oel Caesar, executive director of the Northeast Spa & Pool Asso-ciation-NSPI Affiliate, will retire Jan. 31, after a 21-year career with the association.
“My aspirations are to relax, enjoy life, travel and keep busy in a variety of things that make me happy, including my family, my grandchildren, my [girlfriend] and those things that are fun,” Caesar said.
After closing the 2004 Atlantic City (N.J.) Pool & Spa Show, he will serve as a consultant, helping to organize the event for the next couple of years.
Caesar, 66, became NESPA’s first full-time executive director in February 1983. At that time, the Atlantic City show occupied 30,000 square feet. Today, the event is NESPA’s primary source of revenue, occupying 120,000 square feet, with the last show drawing 441 exhibitors and 8,864 attendees.
“It’s just been phenomenal growth,” Caesar said. “Revenue growth has been dramatic and has given us the opportunity to expand our entire offering of member programs and benefits.”
He was responsible for relocating NESPA to its current 5,000-square-foot building in Morganville, N.J. The facility features classrooms and a hands-on instruction area for teaching construction and repairs.
Caesar also was key in negotiating the association’s current affiliation agreement with NSPI.
Looking back, Caesar said he is particularly proud of helping maintain the organization’s independence during power struggles that occurred in the past between NSPI and NESPA. “The independent nature of [NESPA] is just an inbred thing coming from a membership that knows what it wants the association to be,” Caesar said.
Over the years, he has served on NSPI national committees and helped regions and chapters develop programs, said Al Rizzo, a NESPA member who served on the committee to hire Caesar. “He’s been one of the best goodwill ambassadors for our industry,” he said. “He’s never once refused to help a region or chapter.”
In 1990, Caesar received NSPI’s first Herb Ewell Memorial Executive Award. During his time with NESPA, he received accreditations from the American Society of Association Executives and Convention Liaison Council.
Caesar will help in the search for his replacement. NESPA is taking applications from candidates with experience in management, finance and communications and, preferably, pool and spa industry knowledge.
Before his tenure at NESPA, Caesar worked for now-defunct package-pool manufacturer Major Pool Equipment Corp. in Clifton, N.J., as vice president of marketing and president of its subsidiary, Spartan Pools. He was briefly employed with pool manufacturer Pacific Industries and retailer Central Jersey Pools.
Caesar also spent five years as a navigator with the U.S. Air Force, leaving as a captain. He took a variety of advertising and public relations jobs in New York, primarily in radio, and has a Bachelor of Science from New York University.
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