By Richie Spangler, CHMM, CDGP,  IHMM Board Chair

The IHMM Board of Directors held its Third Quarterly Board Meeting by video conference on September 11, 2020. The IHMM staff continue to work from home with one person going into the office regularly to “keep the lights on” and take care of things that need to be done physically from the office. The routine business of the IHMM committees has historically taken place via conference calls and email and that continues to be the case. In particular, the IHMM Nominating Committee has completed its review of the applicants for the upcoming election and presented a slate to the Board during its recent meeting. The current election cycle is for one CHMM director and one public (non-IHMM certified) director. The IHMM election will take place from November 2-30, 2020 and the results will be announced on December 4, 2020. Please take some time and review the bios of the highly qualified candidates on the ballot and cast your vote. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the IHMM has frozen a portion of its budgeted spending and received a Payroll Protection/SBA forgivable loan to support our continued operations. We are happy to report these efforts have been effective in maintaining a positive financial status for the year. In other positive news, the IHMM has a backlog of over 600 applicants ready for testing. Even with the various remote testing options available, many of the applicants have indicated they are waiting until in-person testing resumes. The new Student CHMM program is off to a great start with 50 applicants and the first set of testing completed. The IHMM is still collecting data from the initial rollout and expects to see further expansion next year. In a related effort, the IHMM has begun credential development on an early career credential as a transition from the student status to the full CHMM. This is an exciting, but challenging time for the IHMM and your Board of Directors, committees, and our dedicated IHMM staff who are working hard to position the IHMM for continued success.