The American Foundry Society (AFS)

We have a 20-member Board of Directors and each Board member serves a four-year term. Our elected officers are Mike Lenahan (KB Foundry Services); Adam San Solo (U.S. Foundry); Brad Muller (Charlotte Pipe & Foundry); and Peter Reich (LaempeReich). Reporting to the Board of Directors are the Technical Council, the Management Council, and the Research Board. The organization’s CEO reports to the Board; the balance of the staff reports, in turn, to the CEO. Our key documents are our By-Laws; the Board of Awards Manual which outlines the process for selecting the international awards that we present every year; a Committee Manual; and the Code of Conduct, with which all members and staff must comply. An effective association starts with sound governance. Beginning with our 2015-2016 AFS President Bruce Dienst (Simpson Technologies), and the presidents that followed, AFS has gone to great lengths to modernize its governance and develop an effective, multi-year strategic plan. BVM: What trends are you seeing in AFS membership? Doug: The first thing we would emphasize is that the AFS membership is comprised of an amazing group of people. They are committed to the quality of castings, to innovation, to meeting customer needs, to the future sustainability of the industry, to the health and safety of their workforces, as well as to one another through the sharing of best practices. You don’t see that in every industry. Corporate membership has grown from 794 five years ago to 938 today. We attribute that growth to three factors. The first is the quantifiable value that AFS provides, in terms of business leads generation, statistical reports and forecasts, new programs, as well as other benefits exclusively to corporate members. The second factor is the superior member service