Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
CHAIR’S MESSAGE
A new year always brings excitement for new opportunities and setting our goals for the year ahead. 2025 has already brought in a new, business-friendly president. The opportunity for my daughter, Nikki, and I to be in Washington for the inauguration was an exciting time for us. The city was buzzing with hope for a new day.
AFSA has a very bright future, and your 2025 Board of Directors and President Bob Caputo, are focused on bringing our members the best-of-class training for all of your departments. Our headquarters in Richardson, Texas, has a state-of-the-art, hands-on training facility that offers every type of sprinkler system, alarms, and fire pumps with live sprinkler activation. It is an incredible experience to go through.
Experts in the AFSA lab and classroom give industry professionals like facility managers the training and resources they need to become certified and ensure their facility is safe and code-compliant. My company has been a member of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) for 30 years, and I sit on our local chapter’s board of directors. I encourage you to get involved in your area. It’s a great networking opportunity and a place where we have an opportunity to help facility managers navigate the regulations around the life safety industry.
We are also calling all chapters to engage and start a NextGen Committee. We are placing more resources and emphasis on telling our story about this great industry and the opportunity for an outstanding career to the younger generation. We are asking our NextGen members to send AFSA their high school contacts so we can start implementing our project to send out the Apprenticeship Book 1 Curriculum to high school counselors. Why do high schools with career programs only have electrical, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanic, and HVAC training and not a fire sprinkler curriculum? It is time our industry made this a priority to introduce our industry and curriculum to the next generation and increase the future workforce. I look forward to working with Hunter Brendle, our new Director and Chair of AFSA’s Public Education & Awareness Committee, and his committee members to bring new impactful ideas and get a WIN!
Did you know, Millennials and Gen Z make up 61.6% of U.S. podcast listeners. (source: Banklinko) In 2024, the age group 12-34 had the highest engagement with podcasts (source: Jaraudio). Have you tuned in to AFSA’s new podcast, The K-Factor? This podcast is another great tool that has been added to the toolbox kit enhancing our reach to all facets of generations. AFSA’s Josh McDonald, Eric Andresen, and Nate Williams are discussing important industry issues within this new media platform for AFSA and future fire sprinkler industry members. Subscribe or visit sprinkler.org/podcast/. I appreciate Josh, Eric, and Nate making waves for AFSA.
Our industry is positioned to have a very bright and prosperous 2025. The business climate has already seen project labor agreements (PLAs) being challenged through our partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and its Build America Local #NOPLAS Coalition. Projects that have been sitting on the sidelines are now moving forward. We are experiencing a NEW Renaissance of doing business, and all will benefit.
Make sure you have your shades ready in 2025. It is going to be a very bright year, and I, for one, look forward to the rays of success for the fire sprinkler industry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Serving as Chair of the Board and Region 5 Director, Linda M. Biernacki is the founder/president of Fire Tech Systems, Inc., Shreveport, Louisiana. Fire Tech Systems is an AFSA Quality Contractor, ISNetworld Certified, licensed in six states (Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas). With over 33 years of experience, Biernacki provides industry experience, knowledge, and background. She is past chair of the NICET board of governors (June 2022-June 2023), past board member and current member of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) board of directors, past president and current board member of the Louisiana Fire Sprinkler Association (LFSA), represents AFSA on the NFPA 232 Committee for Protection of Records and is past AFSA40 Convention Committee and Membership & Chapter Development Chair. Biernacki is certified in NICET Level III Fire Protection Engineering Technology Water-Based Systems Layout and is certified by the Women’s Business Council Gulf Coast.
