Meet the new DHI president 2007-2008.

TO THIS DAY, I REMEMBER A CERTAIN ENGLISH PROFESSOR IN COLLEGE. He was young, had a full beard, dark hair and he was not much more then ten years older then me. One day in the first few weeks of class he said, "Mr. Gerbing, what are you doing here if you are not interested in what I am teaching?"

Unfortunately, I had not been particularly attentive to his classes or his homework assignments and he was getting tired of it. Sensitive to having been criticized in front of a whole classroom of my peers, that night I read the professor's assignment and analyzed the reading. The next day in class, much to his shock, I volunteered to explain what had been written. He listened to my explanation of the entire writing, never once interrupting me. At the end, he complimented me on my efforts and then read the author's interpretation of the writing to our class.

My explanation was completely opposite of what the author had intended.

Two things happened. First, it intrigued me that I could interpret the story completely backwards and yet have my professor be very complimentary and proud of the effort put forth. Second, from that day forward, I started paying more attention and became more interactive in my classes.

That experience was the first time that I had actively and consciously used my mind for something creative and constructive. It's a little scary that it took until college to do so, but perhaps it will give you hope for all of your children who are following a similar path.

That professor would become my first mentor, outside of my family, and what a terrific mentor he was. Since than, there have been a number of wonderful mentors in my life. Several years later, my Chief in the Navy would encourage me to go back and finish college. Of course, there have also been many others directly related to the door and hardware industry.

I have been with Builders' Hardware & Supply for almost my entire career in the door and hardware industry. While enrolled at The University of Washington School of Architecture in 1966 after finishing my two years in the Navy, I became somewhat dissatisfied with what I was learning and asked the Dean if he could give me the name of an architect that I might work for to get a better feel for the industry I was preparing to enter. He happened to have one request, not from an architect, but from a company looking for someone with an interest in architecture. A few days later, I was interviewing with that company, sitting across the desk from Shirley Henry, AHC of Builders' Hardware & Supply. We had a four hour interview and, as they say, "The rest is history."

Shirley was the first and most influential of my industry mentors, but far from the last. Another was Bob Spargo, the first factory salesman with whom I worked. Bob was a terrific teacher and within a short period of time, thanks to one particular architect, we were nicknamed "The Dynamic Duo." If the truth were to be told, though, Bob was the "dynamic" and I was the "duo."

There have been other mentors who were competitors. Walt McAninch, who started Contract Hardware in Seattle, was one. He was a great example of how a professional in our industry behaves and operates a business.

While in my early thirties, and attending a regional convention in Hawaii, I was sitting on a couch waiting for our group to assemble. A tall, older, distinguished gentleman with very white hair sat down next to me. He asked me for my thoughts on the industry and how I liked working in it. He listened and we talked back and forth until it was time to leave. I had respected this man from afar but had never had the courage to introduce myself. He was Dan Hay, the owner of a successful distributor of commercial and residential hardware in Los Angeles. He was also very well respected in our industry. The fact that he walked up to a younger, unknown in our industry and asked my opinion has always impressed me. Today BH & S still uses some of his recipes for success for our procedures in our Commercial Department and Custom Residential Department.

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Sometimes a mentor can be just a glancing contact. Mentors often never realize the impact they make on your life. They are not trying to be a mentor. They are just sharing information on something that they have a passion about.

There are many people in our industry that I have learned from and worked with over the years. The last eight DHI Presidents come to mind, starting with my good friend Dan Heinz who was president of DHI in 1997/1998. It was Dan who first recruited me into National involvement with DHI.

So with all of this said, it should be somewhat clear that I value the key role that mentors play in our industry. Fortunately, during my term as president of DHI, the Operational Plan calls for a recommendation to be presented to the DHI Board of Governors, outlining the creation of a formalized mentoring program for our industry. Currently, there are many models available for us to consider and I am hopeful that we can create a system which will allow our younger industry personnel to learn from a generation who has spent a lifetime in our industry.

We all know that finding qualified people for our industry is one of our greatest challenges. It is not enough to just hire bright new people, we need to make sure that the training they receive will allow them to quickly progress in our industry.

Over the last several years, we have put in place changes to our educational delivery system and certification program to make it easier for us to train the future professionals of our industry. A mentoring program would be a natural extension of this effort. And the good news is that there is already a strong supply of qualified individuals who can provide mentoring and education guidance for the future generations of our industry.

This fall, DHI is releasing a DVD which can be utilized by our members to attract the next generation to our industry. Our industry is in transition! No longer are we just writing specifications and supplying products, but we are making a difference in life safety and security in buildings, every day. It has become an exciting industry and we now have a better chance to attract the next generation. The lives of the under 25 generation have been defined by tragedies such as Columbine, September 11th and Virginia Tech. Our industry is now positioned to play a role in safely securing our society and this will appeal to the under 25 generation.

Of course, one of the most exciting undertakings for our industry is driven by the new code requirements of NFPA 80--the annual inspection of fire door assemblies. As I hope you experienced at the DHI Conference in Nashville, our industry has a marvelous opportunity before us. Every company needs to consider if they will play a role in performing annual inspections of fire door assemblies and, if so, what that role will be. This opportunity puts us in front of the end-user and creates value for the knowledge that we possess as professionals in the eyes of fire officials, architects and building owners. Also, it provides several additional revenue streams such as inspections and service agreements.

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The leadership is pleased with the new Fire Door Assembly Inspection Class that was launched at the DHI show in Nashville. Designed to help students understand the role and responsibilities of the inspectors, which is equally as important as understanding what is being inspected, this class properly qualifies individuals to perform inspections. Furthermore, the infrastructure that DHI was instrumental in developing will assist our members in incorporating this new business model into their existing one.

In addition, DHI is endorsing a new insurance program, which not only supports this initiative, but our general businesses as well. A detailed overview of the program was offered at this year's Forum for the Future and I hope you were able to attend and learn more about the ways this program can lower your risk through customized insurance details policies and risk education.

Clearly, DHI is on the move and I am pleased that during my term these exciting initiatives are being launched.

DHI has rebuilt the education and certification system for our industry. We are continuing to work on strengthening the chapters. Our Foundation is promoting the important role our industry plays in advancing life safety and security. We have a lot going on and plenty to keep me and our association staff busy without adding more to the plate ... but that has always been the mantra of the leadership- keep moving forward on behalf of the industry!

Thank you so much for this opportunity to serve you as the president of DHI this coming year. Also, I want to publicly thank, in advance, my staff and family who will be supporting me during this journey. Finally, I want to say thank you to the many mentors in my life who have had such a profound influence on me and who I'm sure never imagined that I would be president of our industry's Association!

DOUGLAS E. GERBING, AHC, FDHI, CSI