Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
As I review my first four years as the American President… that is to say, the president of the American Fire Sprinkler Association (thank God for us all)—I want to start my first column of 2025 by saying that I have heard the message clearly from several members: you’d rather not have me comment on political issues in this column. I completely understand this concern, but I need to set the record straight about why you occasionally receive emails or other messages related to political matters.
As I hope every member knows, this association’s mission is to be the voice of open-shop fire sprinkler contractors and promote the fire sprinkler industry with educational and training programs. We share these core values and a common mission with the Associated Builders & Contractors Association (ABC), of which many of you are also members. ABC supports all of the trades in the merit shop contractor space. While some of our chapters retain a lobbyist for local and state issues, AFSA National does not. Our annual budget does not have a line item for a national-level political lobbyist or direct activity on the national political stage. We have a Legislative Committee that monitors activities to inform chapter leaders about activities on a regional level so they may take appropriate action. On a personal note, I am not for or against either major political party, and if you know me, you’ve probably heard me say that politics is a compound word, poly – meaning many, and tics – meaning blood-sucking insects. For the record, I am a registered independent. I am not necessarily for or against organized labor or other associations. I am now and have always been for fire sprinklers and fire protection. I believe that firefighting in the built environment begins at the plan check table, not when the bell rings at a fire station. I am a true believer in free enterprise and the right to work, and I expect our members to provide the highest quality of work and code compliance in the design and installation of our systems. To that end, we provide the industry’s best-in-class training and educational programs.
However, these last four years have shown that one political party is more in favor of organized labor and has taken legislative steps to eliminate our merit shop members from participating in projects that are funded by the American taxpayer. A series of executive orders requiring project labor agreements (PLAs) and providing set-asides as political payback for supporting political campaigns have been a constant over the past four years. Our partners at ABC spend a lot of time and energy focused on political action and evaluating legislation bills introduced that would eliminate opportunities and hurt merit shop contractors. When identified as such, ABC shares this information with its affiliated associations, including AFSA, asking us to share the information with our members and asking you to reach out to your elected officials, encouraging them to vote for or against the issues at hand. AFSA staff forwards these requests to our membership in the form of email messages or blasts, knowing some of you may disagree with the position espoused. We have contractor members who are signatories to labor agreements, as well as members who came up through organized labor affiliations. While most of our members are merit shop contractors, we don’t expect everyone to agree with any position. My wife and I don’t agree on everything, and we occasionally sleep in the same bed. We have no desire to alienate any member by sharing political viewpoints that favor or support our mission statement.
We completely understand these email alerts and positions are not welcome by all, but we hope you will understand why we send them along. AFSA’s mission statement is clear in establishing our mission to support merit shop fire sprinkler contractors, and our staff follows the theme and intent of that mission, and we ask your indulgence in so doing.
2024 was a great year for our industry and your association with new educational and training programs and a record-setting convention in Denver. We will be adding new programs in 2025 based on requests from members to fill needs and expectations and to help our members grow their businesses. Our lab in Dallas continues to fill seats for our current programs, and our virtual classroom program for apprentices enters Level 3 with continued growth in participants. As the participant numbers grow, so does our need for qualified, knowledgeable, and energetic trainers. Our industry is growing, and with it, there is a need for more trained and qualified people! We can only achieve the needs of our collective future by contributing to training the next generation of designers, fitters, and service technicians. We need your help! AFSA offers a stipend for trainers who assist us with the VIP program, so if you’re interested, please reach out to Victoria Valentine via email at vvalentine@firesprinkler.org.
Lastly, we want to continue to invite you to share your story with us. We want to hear about successes, especially case studies where AFSA’s Engineering & Technical Services Department has helped you to solve problems, but also stories about how you got here. How did you get into the industry? How did you start your business? Let AFSA share your story in Sprinkler Age so others can see the value in membership! Remember to take a look at your company’s dues level and verify you’re in the correct category. We can’t do what we do without you.
We hope everyone will enjoy a prosperous and healthy 2025!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bob Caputo, CFPS, is president of AFSA. He has been an important part of the fire sprinkler industry for over 41 years and is a long-time member of AFSA and promoter of merit shop contracting. He has chaired and served on many NFPA committees. Caputo has written and presented seminars throughout the world on fire protection and life-safety systems and is a regular speaker at AFSA and NFPA conventions. He has developed AFSA education and training materials, and chaired two chapters of AFSA—Arizona and Southern California. Caputo is the recipient of numerous awards, including Fire Protection Contractor magazine’s “Industry person of the Year,” San Diego County Fire Chief’s Association’s “Fire Prevention Officer of the Year,” and AFSA’s highest honor, the Henry S. Parmelee Award.
