The annual CFA Summer Meeting is a great place to mix business and pleasure. You can bring your family for a relaxing getaway and meet contractors from across the country for a few days of informative business education. This year's event, to be held at Amelia Island, Fla., July 30-August 1, offers a program geared toward helping contractors survive the current recession. With topics on business strategies and expanding your services, you'll gain ideas to take back and implement in your own company. Other topics to be discussed will include integrating sustainability into your concrete company and employees vs. independent contractors.
Marketing tools
The CFA Summer Meeting is only one of the many benefits that come with membership in the CFA. Membership allows you access to a wide variety of information to help you run your business such as marketing brochures, technical publications on topics such as "Cold Weather Concrete" and "Cracking Science," the CFA's Concrete Facts magazine, and a technical hotline.
As a member of the CFA, you'll have the opportunity to enter your projects into the annual CFA Projects of the Year Awards. With categories for residential and commercial projects, the awards program serves as a great marketing tool for those companies honored with an award.
Another way to promote your company and set it above the competition is with the CFA Cast-in-place Concrete Foundation Contractor Certification Program. By completing the certification process, you're signifying to your customers that you're an expert at what you do and have taken steps to show your expertise and professionalism.
Networking
One of the greatest benefits of the CFA is the networking opportunities. Meeting contractors like yourself from all over the country gives you a chance to share ideas and learn from peers. The knowledge you can gain from another contractor, and the ideas you can share with others, is key to running a successful company.
In addition to the networking opportunities at its annual Summer Meeting, the CFA also hosts regional events in the spring and fall and during the World of Concrete in Las Vegas each year. And members are only a phone call away for advice anytime.
Don't miss out on the benefits of association membership. Join the CFA today, and join us at the 2009 CFA Summer Meeting in Amelia Island, Fla. Visit our web site at www.cfawalls.org for full information.
Ed Sauter is executive director of the CFA.
