Growing the Rolls Success, where the associations have achieved it, has been driven by local initiative. Mark Brick credits much of the success of his 752-member-strong NARI Milwaukee chapter to its recruitment system. The chapter has employed for almost 10 years now a full-time “membership guru” whose sole responsibility is recruiting new contractors.
“We’re willing to invest in membership recruitment, which brings in new leaders and new ideas,” Brick says.
Both associations offer start-up packets to new chapters with information on how to organize, select leaders, and market the chapter. Inadequate communication between local chapters and national staff and leadership, however, is a common lament, both from local and national levels. “We’ve got the resources out there to help,” Crahan says. “But I think the biggest challenge is making [the locals] aware of the resources.”
Dennis Gavin, a founding member of his Philadelphia-area NARI chapter, points out that this is especially true for start-ups, which have to till rocky ground before seeing any results. “It’s hard getting a chapter going. Once it’s established, and it’s a real presence, it’s easier to get people to join because they can see the value.”
Cooperative Spirits The two associations don’t actually compete directly for members to the extent one might expect. In many parts of the country, one association or the other dominates vast stretches of territory. In California, for example, five NARI chapters serve the major population centers of the state vs. a single California Remodelors Council; in Florida, local Remodelors Councils outnumber NARI chapters 13 to 1.
Still, it’s clear in talking to leaders of both associations that the two do in fact compete for membership. Even if one of the two tends to win out, or if they both succeed, funds are spent to an end that doesn’t actually benefit the greater industry.
Last year, Weiss and Brick, then NARI’s president, helped push through an agreement between the associations to jointly promote their basic remodeling certifications. The initiative, following cooperative efforts to protect remodelers from lead paint and asbestos litigation, marked the first significant manifestation of a steadily improving relationship between the two associations.
“We’ve really become a lot closer in the last few years,“ Crahan says, “and I think we’ll continue to grow in that direction, because it’s better for the industry if we do.”
But that growing cooperative spirit still hasn’t eliminated what for many in both camps are intractable differences. NARI remodelers, even those who are Remodelors Council members, complain that the Remodelors Council is too much in the shadow of the NAHB’s builder contingent.
Remodelors Council supporters counter that NARI could never match the NAHB’s resources and lobbying clout.
Though he is a leading advocate for closer ties between the two associations, Weiss counsels patience. He says that because of these more fundamental obstacles, and because the industry is so fragmented, the need for a more united front isn’t pressing. Promoting a uniform certification, for example, won’t be effective until there are enough remodelers seeking certifications, Weiss says.
“I don’t think either side has enough critical mass right now,” he says. “At some point, when we really have coverage in the country, that’s the time when the leaders can sit down and say, this is probably worth doing as a joint issue.”
Rather than focusing on consumer perception, Weiss says, the associations need to continue spreading the gospel of professionalism to their members.
Working Model If there is a persuasive example of the successful coexistence of NARI and the Remodelors Council, you can find it in Boston. There, the local association chapters, NARI Eastern Massachusetts and the Building Association of Greater Boston, cooperate extensively, each sharing with the other the benefits of its strengths.
NARI’s membership is larger, about 200 to the Council’s 50, which makes them a more likely point of contact for manufacturers. At the same time, BAGB has much more political muscle. So, when the NARI chapter recently held an Andersen-sponsored event, BAGB’s remodelers were invited. And when code and litigation issues come up at city hall, BAGB asks NARI’s members to co-author and sign the letter a BAGB lobbyist will deliver.
“There’s really not a lot of ‘that’s my territory’ kind of thing,” says Ray Weise, second vice president of the NARI chapter. “Where [BAGB] has a harder time getting members to join, we don’t have as much clout. They focus on the licensure course, because it’s a revenue generator; ours is the certification program.”
The two also invite one another to membership recruitment events and each jointly promotes the other’s events and educational courses. They reciprocate on membership discounts wherever those apply. The two associations even hold a joint roundtable meeting every year, featuring speakers and discussion sessions.
“No one here has an identity crisis,” says Howard Chandler, BAGB ‘s executive director. “They don’t look at our members and say, ‘They should be part of our association,’ and we don’t look at their members and say that. We say if you’re an astute businessman, you see that both associations can be beneficial.”