March/April 1994
Cap Grossman, ISRI’s incoming president, aspires to build a better ReMA by retaining the association’s current strengths and contributing a few new ideas of his own.
By Elise R. Browne
Elise R. Browne is editor of Scrap Processing and Recycling.
"I don't believe in changing simply for change's sake," says Cap Grossman, who, come March 19, becomes the fourth president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) (Washington, D.C.). Thus, he says, over the next two years—during his term as the industry's top leader—"We'll certainly carry on the programs that are working well." Nevertheless, he adds, "We'll also look for ways to improve our services and our effectiveness, all in an effort to build a better ISRI."
Plans for Planning
One of the top items on Grossman's list of goals is to take a new strategic look at ReMA and its members—"who we are, where we're going, what we need," as he puts it. It's been seven years since the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel (ISIS) and the National Association of Recycling Industries (NARI) merged to form ReMA and four since the organization last completed a thorough self-examination through a strategic plan, he notes, which means it's time to reevaluate these factors and make strategic planning an ongoing process.
"We're part of a changing industry," says Grossman, who's also president and chief executive officer of Grossman Iron & Steel Co. (St. Louis), "and we have to be in touch with this evolution to know how to best shape the association."
Thus, he hopes to steer ReMA in the strategic planning direction again, enabling its volunteer leaders and staff to gain insight into the membership today and down the road by appraising such influences as the impact of government regulations on the industry. With this information, he maintains, the association should be better equipped not only to serve its members in the near term, but also to map out long-range membership and financial plans.
As for his other plans for the next two years, Grossman points out that most will address issues ReMA has long emphasized. Risk management is one matter the association will especially stress during his administration, he says, noting that the industry labors under huge workers' compensation premiums and loss ratios. "What this means," Grossman explains, "is that our employees are getting hurt," adding that "it's imperative for us to do everything in our power to keep our people safe and healthy-it's intolerable if we don't."
Promoting Member Involvement
Of course, another of Grossman's top agenda items is to continue addressing the big legislative and regulatory issues ReMA has been facing in recent years—such as reauthorization of Superfund and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as well as storm water runoff rules.
To properly manage these issues, however, scrap recyclers need to understand that "ISRI isn't just a staff in D.C. employed to do things for us," he says. "ISRI has to be an association whose members do things for themselves." This is particularly critical on the state level, Grossman asserts, so one of his key efforts will be to help members understand and follow through with state issues. "There simply isn't enough in the national budget to deal with all the issues in all the states," he says. While ReMA's staff can certainly assist in these efforts, "members can accomplish different goals thanks to their strength in numbers and scrap industry knowledge," he notes. "If ReMA is to truly be a member-driven organization, members must show their commitment on state issues."
To ensure progress in this area, Grossman plans to "pound home" the need for member involvement whenever he visits chapters. "I'm not afraid to be redundant," he says. "If people don't get it, the association is hurt." In addition, he hopes that scheduling more board meetings around chapter meetings will give ReMA the opportunity "to show a bigger audience that the association is about members."
Another way to boost member involvement and ensure that state matters are adequately addressed is by examining ReMA's chapter system "to see what works and what doesn't," he says. There are a couple of facets of the current chapter structure Grossman particularly wants to analyze: First, some chapters encompass only parts of states, while others cover entire states—and even a number of states. Second, membership numbers—and, hence, leadership potential—also vary widely among the chapters. These inequities can mean that the concerns of members in some states are not adequately or consistently represented, and "this affects our ability to achieve results at the state level," Grossman says.
The Benefits of Education and Training
"Education and training is going to be one of the foundations of my administration," Grossman states, and there's no surprise there, considering that he first got involved in association activities through ISIS's education and training programs. He began by leading workshops for the association in the late 1970s, when he first moderated a transportation seminar, and he stayed involved at that level for years.
Working on ISIS's education and training sessions led Grossman to serve in officer positions for ISIS's St. Louis Chapter (now the Mid-America Chapter of ISRI), and this experience steered him to run for-and win-the ISIS national secretary seat in 1986. Since the ISIS/NARI merger, Grossman has moved up the ranks of the ReMA officer corps to reach the top spot he'll occupy for the next two years.
During this time, his education and training aspirations will be to help members expand their knowledge in such critical areas as risk management, lobbying, state and federal legislative issues, and business management. "The goal is to identify the areas we need to emphasize to help our members remain viable and effectively communicate our industry's concerns to external parties," Grossman says.
Emphasizing Service
There's a touch of irony in Grossman's becoming president of ReMA because this 41-year-old executive—who will be the association's youngest president and perhaps the youngest ever elected by ReMA's predecessor organizations as well—almost quit the scrap business after his first three days of full-time work.
On March 18, 1975, a few years after graduating from Yale University—where he majored in American studies (with a concentration in Southern fiction) and lettered in baseball—Grossman started working in his father's scrap plant as a management trainee. It was a Wednesday, he recalls, and the weather in St. Louis was miserable—sleet and a high of 10 degrees F. It didn't get any better the following two days, and so he decided on Friday afternoon that that would be his last day of work. But as luck would have it, spring weather blew in that weekend, and Grossman figured he'd give the family business another shot on Monday.
Less than four months later, fate pushed him further into the business. The company's plant manager was killed in a car wreck, and Grossman suddenly became head of operations. How did he manage this instant responsibility? One thing he had on his side, he points out, was the respect of the men out in the plant. He bad worked shoulder-to-shoulder with them for the previous months, as well as during summers while he was in school, "and they knew I wouldn't ask them to do anything I wouldn't do myself," he says. He also got through by working long hours, rising at 4 a.m. and working until 9 p.m.
Today, almost 19 years later, he's cut that schedule down a bit—getting up at 4 a.m. and working until only 7 p.m.—but he still faces plenty of challenges at Grossman Iron & Steel. Many of these challenges, he says, mirror those he'll have to cope with as ReMA's top elected official.
One of the biggest demands confronting him in both of his leadership roles, for instance, is "establishing and maintaining a culture and atmosphere that encourages people to be creative and committed," he says. "I need to be able to inspire my employees, the ReMA staff, and members." In a related vein, he points to the challenge of motivating these different groups to deliver customer service-his employees must offer value and quality to the company's suppliers and consumers, while ReMA staff, along with chapter presidents and committee chairman, need to meet members' needs. The reason for this emphasis on service is simple, Grossman notes: "Without customers, we wouldn't exist."
When it comes to motivating ReMA's staff in Washington, the association's incoming president concedes that he faces an additional geographic challenge: Like his predecessor, Arnold Gachman of Gachman Metals & Recycling Co. (Fort Worth, Texas), but unlike the previous ReMA presidents, who were from the Mid-Atlantic area, Grossman will have to manage from a distance. Yet while this presents an obstacle, he doesn't think it's a troublesome one. "The ReMA staff needs to know what our objectives are and what services to deliver to members," he says, "then it's up to them to deliver." Meanwhile, he says he'll do his part by being as clear as possible in articulating those directions and following up to see that his expectations are met without micromanaging. "I'd just as soon be a cheerleader," he notes, adding, "Over the years, I've found that ReMA's staff is capable and always comes through."
Pursuing a Shared Vision
With all these goals, what does Grossman most want to be remembered for two years from now, when he passes the baton to the next ReMA president? He pauses for a moment, then answers: "I hope we'll see that at the outset we knew where we were and wanted to go and at end we can say we reached our goals because we understood the roadmap." And that's not just an aim he has for himself-his real aspiration is to accomplish these goals as a group with other ReMA members and staff, achieving what he calls a "shared vision."•
Cap Grossman, ISRI’s incoming president, aspires to build a better ReMA by retaining the association’s current strengths and contributing a few new ideas of his own.