Why associations are worth investing in

By Emma Peterson. 

From providing resources to supporting your personal growth, association memberships can benefit you and your business! 

Associations are a huge part of how the roofing industry operates. From providing safety and training guidelines to advocating for policies, there are many ways associations can help the roofing industry as a whole. But they are an investment, and some people might be wondering if it is worth it to become a member. In this MetalTalk™, Metal Construction Association (MCA) board member Lee Ann Slattery sat down with Karen Edwards to discuss just that.  

When it comes to figuring out if association member dues are worth it, Lee Ann’s first point is how much the resources a member gets access to would cost without the association. She explained, “Having the access to all of the technical resources and having a couple people on staff being on top of codes and standards that affect our industry is really important. But for individual companies to pay for those types of resources would be I think a lot more than just paying your association dues and getting access to that. And also, because it is a company-wide membership, you're not limited to the number of people within your company that can participate, come to the summer winter meetings, access the online webinars and all of that.” 

But, even with these resources being well worth the cost of membership dues, associations offer much more than just a resource database. Karen pointed out, “Depending on what you're involved in, you become known for, maybe you're on this committee and maybe you're a great organizer or maybe you have great ideas for educational topics or maybe... So you're kind of building a personal brand of what you do well, and I think that having your employees or team members be able to do that, there is a great ROI on retention and your business supporting you and your involvement is huge.” Lee Ann has experienced this herself, having gotten opportunities to write articles for industry magazines and participate in events because of her work with MCA. She shared that this has not only helped her establish her name, but it also helps the company she works at, ATAS International, and their reputation. 

Read the transcript, Listen to the interview or Watch the full episode for more on the power of industry associations.