As an association, ASA exists solely for us, the members. And when entering into the strategic planning process nearly two years ago, your association dedicated itself to receiving more input from its members to help it operate better, and in turn, serve you better.

As part of this process - and as a result of member feedback - ASA will return to a "one check" system for collecting membership dues. On a basic level, if you reside in one of our 14 affiliate areas, you will be required to join the local ASA chapter and/or affiliate and national level of the association. ASA will be stronger because of this action. This move ultimately unifies your organization and positions ASA to more effectively respond to its members, both nationally and locally.

For the nearly 12,000 existing members, whether you joined on the national, state or local level, the monetary change will not be felt until 2005. But for the next year, our pledge is to prove the additional dues are well worth the investment. Beginning April 1 and throughout this year, we will all belong to ASA at all levels. We are no longer associated with the national group or our local state group. We are the "new" ASA, stronger than ever and unified under one umbrella.

For members who joined on the national level, your local ASA organization will begin to extend invitations to you to participate in local events. You will be able to take part in benefit programs that the national organization could not offer because they were created solely for a geographic region. For members who joined exclusively on the local level, ASA is extending all national benefits to you. To all of you, I welcome you to your second issue of AutoInc. magazine - one of many ASA national benefits - and hope you find the content within these pages as useful as I do.

ASA completely understands that the additional dues can be burdensome, especially in today's economy. To that end, ASA has invested a lot of time, money and energy into creating a flexible billing program that will allow you to pay for your membership in a number of convenient ways. This flexibility will include quarterly payments that can be automatically deducted from your credit card or checking account.

As many longtime ASA members can attest, this return to an all-inclusive dues structure is advantageous to the entire organization. One of ASA's best recruiting efforts has always come from its members. Since dissolving this initial dues structure nearly six years ago, the number of members recruiting other members has dropped dramatically; due in part to the confusion created when we separated from the "one check" system. Now you can return to recruiting for one ASA group, united in changing the automotive repair industry for the better. And as the great warrior Sun Tzu wrote 2,400 years ago in his book, "The Art of War," "He whose ranks are united in purpose will be victorious."

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