From the NJ Chapter President: Lainie Sleppin
On Tuesday night May 19th I opened the NJ meeting at about 6:40 and welcomed everyone. The chapter was notably light on our regular deck builder attendees. As we know this is not the easiest time of the year to get deck builders to attend. A standard of about 20-25 people were in attendance. I took a moment to remind everyone about the upcoming deck awards in June and reiterated to them that we need their support.
I introduced our sponsor Ken from Abbe Lumber and reminded everyone to please remember to support our local members. Ken did a nice presentation communicating the history of Abbe lumber and how much he supports the NADRA brand. He mentioned he actually lost a builder due to not participating in his organization so again he emphasized the importance of participating in NADRA. He expressed their involvement in the decking industry and explained that they have become a dominant player in the specific brand Trex. In addition to Trex he is a big supporter and supplier of RDI. He then turned the presentation over to Brianne from RDI. She did a wonderful presentation in explaining the history of RDI as well as all the features and benefits of the product. She also emphasized that they will be opening up a new 52 acre facility in Southern New Jersey where they will be doing all of their manufacturing
Following the Abbe/RDI presentation, Judi Rossi from Glazer promotions took the floor and discussed the benefits of using promotional items and provided some samples of what companies have used in the past to promote their businesses.
Our committee updates went well but were brief due to missing some committee chairs. Judy and I again discussed the upcoming deck awards and again asked for support. After this reminder I again thanked all in attendance and again thanked our sponsor Abbe Lumber & RDI.
