Inspection Bureau (TVIB) Board of Directors promoted Tava Foret to the position of president, while Lauren Jeppson has been promoted to executive vice president. Founded in 2010 as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit professional trade organization of marine auditors and surveyors, TVIB is a Coast Guard approved Third-Party Organization (TPO) and has issued TSMS Certificates to over 90 towing vessel operators throughout the United States. Its Tava Foret and Lauren Jeppson members provide Subchapter M audits and survey, American Waterways Operators (AWO) Responsible Carrier Program (RCP) audits and American Chemistry Council Responsible Care audits to inland, coastal and ocean-going towing operators. Foret, a founding member of TVIB, replaces Chris Parsonage, who is retiring from active daily participation in the organization, but will continue providing consulting and advisory assistance as needed. “Tava has demonstrated her passion and deep knowledge of the towing industry for many years,” said Parsonage. “Her foresight in working to develop both Quality Auditing and TVIB led to the creation of the large pool of geographically dispersed, well trained auditors and surveyors the industry enjoys today.” Foret has led TVIB’s audit and surveying operations since the Coast Guard’s approval of TVIB as a TPO in January of 2017. She previously served as the chair of the Houston Galveston Navigation Safety 21 ST VOLUME, NO. 58 DATED 22 JULY 2020 4/28 Advisory Committee (HOGANSAC) and has served on the Board of Directors for the American Waterways Operators. Foret also served on the Towing Safety Advisory Committee’s (TSAC) Subchapter M Workgroup and chaired the TSAC Subchapter M Audit Subcommittee throughout the development of the regulation. She has over 27 years’ experience working in the operations side of the inland towing industry and maintains active credentials for auditing and surveying. A graduate of the University of Phoenix with a BS in Business marketing, she is a frequent speaker at various industry meetings and will be on the program at Marine Log’s TTB – Tugs, Towboats, Barges next month. Jeppson joined TVIB in 2013 and has been involved in all aspects of TVIB’s day to day operations. She is responsible for the administration of TVIB’s services, coordination of the development and curriculum of TVIB’s training courses, and maintenance of its Quality Management System and ISO 9001:2015 certification. She is also responsible for the development of TVIB’s automated audit and survey tools and its new database solution. Jeppson is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law and is a member of the Missouri Bar Association
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