Industry

What is an Association and Why Should I be Involved? An association, defined, is a group of people with a joint interest. It is safe to say that the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) has a common interest, and important one at that—saving lives and property with the use of …

Save Time and Money with AFSA Business Solutions The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) strives to provide the best in benefits to our members that will help advance their businesses in new and advantageous ways. We provide these services to help our members not only enhance but also simplify business …

“Location always has meaning.” As I listened to Travis Mack, SET—instructor for NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, Chapter 8: Spacing & Location of Sprinklers seminar when I was attending the Sacramento Valley (California) AFSA Chapter Meeting and Trade Show on March 7—I was thinking how apropos …

Should You Try Something New, Keep the Old, or Just Find What Works? Ultimately in real leadership, regardless of our situation as leader, manager, supervisor, or employee, we are all looking for a return on our investment (ROI). If you invest a few moments reading this article, I guarantee you …

Focus on Occupational Cancer Prevention The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have announced the 2019 Safety Stand Down theme. This year’s “Reduce Your Exposure: It’s Everybody’s Responsibility” campaign will take place June 16-22, focusing on increasing understanding of occupational cancer risks and …

How to Stay Competitive In this article we’ll highlight technological changes which are evolving the life-safety inspections industry. We could write a book on these changes, but in the interest of time, we will take a deeper dive into the operations of two companies which are at the forefront of …

We’ve all heard the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Often attributed to Benjamin Franklin—one of America’s most well-known founding fathers, who was also the genius behind Philadelphia’s first fire department, the Union Fire Company*—the saying rings true today, just as it has for hundreds …

I enjoy reading annual economic forecasts and from all indications, we are looking forward to a very good 2019. I personally am also very interested in the old-fashioned way of economic forecasting. That is plain old talking to people around the country. How are you doing? Where do you see …

Why Should You Care? “Made in America,” “Buy America,” “Buy America,” American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Made in the USA, Assembled in the USA…why should you care? Are these all the same? What do all of these mean and what is the difference? It can all be very confusing. Some …

Rising Interest Rates, Deficits Factor Into Trend The Portland Cement Association (PCA) Market Intelligence Group forecast for cement consumption over the next two years, shows less growth compared with 2018. This year’s rate of change is 2.9 percent. Growth ebbs to 2.6 percent in 2019 and to 1.6 percent in …