Enhancing member service and communication to build upon a 60-year record of accomplishment.

• Author: Rossi, Raymond G.
• Position: Tax Executives Institute

What a full, momentous year this has been for tax executives and Tax Executives Institute. TEI's last Annual Meeting of Members was held in August 2002 amid much talk of the justenacted Sarbanes-Oxley Act whose full implications on the tax community, while unknown, promised to be far reaching. Other topics commanding attention were the government's efforts on tax shelters; legislative proposals on subjects as diverse as international tax reform, requiring CEOs to sign tax returns, and the public disclosure of tax returns; and Treasury Department initiatives to promulgate common sense and practical capitalization rules and final research tax credit regulations. Yes, when the Institute's Board of Directors convened last summer, the agenda was daunting, even without consideration of our internal objectives to conduct a membership satisfaction survey, offer more distance-learning and other top-notch educational programs, and advance the long-term objective to build a world-class website.

A Job Well Done

The far-reaching, overflowing agenda might have made some blanch. Hence, it was fortunate that it was Drew Glennie of the Calgary Chapter who became TEI's president last August. Drew oversaw the Institute's operations with the equanimity of the seasoned manager he is. He set broad, but clear, objectives, and he assembled a team of volunteers whose collective efforts enabled the Institute to make good progress on all fronts--progress made despite an economic environment that sometimes made volunteering difficult and personal challenges that might prompt less dedicated volunteers to withdraw. On advocacy, TEI remained a champion for the business tax community, especially on matters relating to the Large and Mid-Size Business Division. On education, TEI held one outstanding program after another, including a telephone seminar on Sarbanes-Oxley that attracted more than a thousand listeners. On networking, TEI remained without peer, locally, nationally, and internationally.

As I succeed Drew as the Institute's president at TEI's 2003 Annual Meeting of Members, I commend him on his outstanding leadership and service. I especially congratulate him on making TEI's number one goal the promotion of our members' professionalism. In this time of challenge, TEI owed its members nothing less.

The Job Ahead

In moving TEI forward during his term, Drew Glennie followed a path of accomplishment blazed by his predecessors during the previous six decades. It is a...