News from Brad

What’s Been Going on at the Association?

Well, that’s a good question and was the topic of this round of meetings around the state.
With all the changes at the association since I started in August, I felt like the members needed
an update so that was the theme of the meetings this month. My goal was to get a feel for what
members were looking for from the association. This round will end on Thursday with the last meeting
in Peoria on the 6th.
This round was a town hall type meeting which I feel was something new for attendees and
it took a little bit for everyone the get involved in the conversation. However, once we got rolling,
the ideas and even some complaints started flowing. This is interaction was what I was looking for.
In order for the association to move forward and get stronger, we need member participation
and I think that spark has started. I look forward to watching it grow. The turnout was about average
to what it has been in the past in most areas but a little larger in others. We had a lot of the
regulars at the meetings and a lot of new faces that are just coming into the industry so over all, and
after receiving some feedback, I think we’re moving in the right direction.
So, for those that could not make a meeting; what did we talk about? We talked about
what the association does for its members. The fact that yes, we provide training and spoke of changes
in our past curriculum. We provide not only appliance rebates for furnaces and hot water heaters,
but also for contractors building new construction and plumbers for replacing electric water heaters
with propane. We have rebates for Autogas vehicles that are purchased new or converted. We talked
about how we are your lobbyist in Springfield and the bills that we are watching to see how they
affect the industry, as well as help to position propane energy on the clean list. There are several bills
active for electric school buses and electric trucks that are right in the propane Autogas arena that we
are trying to get involved in. We talked about our new rebate web page that we are working on to make
our rebate program more user friendly for our membership and for us as well. That should be finished
very soon and when it is, we will be in contact with you to let you know.
One new program for 2023, is our intern program. There is a link to more details in
this newsletter. We are excited to make this available to you. Check out the link and if you have any
questions feel free to call the office and Renee or I will be more than happy to explain the program.
We feel this has the potential to bring some new employees into the propane industry that may not have
considered it before. This is a new program that other state associations are watching to see if it is
something that they can benefit from as well. It feels good for Illinois to be looked at as leader for new
ideas in our industry. I hope you will take advantage of this program.
We will be hosting a retirement open house for John in May to thank him for all of his years
of work that he has put into the association. We are in the process of making the arrangements and
will post all the information in the next edition of the IPGA Heat Source. We are going to try to make
this newsletter our primary way of communication with you all so please let us know what you think
about it and if you have any ideas or even criticism.
To wrap things up, there is a question in this newsletter that pertains to an article or link.
For everyone that responds with the right answer we will draw for a little prize just as a way to have
a little fun. Keep watching for future editions with updates and things going on in our industry.

Thank You for all that you do. Be Safe Out There!

Brad