PLSO July/August 2019

4 The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 42, No. 4 From the PLSO Chairman Shawn Kampmann, PLS Chairman of the Board MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN ...the ever-present question is why is it so difficult to attract any talent to our profession, young or old? Within the last month, the Clark College program was once again on the ropes in Vancouver and in danger of being eliminated. Thanks to the generosity of a number of surveying and engineering firms enough funding has been raised to secure the program for permanent funding in the future. In just two short weeks $90,000 in funding and annual commitments was raised to save the program from elimination. This month’s Message from the Chairman is written by guest writer Pat Gaylord, PLS. S ummer is upon us and your PLSO Board and Committees are working hard on your behalf to bring several goals to completion. The website rede- sign is well underway and the new look and functionality are very exciting. The new website will be more streamlined as well as being easily usable on any mobile device. Approximately 40% of the pages have been either combined or eliminat- ed, new photos have been added and it will be more intuitive with the main page quickly routing you to the information you want to find. The Strategic Planning Committee is kick- ing off plans for a work weekend to reset our goals for the next three years. The original strategic plan and updates served us well for many years. The new plan will be coordinated around the rebranding goals and continue moving us forward on recruitment to PLSO, assisting the public with their surveying needs and attracting youth to our profession. Much more to come on this effort, but the current goal is to roll out the new plan at our upcom- ing conference in January. Speaking of attracting youth to our pro- fession, the ever-present question is why is it so difficult to attract any talent to our profession, young or old? Within the last month, the Clark College program was once again on the ropes in Vancou- ver and in danger of being eliminated. Thanks to the generosity of a number of surveying and engineering firms enough funding has been raised to secure the program for permanent funding in the future. In just two short weeks $90,000 in funding and annual commitments was raised to save the program from elimination. We as professionals must support this program and OIT and OSU programs to ensure that training is avail- able for the next generation. All three of