Virginia Association of Hazardous Materials Response Specialists

Rick Edinger, President

To: VAHMRS Members, State HazMat Team Leaders and Conference Participants,

Our nation is facing challenges unlike any that many of us have encountered in our lifetimes. The economic crisis that we are experiencing is broad and deep, affecting all facets of society. Public and private sector hazardous materials response personnel are also affected and are dealing with significant budget shortfalls.

The members of the Virginia Association of Hazardous Materials Response Specialists (VAHMRS) who make up the Virginia Hazardous Materials Conference planning committee recognize this and have been discussing how our organization can respond to this crisis. First, we will not be increasing any costs associated with attending the annual conference in 2009. We also recognize that travel to professional conferences must be justified during difficult times like this and as such, we are striving to add value to our conference content.

In our planning for the 2009 conference, we will be providing workshop content which can be applied to the annual training hours required of hazardous materials response personnel. Whether via certifying courses or classes which provide continuing education exposure, your attendance at the conference will benefit you and your organization or business in providing these required annual training hours.

One of the primary missions of VAHMRS is to support our members through training and education. Our main focus in doing so is through the annual conference. VAHMRS provides financial support to our members to attend the conference in the form of individual scholarships to cover member’s costs to attend and grants for hazmat teams to send their members. Please go to our website at http://www.virginiahazmat.org/index.cfm to view the selection criteria and submission instructions and check back often for conference updates.

Hazardous materials incidents will not slow due to a faltering economy. In fact there are some who project that emergency services are more stressed during tough economic times. Training is still required to remain proficient and safe in responding to hazmat incidents and it is important to receive the proper training and education to do so.

This year’s conference theme is “HazMat Synergy: Working Smarter During Tough Times”. We hope that you and your associates will join us in Hampton, Virginia during the week of October 19-23, 2009 to attend one of the premier hazardous materials conferences in the United States.

Rick Edinger                                                      Eddie Berry

President, VAHMRS                                    Conference Chairman