Posted by Kathy DeMeyer, CSL, Encore Construction, President of EM NARI on 17 December 2018 | 0 Comments

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 2 years serving as President of EM NARI. It was such a pleasure to work with the Board of Directors and all the committees. I had the chance to get to know so many members during my tenure. I have always known that our chapter was a great place to connect with colleagues and learn about the industry. Over the past two years though, I have witnessed how these simple opportunities to connect and learn can be transformative. What we do is special. Other similar organizations ask how we manage to grow at a time when most associations are struggling. The answer is simple, but duplicating it is nearly impossible.  In short, it’s our culture – the common behaviors, beliefs, and values that our EM NARI members share. At the core, our members believe that by supporting each other, our individual companies and our industry all benefit.

Since I had the chance to give my first remarks to the chapter almost 2 years ago, we have accomplished much. We continued to grow the Youth Remodeling Career Day, launched the Mentorship Program, and created the first EM NARI Women in Remodeling Event. All these programs were created with the notion that we need to do more to encourage people to find a career path in the remodeling industry AND we need to do more to support them as they grow in their career. In fact, this notion of workforce development was the overarching theme for the past two years. Helping our companies find and develop the workforce of tomorrow continues to be the most critical challenge on the horizon. And once we inspire them to explore a career in our industry, we must follow with the educational opportunities they need.

During the past two years we have also rededicated ourselves to provide educational value for our members.  In the past we offered just a handful of CEU-approved educational programs. Through the work of our Education & Programs committee and our Government Affairs committee, we launched The Remodelers Conference and made a commitment to offer a robust schedule of CEU classes throughout the year.  Last year we offered 18 CEU-approved programs alone. Not only do the programs provide value for our members who hold CSL licenses and need CEUs, our members note that the content is truly informative and engaging.

Serving as President has been a very rewarding experience for me both personally and professionally. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the organization as Chair and I wish Justin Zeller all the best as he steps in to the role of President next month.