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COVER STORY From left to right, Jim Roche presents a 2009 EETC School of the Year award to Dale Drees, instructor, Fox Valley Technical College. Most Influential People in the Green Industry G reen Media, a division of M2MEDIA360 — publisher of Outdoor Power Equipment, Landscape and Irrigation, Arbor Age and SportsTurf — is proud to present the 2012 selections for "Most Influential People in the Green Industry." Green Media's "Most Influential People in the Green Industry" were nominated by their peers for their ongoing contributions to the Green Industry. The professionals selected for this honor were chosen from throughout the Green Industry, and exemplify a commitment to the industry and a widespread influence on their peers. Green Media congratulates all of those selected as "Most Influential People in the Green Industry." Jim Roche Executive Director Equipment & Engine Training Council, Inc. As executive director of the Equipment & Engine Training Council, Inc. (EETC) since 2000, Jim Roche has been responsible for handing out dozens of awards to his peers for their outstanding contributions to the EETC, a non-profit association whose mission is to address the shortage of qualified service technicians in the outdoor power equipment industry through education, certification and training. So, after all that Roche has accomplished with the EETC — as well as at the dealer, distributor and manufacturer levels during his nearly 35-year career in the OPE industry — it is rather fitting that he was selected as one of the "Most Influential People in the Green Industry," shortly before he retired on Dec. 17. "Jim Roche brought professionalism to the EETC in his role as Executive Director," said Jim Starmer, senior advisor, Servantage Dixie Sales. "He helped make the EETC an organization highly respected throughout the OPE industry, focused on the education and training of skilled technicians, for the benefit of all industry participants. It was a huge task, but Jim, with his wife Rachel at his side, succeeded 12 in providing professional leadership to the EETC, strengthening an organization that will benefit our industry for years to come. As a former board member of the EETC, I am honored and proud to have known and worked with Jim and Rachel, to be able to call them friends, and to thank them for what they have accomplished for our industry." And Roche is quick to acknowledge that his wife, Rachel, had a tremendous amount to do with his success. "Let me just say that when I married her, I married up," he said. "She is extremely intelligent. On top of that, she's extremely supportive. I could have never done it without her." The EETC was founded in 1996 and incorporated in 1997, with Virgil Russell serving as its first executive director until he underwent quadruple bypass surgery and stepped down in 2000. Roche stepped in and worked tirelessly to take the association to new heights. For starters, he developed a strategic plan for the EETC's mission, led the development and implementation of the EETC's school accreditation program, managed the EETC's national technician certification program, and launched the EETC's website, among many other things. Establishing the school accreditation program was not only one of Roche's proudest OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT accomplishments with the EETC, but it also set the tone for how he ultimately ran the association, which is a diverse group currently made up of approximately 450 industry professionals — including manufacturers, distributors, dealers, associations and educators. "It was a long, hard struggle because we had to have meetings with everybody, committee meetings, to kind of lay out what should be in that manual; and it took a lot of hard work and there was some 'taking off of the hat,' so to speak, and I'll use that terminology loosely," he said. "Each manufacturer or distributor walked in with his corporate hat on, and basically what we had to do was say, 'OK, well, take off your corporate hat.We're all working together for a common goal here.This common goal is going to help all of us, whether there's people that are not here from certain manufacturers or all of the people that are here.We're sharing information for a positive purpose, and that is to promote our industry and to supply the industry that is constantly growing and developing new products to having technicians that can repair them.' And so that was a big factor too is that everybody comes in, and you're no longer 'Bob from Husqvarna.' You're just 'Bob,' and everybody knows you, and it's like, 'Well, where does he work?'Well, it doesn't matter where he works. He's here to support the organization." Recognizing those who support the EETC and its mission has always been of the utmost importance to Roche, who established a formal awards reception/dinner, followed by live entertainment, on the final evening of the annual conference. Roche often became so overcome with emotion before or during the awards presentations that he would call on others to handle the honors on his behalf. When asked what makes the awards presentations such an emotional experience for him, Roche replied, "I've worked with these people for years.They've become family to me. And it gets me to the point, when I think about it, I get very emotional because I love these guys and because they deserve the award that they're going to get. So, what ends up happening for me is that it all comes to the surface at that point. I'm very excited that they've been chosen to get the award, number one. But to deliver the award, it's like I'm delivering the award to either one of my kids or my best friend in the whole world.We work with people in our entire business lives. We find some that we really can connect with. We find others that we don't connect with very well. However, in the service industry, it seems to be a little bit different. It seems to www.outdoorpowerequipment.com