Director's Message: Momentum Meets the Moment
Where Industry Growth, Innovation, and Collaboration Come Together
BCMC is a special time of year for anyone involved with the component industry. For a few days each fall, the entire focus of the industry turns to a city for opportunities to explore new equipment, software, services, and products, as well as develop new skills from best-in-class peer-to-peer learning opportunities. This year as we prepare for BCMC in Omaha, NE, I’m filled with an immense sense of pride for everything SBCA has accomplished over the last several months and years.
Our association has some of the best people in the world working towards a common goal. SBCA’s Board of Directors provides instrumental and imperative insight, foresight, and oversight to allow our committees, councils, and foundation to thrive. The constant and consistent guidance continues to deliver amazing results with new and improved products and services for members to build their businesses around. On a day-to-day basis, SBCA’s Executive Committee provides leadership to our staff that allows us to develop and improve the various goods, services, events, and programs we offer.
One group that is occasionally overlooked, but always appreciated, is SBCA’s membership. Our component manufacturer, supplier, and NFC members are the entire reason for SBCA, and are who drive the success of the organization. While SBCA measures itself by member companies with a focus on locations, its individual members like you are who drive the organization forward. Each dollar you spend, whether it’s on behalf of you as an individual or your organization, is an investment in the future of SBCA and the broader component industry.
The future is incredibly bright for components as a structural framing solution, and SBCA members are in the best position possible to drive components as the best way to frame.”
Investments by you and your organization allow SBCA to represent you and all of its members in a vast array of arenas. We have staff, members, and peer organizations representing component manufacturer interests with ICC code development by monitoring, authoring, and supporting various code proposals each cycle. We represent component interests with various standards development organizations, ready to provide input helpful to our industry and defend against actions that may be harmful, whether it be intentional or not. Recently, we’ve re-engaged advocacy efforts representing the component and broader construction industry interests in Washington D.C., establishing relationships and having conversations with lawmakers and agencies that have a direct impact on housing, construction, labor, and materials.
SBCA’s chapter activities allow manufacturers to have a voice on the local level with various constituencies as necessary, while also providing networking opportunities with those who have similar interests and issues. Whether it’s getting together to learn about one another or changes in local markets, chapters provide a great opportunity to engage your industry when you have limited time, opportunity, or budget to participate. SBCA also continues to invest in the betterment of the industry through Quality Bootcamps. This past year, we held several regional bootcamps to educate and refresh component manufacturing employees on the quality control requirements of ANSI/TPI-1 and best practices to measure and verify the accuracy of trusses with hands on learning opportunities. We plan to continue the bootcamps throughout 2026 at various sites and hope you or someone from your location can participate (learn more on page 31).
Our association has always developed leading-edge best practices for members to implement and raise their level of production. Many of these best practices take the form of goods and services SBCA offers on a consumptive basis to members and non-members alike. Jobsite packages, whether in traditional paper form or electronic format, continue to be the best way for manufacturers to illustrate proper installation, bracing, and restraint techniques for those installing their products. Additionally, the Component Warning Notice (CWN) Sheets, Tags, and Website communicate inherent risks when handling, installing, and interacting with components. I strongly encourage every component manufacturer to implement and utilize these products on each truss and every job to help their customers properly interact with their products, reducing incidents, and providing a better installer experience.
Beyond Jobsite Packages and Component Warning Notice items, manufacturers can continue to “up their game” by utilizing SBCA’s Digital QC program that digitizes the QC inspection process while creating a wealth of data to track manufacturing performance over time. This program fulfills the QC requirements of ANSI/TPI-1, but also acts as a great management tool for understanding which equipment and/or crews may need attention while also visually articulating when plates may be misaligned or otherwise fail to meet specifications. SBCA is also reinvigorating its safety program for component manufacturers, completely revising the content to meet OSHA requirements, but also modernizing it with an electronic delivery system. Combined with a library of equipment details by specific manufacturer make and model, SBCA’s safety program will allow CMs to have a location-specific safety program with specific information on equipment actually used by your manufacturing employees. The best part of these programs? They are absolutely free of charge to SBCA component manufacturer members!
SBCA also continues to offer education and training opportunities to anyone willing to learn. Recently, SBCA split its asynchronous learning opportunities into education and training programs. Educational content is available without charge by visiting www.sbcacomponents.com and sign up with our learning management system. Whether an architect, engineer, builder, code official, student, or someone new to the component industry, a wealth of information awaits anyone willing to learn. Beyond education, traditional training like Truss Technician Training (TTT) remains subscription-based and available for component manufacturers looking to invest in their employees and broaden their skillset. Because education remains a common theme of SBCA activities, we’ve integrated several educational opportunities for our Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) attendees throughout 2025. Topics include Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), lumber futures, component usage in construction, design optimization, and recent BCSI revisions, to name a few.
Speaking of OQMs, this year offered a range of opportunities for our members to connect and network in-person. In March, Charleston, SC, played host to SBCA members from around the country. Attendees enjoyed each other’s company while attending various committee meetings, networking events, and education sessions, as well as SBCA’s board meeting, all while exploring the greater Charleston area and all it has to offer. In June, SBCA paired its Q2 OQM with a Legislative Fly-In. This allowed attendees to spend a day on Capitol Hill and learn from a vast array of speakers that included Congressman Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Ed Hudson of Home Innovation Research Labs, and John Gibbs of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Later this year, SBCA will hold its final OQM of the year in Napa, CA. It promises to be another great opportunity for everyone in the industry to get together and enjoy the picturesque Napa Valley. You can register now at www.SBCAComponents.com/events.
As SBCA delivers on meeting member needs, we continue to forge relationships with other trade associations and groups while also demonstrating expertise with various constituencies including specifiers. Coming in 2026 is SBCA Component Craft, a one- to two-day event focused on education for architects, engineers, plan designers, code officials, builders, and others on the benefits of components and how to better understand the intricacies of specifying and utilizing them. These regional events will be located throughout the United States, offering unique learning opportunities in unique settings, such as a micro-brewery (learn more on page 37).
We continue to push the needle on innovation in the component industry. Over the last few years, we have created a culture of innovation surrounding SBCA and the component industry. Through the annual SBCA Innovation Grant and bi-annual European Industry Tour, SBCA is ensuring that component manufacturers, and the entirety of our industry remains on the cutting edge of innovative practices, large or small. Stop by Innovation Alley on the BCMC show floor to see the 2025 Innovation Grant recipients at BCMC, September 29-October 3, 2025, and learn about their advancements. Also, plan to attend the upcoming European Industry Tour this April with stops in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Ireland (learn more on page 43).
None of this would be possible without our tremendous SBCA staff. As you enjoy BCMC this week in Omaha, remember that you have a highly committed group of professionals, both working in the convention center and at home, driving our association forward. Please join me in thanking them for all of their efforts for the show and throughout the year. While we have accomplished a lot as a group from our membership, board members, volunteers, and staff, I truly believe we have only just begun. The future is incredibly bright for components as a structural framing solution, and SBCA members are in the best position possible to drive components as the best way to frame.
Jess Lohse, Executive Director