The New Year, A Renewed Sense of Hope
My son came home from college for the winter break and needed a job. Luckily there was a short-term vacancy at my office for him – a paid internship as it so happens. (smile)
Alec’s first task was to contact 150 or so members as part of an outreach program. We’ve sent lots of emails about changes to our billing program at the GCLA over the past few months to let everyone know we are now on a fiscal calendar and the $75 annual dues are paid at the beginning of the year. Also, thanks to the generosity of two GCLA board directors, Patrick O’Brien and Jeff Brodsly, we have a new Membership Grant program that covers a year’s worth of dues for any member that plans to stay in this fight but is in financial need of help. On that note, Alec spent the last five days calling on members expecting to get an earful due to the terrible Covid-19 situation we are in. Instead, aside from a few exasperated operators (understandably so) my son was met with warmth and appreciation and hope! 71 operators renewed with the GCLA from Alec’s outreach efforts. And, our offices learned a lot about what’s happening on the frontlines. That intel will help us prioritize our tasks. Some stories were heartbreaking while others were inspirational. All in all, people were lovely and gracious. We have the best people in the transportation world here in California, and beyond.
While many other associations suspended operations this past year, the GCLA invested in its organization and accomplished so much for the betterment of things to come. We are ready. We have all new committees that will get to work for you starting with onboarding meetings set for early next week. Your new leadership is now posted on www.GCLA.org We encourage anyone who wants to become part of the back-to-business efforts we are putting in place, reach out to me directly at sara@gcla.org
Other news; I sent out personal emails to all members about a state grant program that is FREE money for you. The application deadline was January 8th but it’s been extended to the 13th due to all the glitches on the system. Watch your inbox for more on that – we have people here that can help you apply.
Federal money is coming. Now that our elections and the final decision has been made for our country’s president we can expect to hear more in the coming months about aid. Meanwhile, eyes on California. We are in the traditionally slowest season of the year, but spring is around the corner. I spoke to Jay Glick this morning. He’s one of the countries largest retail operators. He moved 600 weddings from 2020 to 2021 and they are NOT going to wait any longer, so he tells me. Weddings may shift to being outside (in our state that means more beach events; barn weddings; wineries and mountain places) but they will happen, with a nice bump from those that stalled out in 2020.
Stay strong and keep those positive attitudes alive. We are in this to win this and sooner or later, people will need to move again.
