Albany, NY—The Northeastern Retail Lumber Association (NRLA) and Construction Suppliers Association (CSA) have announced a partnership to represent their membership on federal legislative and regulatory matters.
The CSA represents more than 320 retail locations in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. NRLA represents more than 860 retail locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
According to NRLA Chair Lorraine Miner, it makes sense for the organizations to work together. “We share the same goals, which is providing high quality federal legislative and regulatory services to our retail members,” she said. “We share the same industry challenges.”
“We know that we are entering a challenging legislative environment for our industry, and the regulatory environment may be even more difficult,” said Jason Terry, Chair of CSA and President of City Lumber, located in Huntsville, AL. “It’s critical that we have effective representation in Washington and that our representatives truly understand the industry and issues that affect us,” he said. “This partnership with NRLA gives us something we have needed for quite some time.”
NRLA President Rita Ferris stated, “NRLA and CSA have enjoyed a mutually supportive relationship for many years. It is exciting to formalize the relationship and have an official partnership with CSA to provide outstanding federal legislative and regulatory services to our members.”
“CSA has always been committed to serving its members well, and federal government affairs is an important element of that,” commented CSA President Jim Moody. “We are excited to have an opportunity to work in this area in a way that serves our industry and our members well.”
Kirk Ives, NRLA Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, remarked, “There is power behind a collective voice working towards a common goal. This partnership between CSA and the NRLA will help advance our advocacy efforts as we mutually pursue initiatives, policies, and regulations that will help our industry meet the challenges of a post COVID-19 economy and beyond.”
Together, NRLA and CSA will create an industry specific name for their advocacy efforts that is not NRLA or CSA specific. More news of a rebrand will follow.
Meanwhile, the NRLA Board of Directors recently unanimously voted to disaffiliate with the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA). This decision was made following a year of discussions resulting in NLBMDA adopting changes that are not aligned with the NLBMDA’s, or NRLA’s mission. NRLA has provided 90 days’ notice to NLBMDA as required.
For more information, visit www.nrla.org.
