EMPIRE STATE REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS NEW ORGANIZING STRUCTURE On February 1, 2009 the Empire State Regional Council of Carpenters adopted a more focused organizing structure. This new configuration has proven to be very successful on the West Coast where it originated. The UBC has encouraged the regional Councils to adopt the same approach and we are the first Council on the East Coast to implement this practice.    The Empire Council has been broken into five distinct teams throughout the state: Long Island, Hudson Valley, Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo.  A team leader has been designated within each office and the council representatives are now working in pairs. All council representatives report to their designated office in the morning for their assignments and then return in the afternoon for a team debriefing.   Throughout our Council we have contractors that are undermining the area standards wage and benefits. Under this new program, those contractors have become a focal point of our organization’s efforts to eliminate this practice. We are now more mobile throughout the Council and the representatives are being assigned to the areas where they are needed most. Thank you team leaders for the efforts that you have put into this new organizing approach: Tony Macagnone, Long Island team; Rich Craven, Hudson Valley team; Chris Dugan, Albany team; Brian Noteboom, Syracuse team; and Mike Barczys, Buffalo team. Also, thank you to all the council representatives who embraced this new system and have been very enthusiastic enforcing it.  Dave Haines, President.