Board Elections are Almost Here!
It's that time of year! The annual Board of Directors election for PSIA-AASI Northern Rocky Mountain will be held soon. This year, we have two open seats.
Statements from each candidate have been included in this issue of The Stoke.
A link to the ballot will be sent via email to all current Northern Rocky members in early March.
Ballots must be completed by April 5.
If you have any questions, please contact the division office at 406-581-6139 or
info@psia-nrm.org.
Board Candidate - Craig Beam
Fellow Snowsports Professionals,
My name is Craig Beam. I am the Snowsports Manager at Red Lodge Mountain Resort. This is my 17th consecutive season at RLM.
Many of you know me, as I have attended Fall Fest for the last thirteen years. I served on the Board of Directors for PSIA-AASI NRM from 2011 through 2014.
During that time, I acted as Secretary for the organization. I was elected to the Board a second time in 2017 and have served as the Vice President of NRM
for the last five years.
During my association with the Board, we have successfully built an organization that is financially healthy.
The Board has adopted policies which ensure our financial stability into the future. The Board has also developed a sustainable Education Foundation
that offers school grants and individual scholarships. These grants and scholarships have been vital to the inclusion of small schools that have inadequate
training budgets. This funding has opened up the benefits of PSIA/AASI to schools that would otherwise be left behind. Recruitment and retention of instructors
across the division improves when instructors can participate in education and certification events. Speaking from experience, it is difficult to justify the
expense of membership and Ed credits when you barely make gas and beer money on an instructor’s salary!
The bulk of my current job at Red Lodge Mountain is spent teaching all levels of students, including first time 3 year olds. When I’m not teaching,
I’m in the Learning Area supporting our instructors of all disciplines. I truly understand the needs of the membership of NRM.
Some of my other qualifications for this position include:
Current owner of two successful businesses.
Served on the Red Lodge City Council (Public Works Chair)
Served on the BOD of the Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce (Marketing Chair)
Beartooth Front Community Forum Steering Committee
37 years of business management experience
My priorities on the BOD are member focused. One of our biggest challenges at NRM is communication.
We continue to work through changes in our management structure at NRM. Judging from input from schools across the division,
communication with our members needs improvement. Balancing member expectations and financial realities is difficult, but must be achieved.
We are currently working with National to better meet member needs, especially regarding communication. While we have a lot of work yet to do,
progress is being made. The Policy Governance structure recently adopted by NRM will give board members more time to focus on improving the member experience.
I pledge to work diligently to ensure that we continue to improve member satisfaction in all areas. Please honor me with your vote!
Craig Beam (Beamer)
Hello NRM members, my name is Jim Mikulich and I would appreciate your consideration to serve a 3rd term on the board of directors.
I have been a member of PSIA for over 30 years, and have a back ground of working as a full time, and part time ski instructor.
I have worked at both small and large resorts during my career in snow sports. Currently I work at Big Sky Resort as a full-time instructor.
I have served as Clinician/Examiner for two divisions, and I am currently a member of the NRM education staff.
Serving our membership as part of the education team has allowed me the opportunity to get know and better understand the needs of our membership.
I feel that this back ground gives me the understanding of the wide scope of our memberships needs.