Looking Back 25 Years

I By Renee Schofield, CEO

Last month, I mentioned the person who told me I had lost my mind in thinking I could make this business work. It was disheartening and made me second-guess myself. If you know me, that kind of feeling sets my wheels in motion to prove the naysayers wrong. So I started working… hard.

I am a staunch believer in the Small Business Development Centers. Every state has an operation and I had used them before in Iowa, where I produced a monthly farm-related newspaper. I called the Alaska SBDC and was transferred to Jason Dineen. Jason and I reviewed my business plan, tweaked some things, and started working on visibility for TSS. I will be forever grateful for the things I learned from Jason – especially in the accounting area. It was and still is my least favorite thing to do. It’s critical to understand your numbers, be able to analyze where you need to make change and why. Jason also gave me some great ideas about how to communicate the value of what I do to the rest of the world. I have had other wonderful advisors at SBDC in Kimberlee Hayward (she has since passed away – far too early) and Linda Auger. Jon Bittner, who leads the Alaska SBDC also is a good resource when I want to look at business in the big picture. What I will say is that regardless of what stage of business you are in, SBDC always has something you can use. No question is too small!! Full disclosure, I am a member of the AK SBDC Advisory Board. 

Happy (almost) New Year!

| By Ginny Clay, Operations Manager

As we come to the end of the year, we always want to say a big thank you to our customers! We appreciate all of you and we are proud to serve as your consortium manager and as your collection site.

Enrollment

We are quickly gearing up for 2025, and that starts with renewing your enrollment. Enrollment contracts for 2025 were sent out in early November and are due back by December 31, 2024. Please take note, the remit to email is changing. You can now send your enrollment contract to myron@tss-safety.com. Myron McCord will be overseeing our consortium management going forward, and this is a great time for him to start getting to know you all. You can of course, also drop off or mail your enrollment to any of our offices!

Please make sure to make any updates in contact information and use this time to also send an updated employee list.

If you wish to be removed from the pool for the winter and have not notified us, please do so before the end of the year. If you have not enrolled or contacted TSS by the end of January, your company will be removed from the consortium, and you will need to re-test all safety-sensitive employees to rejoin the pool.

Standing Order

1. We are still anticipating oral fluid testing to be fully approved very soon. To ensure that we are all prepared, we have added the Standing Order form to our enrollment contract.

Don't become a holiday statistic!

Thirty percent of all traffic fatalities involve impaired driving. As we celebrate this festive time of year, it is crucial to raise awareness about impaired driving and share practical tips to prevent it.

According to Drivers Ed, 25% of adults report drinking more during the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. This period sees an estimated 25,000 injuries from alcohol-related crashes each year and 40% of highway deaths are alcohol-related, according to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In 2019, 390 people lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes during this period.

While drunk driving has decreased over the last 40 years, on average, 28 people still lose their lives in alcohol-related crashes every day, with increases during holiday periods. Plus, alcohol is not the only substance causing driver impairment. In recent years, according to NHTSA, there has been a sharp rise in weekend nigh-time drivers who tested positive for marijuana. A study conducted by NHTSA between 2019 and 2021 found that among drivers in trauma centers, approximately one-quarter had active THC in their system.

Prevention is key. To this end, two sober driving campaigns are happening during the month of December, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Association:

• “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”

• “If You Feel Different, You Drive Different – Drive High, Get a DUI”

These campaigns run from December 13th through January 1st. During this period, law enforcement will be stepping up patrols nationwide to get impaired drivers off the road. 

Coaching Corner: Make gift-giving intentional

By Renee Schofield, NO SPEED LIMIT

As a certified health and wellness coach, I am always gathering resources to help people live their best lives.

For many, one of the season’s major stressors is our obsession with finding the perfect gift. Although gift-giving is a joyful activity, full of best intentions, it can also take its toll on the gift-giver. Putting aside the normal holiday frenzy, the art of giving can be so challenging simply because there is so much. We are inundated with countless advertisements for products and offers — “buy one, get one,” “subscribe now for the best deal of the year,” “add on this extra bobble for a discount.” IT IS TOO MUCH!!! If you use social media at all, even a single click on something you like and suddenly your feed is full of promotions for a similar item! How do they do that? I don’t know.

What I do know is that for all my gift-giving, I want to be very intentional. Personally, I don’t want things. I want time and experiences. I want to share an hour over tea with my friends and family. I want to see things in person, that perhaps I have only seen in a movie or a book. I want to enjoy life every day, going to bed excited for what is to come tomorrow. So with that in mind, I am taking a mindful approach to my gift shopping for others. I shop local.