Program areas at NLA
Professional development BLD Connection provides targeted programming for retail lumber & building material (lbm) dealers and their employees in these key areas: 1) owners and general managers will be trained in the core competencies: financial management, leadership, supervision, inventory control, risk management, building codes, regulatory mandates and business law. 2) sales personnel (inside and outside) will be educated in the following core competencies: product knowledge, sales techniques, customer service, estimating, negotiations, and basic financial margin management. 3) yard personnel will be educated in the following core competencies: safety, product knowledge, product handling, and customer service. 4) financial & h.r. Personnel will be educated in the following core competencies: financial management, compliance issues, safety management and business law. Accomplished: in 2023-24, 14 in-person classes were held while 9 class were cancelled due to lack of attendance and/or inclement weather. Six (6) owner/manager roundtables are currently active with four (4) of those groups meeting multiple times through the year. Additionally, a women in lbm virtual roundtable continued its work/meetings and met five (5) times online or in-person. Continued to offer online market watch webinar - 3 times in 2023-24 - along with various webinars and online training opportunities.
Government affairsbld Connection keeps its membership informed about proposed legislation and regulatory issues introduced in each state's legislature, federal legislation and regulatory issues, and issue calls to action where appropriate. Accomplished: 11 members of the organization returned to Washington d.c. In spring 2024 to lobby congress on behalf of the membership. The organization continued its relationship with advocacy strategies - contract lobbyist - to support members in the state of Iowa. Organization continues to actively work with Iowa workforce development to develop a registered apprenticeship program for its members to atttract and retain young employees.
Business developmentbld Connection provides business solutions for members in these key areas of their business: operations, human resources, sales-merchandising-marketing, management. Accomplished: during the current year, BLD Connection published a printed magazine and directory, provided ongoing services such as legal service, bankcard program, 401(k) multiple employer program and regular surveys such as business management operational comparsion survey. We offer manuals for osha and dot compliance as well as human resource manuals and general business forms/stationary. Trade shows/conferencesin 2023-24, BLD Connection rebranded its annual conventions to be known as bizcon(s). Bizcon north was held in january 2024 in bloomington, mn while bizcon north was held in altoona, ia in february 2024. In additon, BLD Connection offered two (2) state-specific conference known as Connection conferences in both Nebraska (nov 2023) and Wisconsin (march 2024).