January 6, 2021
SIAC continues to promote the Model Ordinance, along with Alarm Management Committees, while participating in police and sheriff state and national meetings. This keeps our leadership contacts and network in place — a large ongoing part of our mission.
Attached below is the chairman’s message that I would like to share. A strong thanks to all individuals, companies, associations and organizations for their support of SIAC. We keep an “open door” to anyone who wishes to express suggestions for improvement. Here is my full message:
Happy 2021 to us all! I’ve been chair for a year, although Stan may feel like it’s been closer to seven. At the beginning of my term, I asked the board and staff to tackle, resolve and accomplish — over the next two years — the following.
- Funding – As the industry consolidates with acquisitions, so does funding. We’ll develop a strategy that keeps our Chiefs on the streets!
- Enhancing SIAC’s relevancy to industry, Law Enforcement, and stakeholders — As I have said publicly, SIAC’s successes are not always touted, but significant. I understand that sometimes the work SIAC does cannot be shouted from the mountain tops, but we need a way to continually acknowledge our dedicated team’s effort and acknowledge our wins and admit when we could have done better. Be prepared for a renewed focus and industry acknowledgement for what SIAC does and how we deliver that message. If we hit hard on this, our fundraising activities will be a bit easier to accomplish.
Here is a quick review of what we accomplished in 2020.
Funding (and let me add cost controls and 2021 budget)
- Stan and team have done an absolute outstanding job of holding expenses in check.
- Existing donors have given as much as they feel that they could afford, and for this, I am eternally grateful.
- We were able to reconnect with past alarm company donors, who had gone silent, and they responded – most have honored their 2020 commitment.
- A special Chair thank you to Resideo, which stepped up and prepaid their $100,000 donation for 2021. Truly remarkable. Thank you Keith for carrying the torch.
- Stan and Tim Creenan, SIAC’s treasurer, put together a 2021 budget that took a multitude of meetings, debates and compromises. The board acknowledged their effort and approved the 2021 budget unanimously.
- SIAC ended the year with revenue at $667K (78% of the budgeted $859k), with expenses at only $681K. Bottom line SIAC essentially broke even for a very challenging year using only $14k from its reserve.
Enhancing SIAC’s relevancy to industry, Law Enforcement, and stakeholders
- SIAC’s marketing group chaired by Board member Brandon Freedman was tasked with a complete web site revamp. Brandon solicited proposals, negotiated a contract with our existing Public Relations firm; Margulies Communications and the team got right to work. The site was launched in December 2020. Great work!
- As Glen moves to part time, we retained a new Chief, Doug Davis, who is working closely with Glen via Zoom to get up to speed.
- Our Chiefs and Stan haven’t missed a beat and continue to meet regularly with municipalities across the nation. Keep up the excellent work Chiefs.
- Board Member Holly Borgmann suggested that SIAC should continue to review SIAC’s mission, which is critical, and I couldn’t agree more. Technology is changing quickly, and we need to make sure that our mission is in sync with our changing security world. A task force chaired by Board members Keith Baird and Tony Mucci has been established to tackle this issue. They have convened a who’s who group to assist.
I am so proud of this team, volunteers and staff. No one missed a beat. We simply adjusted to our world and continued to provide the level of services that we have all come to expect from SIAC.
Thank you all for your continued support of SIAC and our Industry.
Kirk MacDowell
Chairman, SIAC