AMEM celebrated its’ 51st annual Fall Training Conference, September 18-21, 2011, at Breezy Point, MN. Over 350 members and emergency management partners from around the state participated in this year’s event, which included several state certification courses and a wide variety of general and concurrent training session. AMEM thanks its Conference Planning Committee and Conference Coordinator Margaret Geisler for another great conference, and our conference faculty for their valuable contributions to the conference’s training curriculum.

AMEM Officers for 2011 – 2012

The following officers were elected to lead our association during the coming year: President John Bowen, Crow Wing County; First Vice President Ken Carlson, Carver County; Second Vice President Brenda Wodele, Wabasha County; and Judge Advocate Julie Peterson, Watonwan County.

Annual AMEM Awards

Bryan Green, Clay County, was named State Director of the Year at this year’s AMEM Awards Banquet. Fran Bigaouette, Minnesota Department of Transportation, was named State Non-Director of the Year. And Don Ericson, (Kandiyohi County) and Ulie Seal (City of Bloomington) were presented the President’s Award for their contributions to the Association and to emergency management in Minnesota over the past year by outgoing President Terry Stoltzman. Also recognized was Tim Thomas, Itasca County, who retired this past June, for his career service as President of the Arrowhead Emergency Manager’s Association (Northeast Minnesota Region II) and Sergeant-at-Arms of AMEM.

This year’s Outstanding Elected Official award was presented to Curt Kalk, Secretary-Treasurer of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe; the Outstanding Media Partner award was presented to Jorge Sosa of the “Hutchinson Leader” newspaper; and the Integrated Emergency Management System (IEMS) awards were presented to Mike Hennen, Renville County; Ann Traxler, Le Sueur County; and Jeff Johnson, Jackson County.

In addition, 24 of our emergency management partners from around the state, having completed their course requirements, received their Minnesota Emergency Management Professional Certification from HSEM Director Kris Eide. They include:

Arel, Joe MN Dept. of Employment and Economic Dev.

Berglund, Douglas – Forest Lake Fire Department

Chamberlain, Shawn - MSP Airport Police Department

Farace, Michael – Ramsey County HSEM

Garsombke, Kate – University of Minnesota EM

Gervais, Butch – Maplewood Fire Department

Gilsrud, Timonthy – Coon Rapids Fire Department

Haass, Rebecca – National Park Service (WI)

Held II, John – Maplewood Public Safety

Jaramillo, Josefina – Steele County CERT

Jones, Dennis D. – St. Paul Fire and Safety Services

Jungmann, Bernard – Burnsville Fire Department

Koppi, Virginia – University of Minnesota Medical Center

Kotewa, James – Fairmont Police Department

McPherson, Christine – City of Minneapolis 911

Nelson, David A – Edina Police Department

Nelson, Douglas D. – Burnsville Fire Department

Paulseth, Stacy – Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office

Roman, Diana – Minneapolis Emergency Preparedness

Schaefer, Simon – MN National Guard

Skinner, Joseph – Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office

Stenger, Don – Burnsville Police Department

Van Dam, John A – North Memorial Ambulance Service

Vang, Xue – St. Paul Emergency Management

AMEM Platform for 2012

The AMEM membership endorsed its’ goals and objectives for 2012. The association will be pursuing these goals and objectives as we continue to plan, prepare, and advocate for emergency management in Minnesota.

Goal # 1: Provide leadership in emergency preparedness and the profession of Emergency Management. Objectives: Establish and maintain a collaborative and consistent professional relationship with partner associations, organizations and agencies in emergency management; Research and establish core competencies for emergency management based on guidance and standards; Identify metrics for emergency management.

Goal # 2: Implement the legislative platform and pathway for 2011-2012. Objectives: Continue progress on local disaster relief legislation; AMEM Regional Representatives host a legislative meeting in their region with emergency managers and elected officials and staff prior to the start of the legislative session; Monitor and advise membership on legislative initiatives and changes in the area of emergency management.

Goal # 3: Identify and document statewide unique specialty resources in the areas of unique personnel skills, specialty equipment, and location identification.

Looking Forward

Planning will begin soon for next year’s annual AMEM Training Conference which is scheduled for September 16-19, 2012, at Breezy Point.