As if dealing with COVID-19 and World of Concrete getting cancelled wasn’t enough, residential concrete contractors faced a severe wall tie shortage this Spring.

As soon as the issue was brought to our attention by CFA member, Dan Bromley, the association mobilized and immediately began working on the problem. With terrific work by our Executive Director, Jim Baty, the CFA placed itself directly at the center of the situation. 

We brought together the steel mills, stampers, distributers, and contractors to find out exactly what was causing the shortage. The association raised awareness by warning the homebuilding industry and general public about the economic impact of this issue. 

While the tie supply is still not plentiful – it will take time to see the fruits of our labor – I firmly believe that we all would be in a dire situation if not for the efforts of the CFA. 

This was one of the biggest threats residential wall contractors have ever faced, and the CFA was there to help the situation. If that isn’t a reason to be a member of this great organization, I don’t know what is. 

Thank you to Jim and all the companies that got involved to address the situation.

Now that the tie issue has been stabilized, the Board of Directors of the CFA are moving forward with the path set forth by our strategic planning session held late last year. 

Our five areas of focus are:

• Advocacy
• Workforce Development
• Education
• Membership
• Networking

A task force was created for each of these areas to identify ways to improve and provide more value to our members. Based on the work of each task force and input from the Board of Directors, here are the first five initiatives the Association will begin working on:

1. Create an on-demand education program that members can utilize to improve various aspects of their business. 
2. Add a full-time position on CFA staff that will focus on increasing membership and improving retention of members.
3. Enact a modest increase in membership dues to provide more services and benefits to members.
4. Create designated networking groups of non-competing contractor members so they can share and learn from each other.
5. Develop a demographic survey of members to help the CFA staff connect members with similar contractors.

The Board of Directors and CFA staff have begun working on the implementation of these five initiatives. Throughout this year, our members will see the benefits of these actions. If you aren’t yet a member, now is a great time to join so you can improve your business.