President's Message

March 2010

Dear AZ Valley of the Sun Members:

Have you been thinking about getting your CMA certification? Have you started yet? The CMA exam process is changing. In May a new 2-part exam will be available. I am encouraged by the change and feel it will make the certification more accessible, while maintaining the value and integrity of the certification. If you have already taken one or two parts of the exam, there is a transition strategy that will benefit you. Please check out the chapter website and the National website for more information. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Amber or myself. Our contact information is on the chapter website.

The chapter has been very active in the community over the last month. We had a wonderful turn out for VITA training, where we trained to assist low income tax payers’ process their taxes. We also had a wonderful turnout for the Waste Management Open where our assistance benefited the Special Olympics. Thank you to everyone that braved the rain and cold on Sunday.

I hope that everyone is enjoying our new meeting venue. I am finding it to be a great venue for socializing and networking. We have a lot of great speakers planned, so I encourage you to invite a guest to the next technical meeting.

John Brausch, IMA Chair, was the speaker for our January chapter meeting.  John is very passionate about the IMA, and has been attending meetings since he was a child, attending with his father.  A huge thanks you to Bill Frazer for spending the last year and a half coordinating this wonderful speaker, and to Donna Demilia and Amber Arhnold for their valuable time planning the event.  Bill had a very eventful day planned for John, starting the day with a luncheon for our student chapter at Grand Canyon University.  John then went on two corporate visits, with the COO of Make A Wish foundation, and the CFO of Honeywell, to provide information on the value of the CMA, and how the Certified Management Accountant can benefit the corporations. 

If you are interested in getting more involved in the chapter, please email or call me. Our next meeting is at the Golden Buddha next Tuesday at 6:00pm. We are busy planning our next trip to the Wild West Council meeting. It will be in Las Vegas April 23rd through April 25th. It is a great way to find out what is going on in other chapters, and at the national level. It is also quite a lot of fun.

I look forward to seeing all of you for our next meeting in February. If you are interested in finding out more about chapter events, or getting more involved, please contact me. 

Sincerely,
Kathleen Moren
2009-2010 President
IMA AZ Valley of the Sun Chapter
623-363-7797