There are over 25 technical committees dedicated to supporting the CGA mission of providing technical and safety information through standard development. These committees are important to continue pushing the CGA mission forward, as well as  their individual missions, but there is another important committee that supports CGA’s mission from another perspective.

In 2020, the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) initiated a new Young & Emerging Professionals Committee (YEP) to provide opportunities for CGA member employees aged 45 years and under to expand their industry knowledge, build relationships, and develop their professional skills. In addition, individuals who are new to the industry find this committee a way to transition into the work of the technical committees. The YEP Committee is one of several initiatives CGA is taking to solidify the continued availability of experts needed to support our safety mission.

The Young & Emerging Professionals Committee’s current leadership is Jim Reebel (Air Products & Chemicals), Chair, and Kyle Elam (3M), Vice Chair. Jim and Kyle bring strong leadership skills to this committee as they have both chaired CGA technical committees, Environmental and Process Safety, respectively.

The committee focuses on four main areas to support its members as they transition onto technical committees and as they grow in the industry. Those areas are formally recognized as task forces under the committee and are as follows:

• Leadership & Professional Development (Non-technical) – This task force focuses on the needs of today’s YEPs and identifies areas of non-technical education the committee can focus on for members.
• Member Onboarding & Training – This task force focuses on the transition from “new to CGA/YEP” to participation on a CGA technical committee.
• Networking – This task force plans opportunities for engaging with YEPs at CGA events.
• Technical Education – This task force’s main focus is on the YEP Summit – a series of educational webinars presented annually. This year’s summit is planned for August 6, 8, 13, and 15. For more information, please click here.

In addition, there is a fifth task force, the YEP Leadership Steering Task Force which is composed of the committee’s current and past leadership, and the chairs of the four task forces. Their purpose is to integrates the strategic initiatives of the YEP Committee into the individual task forces’ missions.

Mikaela Zallen and Christina Hartz support the work and growth of the YEP Committee. If you have questions or would like to join this committee, please contact Mikaela Zallen, CGA Standards & Committee Administrator, mzallen@cganet.com. In addition, if you have questions about task force work, please contact Christina Hartz, chartz@cganet.com.