NLBMDA chairman looks back at D.C. event

Last month, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association held its annual Spring Meeting and Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., and I want to personally thank all of you who attended.

With respect to our Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (MSLBMDA) region, this year was the most successful trip to date. On April 19, during scheduled visits with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, we met with three congressmen and our old friend Cory Gardner, the Senator from Colorado. There seems to be a sentiment of openness on Capitol Hill and now is a critical time to continue pushing back on anti-business regulation and legislation.

In addition to meetings with lawmakers, NLBMDA held an early evening reception on Capitol Hill in the House Agriculture Committee Hearing Room. While in recent years attendance at the reception by members of Congress had been limited, this year the turnout was outstanding. I personally met two congressmen and one congresswoman representing three different states, and our dialogue was highly supportive of the lumber industry on issues such as the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act and making sure the Department of Labor conducts further analysis before moving forward with rules increasing the number of employees eligible for overtime pay.

Sessions on Monday and Tuesday brought the group together for information and networking. As always, the interaction between attendees brings more value than the price of registration, and I never come away from one of these events without gaining something valuable for our business back in Denver. However, our work is not over: I encourage you all to follow up with your district offices and invite your representative to visit your yard during the summer recess between July 16 and Sept. 5. Now is the perfect time to get this on their radar.

However, there was one thing lacking from the meetings last fall and this spring: We need more dealer attendees.

The larger the attendance, the greater our voice is as we act to promote, protect and advance the LBM industry.

Please mark your calendars to attend the ProDealer Industry Summit in Charleston, South Carolina, on Oct. 25-27. And next year's Spring Meeting and Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., will be held March 27-29, 2017. Finally, thank you to the NLBMDA staff for putting together another great event, and thank you again to the members who attended. I will see you in Charleston!

Scott Yates, president of Denver Lumber in Denver, is the 2016 chairman of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association.