As I reflect on my past year as AWCI president, my thoughts go far beyond the one-year term. My involvement in AWCI began in the early 1980s when I traded my tool belt in for an estimating tape. Going from a field mechanic to an estimator, I rode on the coattails of my father, Robert Weber, two-time past-president of the WCC New York chapter of AWCI. He also co-founded Island Acoustics in 1969. We became partners in the company in 1991.
It has been my destiny (I’m a third-generation carpenter) to continue the family tradition that began with my great-grandfather, Michael Weber, who took a bullet to his head working on a billboard during the labor movement at the turn of the century. Fortunately for me he survived the incident and I was lucky to hear stories of his struggles during the labor movement in the early 1920s. I was 13 when he passed away at the age of 88. Perhaps his ideals have helped shape my passion for the construction industry.
I am often asked, “How has my involvement in the industry helped me and my company?” The question has no easy answer. If my eight years on the board of WCC of NY, two terms as president of the New York chapter, six years on the board of AWCI and ascending through the chairs to the presidency was done as a strategic career plan, that would be news to me.
However, I do believe my engagement with AWCI on a local and national level has been invaluable—real character-building years. I have gained wisdom and insight through countless meetings with my peers in business and through educational seminars over the 20 or so years on local, national and international fronts. As I noted in Denver at AWCI’s Convention, “It sure has been one hell of a ride!”
Being engaged in AWCI, whether on a local or national level, has helped me succeed in one of the toughest markets in the country and certainly has helped me to endure the recent economic collapse. All in all, it has been a privilege to be part of the construction industry and represent AWCI as its 76th president.
In closing I would like to thank my friends and family for supporting me through this journey. I want to especially thank my business family at Island Acoustics for keeping the ship afloat during the past year. The business has endured challenges we have not seen in a half-century.
On a final note, I pass the baton to AWCI President-elect Brent Allen and incoming first lady Cassie to carry the AWCI forth for the coming year. To coin a phrase I heard many years ago, stick me with a fork, I think I’m done!
In addition to being the 2009–2010 president of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, Weber is president of Island Acoustics LLC in Bohemia, N.Y.
