Update: FIF 2016

The 2016 Finishing Industries Forum opened today with over 300 IUPAT union and business leaders attending. This two day annual event has been held for over ten years and presents speakers and workshops to give attendees the tools to expand market share and grow our unionized workforce.

This year’s event features workshops on business leadership, marketing, economic review and projections for our industries, the political climate for business, and an update on regulations in our markets and management skills, among other industry topics.

The event has proven itself over the years to provide invaluable resources to build a better business for IUPAT employers, and to grow the number of and better train the hard working men and women of the Painters and Allied Trades.

“This forum is about moving ahead together to make a positive change in our industries,” said IUPAT general president and LMCI co-chair Kenneth Rigmaiden in his opening remarks. “The fact that we have been holding this event since 2005 tells me that everyone here is willing to take advantage of this opportunity to grow our industries.”

“The value you get out of these next few days is in direct proportion to what you are willing to put in,” Mike Cassidy, co-chair of the LMCI told attendees. “So, if the days following end absent value, then who’s the first person you need to have a conversation with?

One of the featured workshops at this Finishing Industries Forum was Project Management 2.0. The original program, launched in 2008, taught critical core project management competencies such as estimating, budgeting, planning, scheduling and cost control with a case study on an IUPAT project in North America where students could apply the tools they learned to “real life” scenarios. Other topics emphasized soft skills, such as the study of behavioral preferences, and relationship skills, like conflict resolution.

The updated version has content that more closely aligns with the challenges we face today in the Finishing Industries.  It also includes an extensive library of courses available in the Finishing Trades Institute online Learning Management System.

Project Management 2.0 will hold classes in early 2017.

Tune in again for more updates on this year’s event.