NARI Spring Business Meeting Round-up
A record 222+ NARI delegates and guests convened last week for NARI’s Spring Business Meeting at the Intercontinental Kansas City at the Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.
The packed agenda included educational presentations, an officer election, new chairman appointments, a bylaws change, achievement awards and NARI’s inaugural Evening of Excellence reception, which included a simulcast Webcast.
Thanks to Lutron for such an informative presentation on lighting controls and how to use technology for clients’ projects.
Attendees were also treated to a presentation by Lutron, “Profit Today on the Connected Home of Tomorrow,” which focused on how technology solutions allow remodelers to both wow and upsell clients—easily.
Thursday
General Session
Craig Webb, editor-in-chief of Remodeling magazine, provided a state of the remodeling industry overview. Forecasted growth in the repair and remodel category is 2%. He also predicted that finding new subs and new staff will be a challenge for the remodeling community in the coming years.
Bylaws & Ethics Committee
The Bylaws/Ethics Committee hosted an interactive session, “Staying out of Trouble.” Attendees shared areas they’ve learned to pay close attention to including; communication, well-written contracts, and defined expectations.
Marketing Committee
Attendees had three take-aways from the presentation, “Social media to grow business and brand the chapter”—social media doesn’t have to be a time hog, though you should commit to posting at least twice a week; posting is easier if you designate each day to a particular topic or subject matter; chapters that get members involved can extend the reach of its social media posts.
Contractor Council
Jeff Gardner, director of technical training for CEDIA, the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, provided “Top 10 Technology Trends,” which included home networking, mobile devices as a controller and energy-efficiency management.
Awards Committee
The Awards Committee hosted a presentation, “Do you want to win a CotY?” Topics covered were; Preparing an Award Winning CotY Entry, CotY Judging, and Marketing Your CotY Win.
A huge thank you to the Kansas City NARI chapter for being such wonderful hosts all week during NARI’s Spring Business Meeting.
Membership Committee
Attendees learned about three unique membership programs currently being used in chapters. NARI of Greater Charlotte presented its NARI Call Center Program, NARI of Madison presented its member orientation program called NARI 360° and the Kansas City NARI presented its New Member Mingle program. Complete details and supporting documents for the three programs were compiled on flash drives and handed out to each chapter member in attendance so they could take the programs back to their chapters for implementation.
Strategic Planning & Research
Results of NARI’s 2013 first quarter Remodeling Business Pulse were shared (see “NARI’s Remodeling Business Pulse survey shows stronger growth”).
A big thank you to the Kansas City Chapter, which hosted Blues, Brews and Barbeques… Kansas City Style Thursday night.
Friday
Chapter Executive Forum
Fourteen chapter execs attended an all-day session that included presentations on social media, a review of the book “10 Lessons for Cultivating Member Commitment,” Show & Tell of various chapter marketing pieces, a review on how to overhaul boards and committees and an interactive session with the NARI General Counsel.
Finance & Audit Committee
Attendees to the finance and audit committee heard from Jim Elvord, who handles NARI’s investments. He presented on the “Economic Reset in 2008” and how the world has changed since then. He gave examples of what is happening now in 2013, not only in the economy but socially and emotionally and its impact on the remodeling industry.
Education Committee
David Pekel, MCR, UDCP, of Pekel Construction & Remodeling in Wauwatosa, Wis., presented the program Milwaukee NARI uses to engage new members and to help them receive the maximum from their NARI membership. The chapter also found that current members also found great va
lue in the program and were attending.
Certification Board
A panel of certified members discussed why they became certified, how they use the designation in their marketing, and how it has benefited them and their businesses. Nick Kress CRA, UDCP, of Standards of Excellence in Sacramento, Calif., also explained some of the components that NARI National will be developing to assist Certified Members and NARI chapters in creating greater public awareness of NARI’s certified Professionals.
Government Affairs Committee
Maria Meyers, director of University of Missouri – Kansas City Innovation Center and founder of U.S. SourceLink and KC SourceLink, and Rebecca Gubbels, business development specialist for University of Kansas City’s Small Business Development Center, described many of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) programs that small businesses can access for no or low cost. She also described a number of avenues that remodelers can explore to assist their clients in obtaining funding for remodeling projects. That was followed by a discussion of NARI’s Federal Advocacy Priorities and Accomplishments lead by Tom Sullivan, NARI Lobbyist.
National Member Council
Tim Gregorski, editor of Professional Remodeler magazine, shared a presentation on “How to Sell to Remodelers.” Remodelers choose suppliers based more on relationships than price, and they want supplier partners to address problems quickly.
Saturday
House of Delegates
During the House of Delegates meeting, delegates adopted an additional line in the NARI Code of Ethics, stating: “By taking appropriate action to preserve the health and safety of employees, trade contractors and clients.” You can read the new NARI Code of Ethics here.
Delegates also ratified the chairmen of NARI’s Committees, which comprise the NARI Board of Directors. They are as follows:
Lou Alvarado Jr., Awards Committee (Handy Husband, Atlanta, Ga.)
Don Van Cura Sr., MCR, CKBR, GCP, CLC, UDCP, Bylaws & Ethics Committee (Don Van Cura Construction, Chicago, Ill.)
Dan Jaggers, CFRS, CSRS, Education Committee (Olshan Foundation Repair Company, Houston, Texas)
Dale Benjamin, Finance & Audit Committee (Benjamin Plumbing Inc., Madison, Wis.)
Bruce Case, CLC, Government Affairs Committee (Case Design/Remodeling, Bethesda, Md.)
Robert Didier, Marketing Committee (Irwin Contracting, Hauppauge, N.Y.)
Kathy Raab, CAE, Membership Committee (NARI of Madison, Madison, Wis.)
Tom O’Grady, CR, CKBR, Strategic Planning & Research (O’Grady Builders, Drexel Hill, Pa.)
Walter Lewis, CR, Contractor Council (Neighbors Home Services, Roswell, Ga.)
Mike Waite, Chapter Executive Council (NARI of Greater Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C.)
Michael Hydeck, MCR, CKBR, Past Presidents Advisory Council (Hydeck Design Build Inc., Telford, Pa.)
Chris Dana, National Member Council (Pella Corporation, Pella, Iowa)
New officer elections also were held during the House of Delegates meeting. NARI National’s 2013-2014 Executive Committee is:
Dean Herriges, MCR, CKBR, Chairman of the Board (Urban Herriges & Sons Inc., Mukwonago, Wis.)
Art Donnelly, MCR, CKBR, President (Legacy Builders & Remodelers Corp., Mount Sinai, N.Y.)
Kevin Anundson,
CR, CKBR, President-Elect (Owner Assisted Remodeling, Elm Grove, Wis.)
Judy Mozen, CR, GCP, Treasurer (Handcrafted Homes Inc., Roswell, Ga.)
H. Dale Contant, MCR, UDCP, Secretary (Atlanta Design & Build, Marietta, Ga.)
You can read more about the board here.
Congratulations to NARI of Greater Dallas for winning one of NARI’s Achievement Awards, presented during Saturday’s House of Delegates meeting.
NARI also presented its Achievement Awards during the House of Delegates meeting.
To view photos from the 2013 Spring Business Meeting, visit NARI’s Facebook page.
| 4/16/2013 12:00:00 AM |
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