Just wondering how many of you are members in say, NARI, ABC, AGC, etc. I’m looking in to becoming a member in one or two of these. Part of my buisness plan, I suppose.
Given the costs associated with joining say two (appx $1500) have any of those who may be members found that ‘benefits’ of membership far exceed costs???
Thanks for any and all advice.
Best Regards
Replies
I'll give this a bump, because I've been considering joining NARI, and am curious if anyone out there has any input on the subject. Not for insurance, but for the certification / customer confidence aspect. I searched past posts, but most the threads seem to be discussing the insurance aspect. I just want to know if anyone belongs, and especially if they're certified and what they think of the whole thing.
Huck, what is the NARI?
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. According to him I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
NARI is the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, http://www.nari.org/What interested me is their certification program. From what I can see its strictly a selling-point/self-promotion type of certification, but it actually sounds like the certification process is pretty stringent - meaning it may have some actual value in determining a level of commintment and proficiency. You can't be "grandfathered in" like the Calif. state Contractor's License. But I know very little about it, and was curious what others thought of the certification, if anyone had gone through it, and how it might have affected customer confidence in their professionalism.
Thanks Huck.
If you a remodeler, I would highly suggest entering into as many professional associations that you can tolerate. They usually offer a wealth of information regarding your industry and it allows you to network with people in your chosen field, some of which you may want to emulate, others you might want to work for.
If you attend any of the functions seminars or meetings, you will meet many different people in the industry that can be helpful to you...like bank people, attorneys, insurance agents, suppliers, etc.
Try it for a year...the coupla hundred bucks may be well spent money.
blue
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. Although I have a lifetime of framing experience, all of it is considered bottom of the barrel by Gabe. According to him I am not to be counted amongst the worst of the worst. If you want real framing information...don't listen to me..just ask Gabe!
Huck,
One suggestion I have is to attend the closest JLC LIVE! show every year. If you get one thing out of the classes or demos, then it's worth it. Plus you can network with some of the authors, editors and contributors at JLC. There is a ton of info and the expo is worth going to for all tool deals. http://www.jlclive.com
Thanks Tim (and Blue) for the suggestions, I'll definitely look into them. Anaheim is about 2-3 hrs from here, I guess it might be worth going down for. What's the difference between the "expo" and the "conference"?
The Expo is where all the tool companys, material companys, workshops, etc are. You can get some great deals on tools. The seminars are classes on a variety of subjects you can take and then there are full day intensives. Check out the site. It explains it better than me. I'm not sure what the conferences are. I haven't been to one.
Not sure what you do, but CSI is another big one.
Construction Specification Institute.
My former boss had good luck with the local builders assn. They went to bat for him (us) on a permit issue with a local township. They supplied all legal representation and won the case at no extra costs to him. That was a good thing at the time. That HO turned out to be one of the biggest PITA I've ever seen. Would've been better to let the issue die.
The local assn., to me, is more of a political thing than individual. Most people around here only use it as a who's who of sorts. Almost like a Wed. night lodge meeting.
Don't get me wrong, the assn. is an excellent asset for a builder. I think maybe the larger companies may benefit a little more. You never said what your business is. Some of the smaller companies seem to get pushed aside, from what I've seen around here.
Good luck!
Hook
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