In August, I had the pleasure of spending a few days at the AWCI headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. My goal was simple: to get a firsthand look at our association’s daily operations, meet the dedicated people who make it all happen and finally see the wall of past president portraits I’ve heard about for years. Seeing more than a century of volunteer leaders represented in one place was a powerful experience—a firm reminder of the responsibility we carry and the legacy we are building together.
The Day-to-Day Operation
CEO Mike Stark welcomed me, provided a comprehensive tour and set a clear agenda for the visit. He then stepped back, allowing me to sit down for productive, one-on-one sessions with each department over the course of two days. I joined the weekly staff meeting to hear what was on everyone’s plate, and we wrapped up the visit with the annual staff outing to a Washington Nationals game—a perfect chance to thank the team outside of the conference room.
What I witnessed was a well-oiled machine focused intently on member value. The meetings that I attended covered the full spectrum of our association’s work:
- Finance walked me through the budget and year-end outlook.
- Communications/marketing, editorial and advertising shared plans for new ways to tell our industry’s story, covering advertising, subscriptions and content strategy.
- The Meetings team detailed the extensive planning and logistics required to deliver BUILD: AWCI’s Convention and Expo and the Industry Leaders Conference.
- Education covered credentials, webinars and the Doing It Right® educational programs.
- Membership talked numbers and discussed ways to make the website and onboarding process clearer and more effective.
- Technical and safety laid out the direction for Codes and Technical Council (CTC) programming, the upcoming Peer Safety Review this fall and new work underway on fire-stopping programs.
- The Foundation continues to move forward on the AWCI CARES program with awareness initiatives as well as the partnership with FMI and the 2025 Wall and Ceiling Trends Report launching this November.
A Confident Takeaway
Thank you to Brianna Bernstein, Joe Fernandez, Janie Hakim, Mike Kowalski, Brittany Lord-
Buchanan, Amelia Miedema, Thao Nguyen, Don Pilz, Samantha Riemer, Annemarie Selvitelli, Mike Stark and Craig Wood, for the time, candor and hospitality during my visit.
Here is my key takeaway, and it is a reassuring one: Many of us volunteer on boards or committees while managing a full-time job. We all know how easy it is for volunteer work to slide to the back burner when the day job heats up. At AWCI, your CEO and staff are doing heavy lifting every day. This essential work allows our volunteer leaders to remain focused on setting direction and priorities for the association. They are highly responsive to the Board and Executive Committee, and they are consistently moving forward on the issues our members tell us matter most.
Because of this dedication, I feel very confident about where we are headed. We are in good hands. The team at headquarters is aligned, accountable and working with genuine purpose. You will see the results of their efforts in the programs ahead, including the Industry Leaders Conference and the fantastic BUILD26 lineup they are assembling for our members.
To everyone at the AWCI headquarters, thank you for the work you do and for the pride you take in serving this industry. To our volunteers across the country, thank you for lending your experience and your time. Together, we are honoring the history captured on that wall of portraits, while keeping our eyes firmly on the future of the wall and ceiling industry.
Jeff Dreisewerd is the president of AWCI and the senior operations consultant at T.J. Wies Contracting, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri.
