At Home in Berks February 2017 - 5

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FROM THE PRESIDENT

A Few Words from Cathy Sloan
A

s I start a second term in 2017 as your HBA
President I find our leadership faced with a challenge we seem to be faced with every year, that
challenge is how to get member involvement. In 2016
however it did seem as though that trend may possibly be changing. I personally got to interact at some of
our events with some new members as well as some that
have been members for years and I just never had the
chance to meet them in the 25 years of my involvement.

The challenge however is not just getting members to events
but getting them involved on the board and committees. I
find when asked if they would be interested in serving on
the board or a committee their first response is "I don't have
the time." I find that ironic since everyone that is already
involved is probably just as busy. How do they find the time?
I would tend to believe the same way I do and that is you
schedule the meetings on your calendar like you do with
any other appointment. Yes there are times when you schedule the meeting in and something important with work may
trump the HBA meeting but does it really happen that often.
The mind set now seems to be family first and I don't disagree totally with that, but can we really say family first if
we do not have the finances to take care of them. I can't
stress enough how our business survived through the rough
economy because of the valuable input from other members of this association on how they were making it work. I
believe many of us don't like sharing how we do business,
but not all this information came from my competitors and
what did wasn't really a trade secret. Some of it was just
common sense on business in general that I may not have
considered until the conversation with those individuals.
Something else that is heard frequently is "What does the
HBA do for me?" If you're asking that question it can only
mean you are not involved. It is not the HBA's job to actually do for you but to supply the opportunity for you, such
as education and events. I have found that with our involvement we have met several individuals that I am proud to call a
friend and to me this is very valuable. I also found that I have
gotten several jobs referred to us because of our involvement
as well as I am able to return the favor in some cases even if
they are a competitor. Something we all have to remember is
things don't just come to you and it doesn't happen overnight,
you have to work at it and that takes time and involvement.
I am not asking for you to be as involved as my husband
and I are, but can't you find the time to at least attend a board
meeting 6 times per year, a committee meeting anywhere from
quarterly to some once a month and many go no longer than

1 ½ hours. I would really like
to see new leadership so we
don't have the same individuals over and over again such
as me. Don't get me wrong I
like what I do, but I am a true
believer that fresh faces bring
fresh ideas and believe that
can only make our association
better and possibly stronger.
I do find that it is easier to get Associate Members
involved over a Builder/Remodeler, which is very upsetting as a Remodeler Member. This is an association
that specifically puts all its efforts into fighting for the
Builder/Remodeler on codes and regulations. No we don't
win them all but we have won some and it is because
of our strength in numbers. It would be great to start
to see more builders get involved and attend events.
With all this said we are still looking for a few Builder/
Remodeler Members to sit on the board and several Members to participate on committees. If unable to do
this yourself as the member of the association then choose
a dedicated employee of your company and make them an
affiliate member and they can sit on the board or a committee and represent your company. If not sure what
committees we have or how to get involved call the HBA
office and staff will be more than willing to help you.
In closing; I want to "THANK" all of the volunteers on
the Board, both new and returning, for volunteering their
time to this association. I believe our board volunteers
want to work at making this association one that individuals are excited to be a part of. I also want to "THANK" all
of the committee volunteers and the Chairs of those committees for also volunteering their time to making this
association one to be proud of. Without all of you it doesn't
work. This takes a team of volunteers and not individuals.
I look forward to working with each and every one of the
volunteers as well as meeting with all our members at some
event or meeting throughout the year. I would like to be able
to find out what you as a member believes
we should be doing differently. What better
way than to attend events and /or meetings
and let us know. We can't make changes if we don't know what they should be.
Cathy Sloan, CGR, CAPS, CGP
2017 HBA of Berks County President
FEBRUARY 2017 AT HOME IN BERKs

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