2020 President’s Year End Message

Articles

2020 Year End Message

December 17th, 2020

CCA MEMBERS

2020 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

During the course of this year, we have all been put to the test in ways that none of us could have ever
expected just under a year ago.

From mid-March onwards, like all of you, it was certainly not business as usual as the CCA’s traditional
calendar of events and activities, along with many of our services, were totally disrupted and, in most cases, cancelled. It has definitely been all hands-on deck since March 16th, and all this came on the heels of 4 years of shrinking economy that had already taken a heavy toll on our industry and our members businesses.

It would have been easy to dwell on the cancellation of events, education and loss of our traditional role.
Instead, and thanks to many of you, we were able to re-tool our entire focus in responding to the situation to provide exclusive services and support to our members in order to ensure you had access to all the expertise that you needed to help you navigate the crisis.

Our Business Hub that launched in fall 2019 had already secured business partners that became coaches
and advisors in frequent webinars through the first 3 months of COVID.

By rallying over 26 industry leaders in March we were able to address the threat of site shutdowns and
produce the Pandemic Planning Document which became a guide to all who were seeking to address
COVID safety. With these assets at our disposal, we were able to create a true community marked by
unprecedented cross-industry and cross-disciplinary collaboration, camaraderie and communication.

The result was that construction was indeed deemed an essential service and we were able to keep
building.

Frankly, if you had told me that all aspects of our industry large and small, general or trade contractor,
supplier and consultant would come together on 24hrs notice – Then the larger companies with greater
resources would be willing to freely share all their COVID safety information under development in order to have it blended in one publication by us and then made “open source available” to everyone in the industry through CCA – Then keep sending every update so that the document went through four revisions finally becoming the only one of its kind in Canada – I would have questioned your judgement.

If you had told me that these same individuals would still be meeting virtually every two weeks over ten
months later in order to stay on top of developments and continue to learn from each other, I would have called that a miracle.

That is exactly what happened. The power and ability of this industry when it rallies together is awe
inspiring. Over my years in the industry, I have not always seen it at its best, but I can truly say that this
year I was both intensely proud and humbled to be a part of such a collective achievement.

Whether it is the Pandemic Document which saved an industry from shutdown, over 2,500 attendees in
our COVID information sessions, virtual networking that members are calling for “more of” or our ongoing work with the City of Calgary and Province on keys issues, CCA has worked through a difficult double storm of economic recession and COVID to have our members backs and we are not stopping there.

We could not have done this without the board, our many volunteers and partners that were fundamental to this response.
Winston Churchill once said, “Never waste a good crisis.” We certainly did not this time.

If we have learned anything else this year it has been the unbeatable power that can be unleashed when
you blend great people, experience, resilience and a willingness to break from tradition in order to answer the call. Your CCA team will continue this same work in 2021 using all we have learned as hopefully we are seeing the prospect of an end in sight as we move into next year. Either way we will be there through the next phase and we will be there when life and business begin to return.

Your team at CCA is small but, as they like to say, “we are mighty!”. They have proved that every step of the way this year as they stepped up to the constantly evolving situation each time and delivered. Their commitment and the passion with which they respond is indeed remarkable and I want to thank them for their tireless service to you all in this pandemic year. Many have also commented on an increased sense of connection between the team and our member community – we believe that will be a key of our future together.

On behalf of the team here at CCA and our board we wish you, your families and loved ones the very best
over Christmas and New Year. We hope that, despite the restrictions, you will find ways to celebrate,
recharge and enjoy a well-earned break.

Thank you for being a part of the CCA Community and making it what it is – we look forward to seeing you all in 2021.

Best Regards,