opportunities to local membership. Please be on the look out for these opportunities on ISA Connect.
- Expand the education program as in-person classes return to Houston. While the Section has done an outstanding job offering training for Cyber-Security, Safety, and basic Control Concepts for young professionals, the Section can offer more hands-on training for Technicians in our community.
- Leverage technology to expand the Houston Section’s reach and membership.
- Increase the scholarship fund.
- Restore networking events.
Please feel free to reach out to me anytime at president@houstonisa.org. I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, criticisms, ideas, etc. These are all vital to helping the board make wise decisions on your behalf. I hope that we can make the Houston Section feel like your section and that you would want to invest the time and the energy into making it great this year and the years to come.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
Best regards,
Jeremy Staggers
ISA Houston Section President, 2021-2022