"The State of the Association".

As your Executive Director, I have been busy in the background of MNA. As you can see from the first Pulse publication of 2008, we are in our new facility. The staff of MNA and I extend our thank you to all of the members of Montana Nurses Association for providing such a professional and aesthetically pleasing facility for us to work from.

Nearly 5000 square feet of professional office space provides workspace for management, the labor department, our continuing education department, and accounting services. In addition there are two large meeting rooms which will be fully equipped for professional board meetings and classroom instruction. Our designated building committee did a wonderful job of designing appropriate space and coordinating the construction resulting in a very modern and professional association headquarters.

I am proud to announce that membership continues to climb and organizing opportunities are blooming in all districts within the state. We have hired a new Labor Director, Ronald Stormer, who comes to us with more then twenty years in the labor movement. The addition of his skill set will have a very positive impact on growth and bargaining outcomes.

Our CE department is in full run with CE certifications trending ahead of prior years and in preparation for Certification Site Visits expected in the second half of the year. Our new facility resources and expected regulatory changes place MNA at the forefront of some new and exciting opportunities in CE offerings.

Our membership base is fully active and we continue to make improvements in accuracy. I ask each of you to access your information on the ANA web site, www.nursingworld.org, and verify its accuracy. Please send your updated information to us at the MNA office at [e-mail]. We will update the state association database and forward the information to ANA. We are specifically hoping to improve the membership email base in order to better disseminate information at drastically reduced costs.

In collective bargaining, I was troubled to advise the membership base that we had disaffiliated from the United American Nurses (UAN). MNA has long valued the relationship with the ANA and for about the last eight years we held a close and valued connection to the UAN. Over the last year or so changes occurring between both entities forced the leadership of MNA to review and contemplate these two relationships. After much discussion and following a recommendation of the E&GW council, the Board of Directors of MNA voted unanimously to sever the affiliation with the UAN. In order to provide the highest level of raid security and affiliate support, MNA consummated a local affiliate relationship with the Montana State AFLCIO. While the loss of one connection can leave us feeling a sense of insecurity, new connections and opportunities arise from this new local affiliation with the AFL-CIO.

In concluding my report, I feel like MNA is in sound shape and the fiscal side of MNA is running positive. We have new faces and a new location but the "voice of nurses in Montana" continues to be vibrant in all departments within MNA and all arenas in health care throughout the state. We look forward to a wonderful 2008 and are setting the stage for a very positive legislative session in early 2009.

Robert Allen, MNA Executive Director