2021 Dues Letter from the President

On behalf of everyone at SBCA, thank you for being part of our great organization. Your involvement in this member-driven association provides significant support to our industry and the entire construction supply chain. We are asking you to renew your membership for the coming year and continue your investment in our efforts to grow market share for our industry’s products and services. We won’t rest until every building possible is designed and built with structural building components!

To that end, SBCA began 2020 by implementing the association’s first long-term strategic plan.  The process we went through to identify our members’ top priorities and distill that feedback into a clear mission statement and goals for the association was intense. It made me proud and appreciative of the committed group of CMs on the SBCA Board who invested their time and energy into transforming the plan’s concepts into decisive action through topic-focused Strike Forces.

Fortunately, we were able to launch the Strike Force work at our first Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) of 2020 in Miami, Florida. Held prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., that in-person meeting set a bold direction for each Strike Force that enabled each group to move ahead virtually as the pandemic made additional in-person meetings impossible.  In just those few short months, it became clear the Strike Force approach to tackling individual initiatives is something that will serve us well for years to come.

A lot of work was accomplished in the first half of the year, but when it became clear we had to cancel BCMC 2020 we had to shift our focus to preserving the association’s long-term financial health. To cover the budget shortfall caused by planning a trade show we ultimately didn’t host, all but essential member services had to be paused. That was not a decision we made lightly, and it prompted our executive committee to look closely at every aspect of SBCA’s activities and budget. One thing that became clear was the nature of the relationship between SBCA and it’s management company needed to change.

Ultimately, we decided to move forward with our own staff of direct employees, distributed throughout the country. I’m very excited about the team we’ve been able to assemble. It’s a good mix of veterans whose names you know well and fresh talent that bring some impressive new skill sets to the association.  If you have a chance, I’d encourage you to take a look at the SBCA staff page and get to know the people who are here to serve you.

Speaking of webpages, SBCA has launched a new website at sbcacomponents.com! This new website offers several benefits to association members and makes accessing SBCA’s tools, resources, information, and events faster and easier. This new site is made possible through our new association management software, Novi AMS, which has allowed us to consolidate data and functionality that was spread over several website into one location. Take a moment and check out SBCA’s new website, create your new password if you haven’t already, review your member profile, and check out all that SBCA has to offer.

While you’re on the new website, check out SBCA Media—your new home for all the latest on industry developments and trends.  You can read the most recent issue of SBCA Magazine, review the week’s top industry news headlines, listen to the weekly business podcast or bi-weekly lumber podcast, watch current videos, or check out our extensive library of educational webinars. There’s a lot of value to harness in the content constantly added to this part of the website.

Embracing all the advancements that have occurred in online purchasing, we have also launched a new SBCA Store (pubs.sbcacomponents.com). The new store is a faster, easier, and more secure way to purchase SBCA products. Products are now prominently displayed with large images and clear pricing, and are clearly separated into just a few categories.  CFS steel products are separated out from wood products, and Canadian products also have their own section. Best of all, the new platform provides an improved buying experience with check out and payment options that are compliant with the payment credit industry’s (PCI) latest standards for maintaining a secure credit information environment. This means all payment are hassle-free and worry-free.

If you want your jobsites to be more hassle-free, get engaged in our collaboration with the National Framers Council. As a part of SBCA, this group of framing contractors are committed to creating a safer workplace for all framers, developing framing standards that will improve the buildability of structures, and encouraging greater use of structural building components throughout the construction industry. Better yet, get the framers in your market to join the NFC and reap the benefits of all they learn as they network with the NFC veterans. Any framer you bring into NFC earns you recognition as a membership recruiter and may earn you an invitation into the exclusive Top Chord Club.

Of course, one of the most valuable part of your membership is our trade show, BCMC. And the most valuable part of the show is the one-on-one conversations you will end up having with the CMs you sit next to in education sessions, meet on the show floor, have dinner together, or meet after hours at supplier-sponsored events. Nothing else comes close to the opportunity BCMC gives each of us to share our struggles, our solutions, and learn together. I hope you’re ready to attend, because it’s going to be awesome. If you’re nervous, make sure to get your shots and know BCMC and convention center staff will be doing everything possible to make it a safe show. Then set your mind at ease, make your travel and hotel arrangements, register for the show between June 1 and August 25 to get the lowest prices, and then come and find some solutions to your biggest challenges!

Sincerely,

Mike Ruede
2021 SBCA President

A-1 Roof Trusses