The Report to Members that follows this section describes highlights from 2024, but there also was a significant effort by Association volunteers and staff to position WAI—which this year celebrates its 95th anniversary—to be a responsive body for the industry.

Those efforts led to the creation of the Centennial Plan presented to the WAI’s BoD last October. In it, four pillars were identified as crucial: an Education & Training Center; trade shows & conferences; WJI and WAI media platform; and member users/customers.

Key beliefs of the mission include that wire drawing and extrusion are specific processes that cannot be serviced by other industry associations; that technology, digital platforms and AI are paramount; and that in-person events will remain important to hybrid workforces.

It follows that WAI members and customers will be willing to pay for value, but to provide that the Association must engage Gen Z and millennials by a focus on digital platforms, ESG and sustainability.

That is where the four pillars come in. WAI’s focus is on becoming the industry’s preferred training resource and those are the pillars.

For education and training, it is transferring content from its Fundamental’s course, an advanced extrusion course and deploying an industry-specific Learning Management System.

For trade shows and conferences, WAI will deliver high-value content that informs and engages the industry, the goal being to increase attendance and support the training program.

For WJI and media platform, it will provide a digital presence that supports the magazine and training program with a new website.

For membership/customers, the goal is to increase those numbers and establish a revenue stream that funds/maintains the Association’s mission.

The year to come for WAI is both ambitious and exciting. You can expect to see multiple updates here.