The Investment Casting Institute

largest trade show dedicated to the investment casting industry. And that is done in conjunction with a three-day, technical symposium where we have engineers from all over the world who come to learn about advances in various aspects of the technology. So, we do a lot of educating.” BVM: Can you talk about ICI’s staff, and what they do? Fritz: “I have five direct reports, so if you count me, there are six people on the Investment Cast- ing Institute payroll. The ICI has four staff mem- bers and our wholly-owned subsidiary, INCAST Magazine, has one staffer, Erin Almaleh, who is our Editor and is responsible for our monthly publication.We publish the world’s only magazine dedicated to the investment casting industry. “On the ICI side, Grace Albanese is my Business Administrator. She helps me deal with the inter- nal workings of the ICI, when it comes to such things as human resource needs, supervision; she addresses our insurance needs; she deals with the facilities where we lease our office space; and she is there to give guidance to the other em- ployees, as well as support them. “The next person is our Meeting and Events Planner, Barbara Tiseo. She runs our two main events –we have a spring management meeting, typically held two weeks after Easter, every year. That is a three-day management seminar, usually held at a desirable location; we try to alternate between east coast and west coast. This past year, we were in Sonoma, California; the prior year, we were in Charleston, South Carolina; and before that, in Tucson, Arizona. Next year, we’re going to be in Puerto Rico, and the year after, we’re going to be in Santa Fe, New Mexico.We try to hold these events in areas where people can relax, un- wind, and get away from the daily grind, but get some learning on top management topics that are applicable to the needs of the industry.We hear about the economy, what’s happening do- mestically and internationally; we go over market trends for the various industries that we serve; we look at labor law and legal issues –what’s happening at OSHA and the EPA; also topics that are current, like sexual harassment, dealing with workplace disruptions; we really try to cover the top management topics like cybersecurity. And we have motivational speakers. THE INVESTMENT CASTING INSTITUTE “Then, there’s our big event, which is our an- nual conference and exposition. Our 65th event will be held, this October, in Kansas City, Missouri. Last year, we were in Covington, Kentucky, and we typically hold those events where the major- ity of our members can get to without having to take a flight. So, we don’t go to the peripheries of the country in a resort type setting. This is a real down and dirty, hard-working, talking technology type meeting, as well as a significant trade show. And Barbara coordinates all that. She also coor- dinates our training and education programs.We have the industry’s only certification program, where people in the investment casting industry can be certified for the skill sets necessary to be successful.We have process control courses and various other programs, which change from time to time.We have regional meetings which are also training type seminars. Barbara coordinates them as well, and she handles all of our industry surveys. “Nora D’Ambra is our Marketing and Member Services Coordinator. She works very closely with INCAST Magazine as well as with the ICI, doing our monthly newsletter, supporting all of our social media functions and data bases, and she coordinates and runs all of our member discount programs. We have bookkeeper by the name of Margureta Watson.We are very careful about what we do with the industry’s money, because we view the money in our care as belonging to the industry. We are audited every year and Margureta makes sure we are upright and squeaky clean.” BVM: Is advocacy a priority for the ICI? Fritz: “It isn’t.We try to stay apolitical.We do have a government affairs committee and we do