President's Message

The vision of the Scaffold & Access Industry Association (SAIA) is To lead the advancement and promotion of safety in the scaffold and access industry utilizing resources, education, and communication.

This vision guides our 2015-2024 strategic plan, and over the past three years we have made great strides in fulfilling this vision. We will continue to do so going forward by focusing on our core values:

• EXCELLENCE We are committed to excellence in developing and promoting best practices to meet these challenges.

• EDUCATION We incorporate these best practices into our educational efforts, through training, deliverables, and regulatory collaboration.

• KNOWLEDGE As the voice of the industry, it is the association’s responsibility to share this knowledge and provide expertise, direction, and resources to industry professionals.

• INTEGRITY In all that we do, we act with integrity, in accordance with the highest professional standards of avoiding real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible and disclosing any that exist.

• SAFETY We are governed by our dedication to the highest standards of safety in the scaffold and access industry. 

New technologies are being introduced at a rapid pace – and present new production and safety challenges for our industry. As we work together to meet these challenges, our core values will provide a strong foundation for doing so successfully. As president, I am personally committed to the following priorities that are built upon these values:

• To engage younger and new members in the industry and welcome them to the SAIA family;

• To update our training programs; and

• To strengthen our relationship with the educational foundation. 

Engaging new and younger members is a priority in order to stay a strong association – and to share our knowledge with those who will one day lead the industry and association. The APEX Council – chaired by Sean Connally – was set up to bring new and younger members in touch with mentors, who will welcome them to the SAIA family and help them to find their place in the organization.

Keeping our educational efforts on the cutting edge must remain a priority. The ongoing update of our training program, including the recent launch of our new Learning Management System, will make our courses more accessible to workers both today and in the future. The LMS, which will allow instructors and students to access their records online, will also be a great resource to our Accredited Training Institutes (ATIs) and members.  

In addition to engaging new and younger members and keeping our training up to date, we will grow our relationship with the SAIA Educational Foundation. The Foundation brings a lot of energy to the association and provides crucial funding for training programs, council activities, and scholarships. Their support will help us to achieve excellence in all that we do to promote best practices in safety.

I am honored and humbled to serve as president of the SAIA, and I’m excited about the coming months and all that we will accomplish together.  I invite you to join us in moving our association forward. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with your thoughts, questions, and comments.

James Holcomb