Surface Combustion President William Bernard II was honored with the inaugural IHEA Leadership Award at the IHEA 2013 Annual Meeting in Indian Wells, Calif., for his continued dedication and valuable guidance to the association. He was chosen as the deserving recipient as a result of his inspiring challenge issued at the IHEA 2012 Annual Meeting.

Last year, the IHEA Board of Directors outlined a targeted capital campaign to fund important initiatives needed to allow IHEA to move forward with their Strategic Plan. To support the Board’s goal and vision, Bernard offered a challenge to IHEA membership to support the association so that the member-focused initiatives could begin.

Since the challenge, IHEA has begun work on the following:

• The launch of an IHEA Executive Economic Monthly Report. IHEA has retained a professional economist to develop the report each month to keep members informed of factors affecting and shaping our industry.
• The modularization of the IHEA Online Courses as well as the Safety & Combustion Seminars.
• The development of an IHEA Webinars Series.

Bernard’s challenge has also allowed IHEA to implement new software that is building the infrastructure needed to accomplish many of the initiatives in IHEA’s Strategic Plan.