NABA News
How Association Membership Helps in Tough Times
By Denelle Nelson, NABA Director of Operations
In speaking with many members,most think about putting their NABA association dues on the chopping block first.While we understand, we also believe that there are benefits of membership that actually make membership pay for itself. SCF Arizona's Workers Compensation Insurance Association Dividend Plan, the NABA Plan Room/Copy Center and our networking events are just a few of the many benefits.
SCF Arizona works with many associations across the state to help association members save money on their premiums.With this benefit alone,many companies get backmore than they pay to their associations. Essentially, the way it works is the bigger the group, the bigger the payouts. Every company suffers from a workers compensation claim at some time, and in a large group, each claim is relatively smaller than when a company is on its own or part of a smaller group.
The association,with the assistance of SCF Arizona, keeps track of claims and helps those companies with large or numerous claims get better control of their safety programs. NABA also holds safety seminars each year based on themost consistent claimtypes association wide. For each individual company, we offer a wealth of information on how to set up a safety program if there isn't one in place or how to improve one that isn't working.We can also set up individual seminars if a company has a specific topic for which they want specific training for their employees. NABA works hard tomake sure you get themost fromyour bonus at the end of each year.
NABA also has a Plan Room and Copy Center located in the Flagstaff office. Our plan room is a lending library of plans and specs for various projects stretching all across northernArizona.We are onmany architects, engineers, city/county government and general contractor lists forNavajo, Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Yavapai an sometimes Gila counties, and receive notice of most project out for general and trade contractor bids. Most of the projects are commercial in nature but occasionally, we get requests for residential bids.We also hold private bids where only certain trade contractors can come in and look at a specific project.
We canmake copies of specific pages of the plan set you need or produce a full set.Or, if you don't want the added expense of paying for copies,we have a policy in which you can check out a plan set after 3:30 p.m. and return it by 9 a.m. the next day.Most people who use our checkout policy check out plans on Fridays and are not required to return them until Monday morning. In addition, we can save a plan set to a disk.
NABA offers an abundance of networking opportunities, geared for nearly anyone. We hold two Speed Marketing events each year, which essentially amounts to"speed dating" for our builders and associates. This is a members-only event in which we have three commercial builders, three residential builders and five associates at each table. Associates include businesses from banks to plumbers, and each associate gets two minutes to tell the builder what they have to offer.
The comment I hear most often after ach on of our speed marketing events is,"I've used that person for years [or have heard of that company] and didn't realize they offered that product of service." We also hold several mixers throughout the year that are free to our members. These events are held at a member business's location where they can not only promote their companies but also show off their business in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.
These are only a few of the ways your membership can pay for itself. Remember: "You get out of it what you put into it."Call NABA to find out more about how you can put your membership to work for you!
