Finally, back to some normalcy. It’s been over a year, but finally MTM Board and Committee members are together again. Maybe 2/3’s of the members were at the MTM office and 1/3 via Zoom. It was great to see our Board and Committee members. It was like a family reunion. At the May 20th Board meeting Joe Keppler, MTM Chairman of the
Board welcomed our new Board member Barry Kavanagh. Barry might hit a memory cell for you because about 3 years ago I introduced him as a new Board Finance Committee member.

Here’s a refresher: Barry received his bachelor degree from Waterford Institute of Technology in his native Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the main accountancy body in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia. He also holds a certified management accounting certification from the U.S. Institute of Management Accountants. Barry has been involved with MTM for nearly 15 years. At the beginning we worked with Barry when he was the Controller at a Lansing member’s shop. For the last 8 years, Barry has been the VP of Finance at Avalon & Tahoe Mfg. Inc. That company name might sound familiar too. Avalon & Tahoe is a high end Michigan manufacturer of pontoon boats. They make virtually everything on their boats except the motors and gauges. It is a fascinating company. The company won the Michigan Manufacturers Association “Michigan Manufacturer of the Year” award for 2019.

Well, back to Barry. After two and a half years of successful work on the Board Finance Committee, the Board asked him to join them on the full Board. Consistent with Barry’s enthusiasm on the Board Finance Committee, he agreed to the new position as long as he could retain his Board Finance Committee assignment. The Chairman of the Board of MTM approved his request. Barry has been a valuable contributor to the Board Finance Committee, and we are expecting that same solid contribution to the full MTM Board.

Lastly, with many of our in person activities resuming, we are planning the Annual Member’s Meeting October 21st (11 a.m. – 2 p.m.). As it has been for the last 6 years, the get together will be held at The Inn at St. Johns, Plymouth, Michigan. The Inn is a first class location and there is no “convention food” served. All Board and Committee members attend this meeting as does the entire MTM staff. We hope you can join us.