Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 236
This broad enumeration of the role of the association engenders within itself a
mandate to its future interpreters to apply the principles agreed to herein to
changing circumstances in the industry.
The founders, hereby acting as the first Ad-hoc Board of the Association, pledge
the funds and efforts needed to carry the association through its initial stage and
elect the following officers to infuse the association with legal and business life:
Ramiro A. Galindo Ad-hoc President
Joe W. Holt Ad-hoc Vice President/Secretary
Fred O. Brownson Ad-hoc Vice President/Treasurer
Given in Corpus Christi, Texas, this 2 nd day of May 1996
After we completed all the legal formalities, I became the first chairman of the board,
followed in later years by Joe Holt and then by David Cardone. Every one of my
colleagues demonstrated not only the strength of their word, but also the excellence of
their capacity. Without their unreserved and total support, THRSA would never have
passed the concept stage. But an almost unsurmountable early problem developed in
finding an executive capable of running the organization. THRSA had no income and
we could not afford to pay market salaries.
Just as we were about to stumble, my son Cid came up with the ideal offer. He would
run THRSA as a contractor and would supplement the meager salary we offered with
income he would create himself by staging training seminars, industry conventions and
equipment shows, and of course, by growing the membership base. Again, the
algorithm of our past father-son cooperation worked successfully - I create the beast
and he tames and manages it. I think it is a most useful arrangement. THRSA still exists
today thanks to him and he supplements his company’s income with THRSA’s
programs.
We used the years from 1996 through 1998 to strengthen our fledging association. The
unsavory experience Aerofit suffered with unfair competition from Texas A&M had left
me motivated to seek new legislation to avoid future similar abuses. The Texas
Legislature met from January through May 1999. I decided to spend some time
spreading my message among its members. With the help of THRSA’s directors, we
wrote a draft of the “Fair Competition” bill to present to the legislature. To ensure my
access to key representatives and senators, we hired as lobbyist a former state
representative from Brazos County, Bill Presnal, who in the mid 1980s had held a
powerful post in the legislature. John McCarthy helped Herb Lipsman, who at the time
was an IHRSA director, to obtain an $11,000 grant from IHRSA to supplement our
lobbying expenses.
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