Landscape Management, December 2015

SNOW ICE GUIDE LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET December 2015 60 55 8 26 7 4 728 total downloads Breakdown of top five professions downloading SIMAs Glossary of Terms are some cases where two overlapping documents are approved in the same industry SIMA considered an ANSI accreditation Birch says but decided not to pursue it viewing the process as an added cost without added value For SIMA it was imperative to deliver the document for free rather than making it a revenue generating mechanism As of Nov 9 SIMAs Glossary had been downloaded 728 times ASCAs document comes free with a 400 yearly membership fee nonmembers must join the organization to access it We wanted to deliver this at no fee to the industry Birch says If we really want folks to adopt this we cant put it behind a fee or a membership firewall which a lot of associations do SIMAs process entailed more than 30 professionals from the snow management industry and other related industries including insurers and facility managers working together to compile and review the Glossary As a living document SIMA says its reviewed quarterly by the board which considers any recommended changes additions or deletions Among others the term zero tolerance a point of contention for Gilbride is currently being reviewed The process weve gone through is as transparent and as clear as any standards creating body out there says Birch who managed the review process Its actually much more intense than what ANSI requires SIMA included facility management professionals in the creation and review process which its members said they wanted If the goal is common ground across Snow contracting directly provide snow services Facilities property management Other Management company facilitate manage snow services Snow industry supplier Note Data as of Nov 9 Other includes government entities colleges universities public schools and others SOURCE SIMA the industry facility management professionals must be involved and their opinions must be considered Birch says We dont feel that we can create standards or best practices to try to dictate to the audience were trying to work with he says We want to engage them and collaborate with them A silver lining exists in the Glossary dispute however Gilbride says it is opening up lines of communication between ASCA and SIMA While still in initial stages and nothing has been agreed to Gilbride says both sides have decided its best for the industry for them to work together With each organization strong in different areas Gilbride says a united or friendly dialogue could be good for the industry As a nonprofit SIMA has does a very nice job educating contractors on core values how to run and grow their smaller businesses into medium or large sized businesses They have a successful trade show Gilbride says As a for profit association the ASCA is able to be much more nimble and address bigger picture issues and at times turn on a dime when needed to address those issues such as standards and legislative change