While the survey responses contained few surprises, the results identified several intriguing areas on which the SIG will focus its efforts in the future. For example, most consultants indicated the desire to grow their business, but 25 percent of respondents were looking to retire in the next five years. And while 80 percent of consultant respondents carried errors and omissions insurance, only 18 percent were currently covered by the AIHA-endorsed policy offered through Hayes Affinity Group. Surprisingly, 82 percent of those surveyed said they had not used or did not know about the ConsultSIG’s example consulting services agreement (available at http://bit.ly/aihaconsultsig).

In response to questions about activities related to the ConsultSIG volunteer group, 60 percent of respondents said they would consider attending a roundtable event at a future AIHce. And more than 40 percent showed interest in a ConsultSIG newsletter, a networking event, a professional development course, or contribution to an article in The Synergist®.

The ConsultSIG will focus future efforts on the items that stood out in the survey results, concentrating on items that we are able to accomplish in the short term. To that end, our volunteer group is looking forward to providing a roundtable session at AIHce 2015 for consultants that would cover in-depth discussion of survey results; small business consulting strategies, including marketing and social media for IH consultants; and networking and social time. The ConsultSIG also plans to partner with the American Board of Industrial Hygiene to produce a marketing brochure focused on the value of CIH consultants.

We welcome anyone to the group who would like to participate, and we look forward to meeting you at the roundtable session in Salt Lake City.

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/aihaconsultsig.