I am proud and honored to be here today, on the first meeting of the 2020-2021 Chesapeake Chapter, to serve you as your president for the upcoming year.  2019-2020 was a year full of surprises and challenges, that I doubt anyone could have predicted.  A pandemic outbreak, shortages of PPE, stay at home orders and civil unrest, thrust safety professionals into roles they may not typically fulfill.  In the past, many of us have focused primarily on workplace safety, keeping employees safe from injury.  Now we were very quickly faced with major health issues, both physical and mental to deal with.  Those of us, whose employers were deemed “essential” had these challenges stacked on top of their normal duties.  With social distancing, sanitizing and donning masks, routine activities had new hurtles to clear.   Stress at home from quarantine and financial issues jeopardized the mental well-being of our workers. Civil unrest heightened the need for strong security practices and brought the concept of workplace violence to the forefront.