Leesburg, Va., Aug. 22, 2024 — A total of 51 SkillsUSA state association leaders gathered in Fort Worth, Texas last week for their annual State Directors Association (SDA) professional conference. The event began with training for new state directors on Sunday and Monday, Aug. 11 and 12. On Tuesday, Aug. 13 state director refresher training was held. The conference officially opened Tuesday afternoon with the SDA Business Meeting and concluded on Thursday, Aug. 15. Learning sessions included career competitions, the new SkillsUSA Drive to 65 strategic plan for 2025-2030, conference management, negotiating and contracts, membership growth strategies and more. SkillsUSA sponsoring partners for the event were CBRE, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Roofing Contractors Association and Transfr, Inc.
At the conference, State Standard of Excellence Awards were presented to 45 state associations. SkillsUSA’s State Standards of Excellence Program has experienced amazing growth over the past eight years. The program’s purpose is to ensure state associations have policies, procedures and structures in place so they can deliver a high level of service to their members. The program is not competitive but serves as a way for individual states to benchmark their performance and identify improvements so they can best serve their SkillsUSA students and teachers. Congratulations to the state SkillsUSA directors who provide leadership for these award-winning state associations.
Recognized for achieving the Bronze Standard of Excellence and establishing a baseline for a healthy association were these state SkillsUSA associations: Arkansas, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi HS, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin HS.
Recognized for achieving the Silver Standard of Excellence to assure the sustainability of a healthy association were these state associations: Arizona, Louisiana HS, Nevada, Tennessee HS, Wisconsin CPS, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Reaching the pinnacle of achievement by successfully achieving the Gold Standard of Excellence to ensure the continuous growth of their association were these states: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia CPS, Georgia HS, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana CPS, Massachusetts, Maine, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York HS, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee CPS, Texas CPS, Texas HS, Utah and Washington.
To see photos from the 2024 SDA conference, visit: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBEhzd.
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