In a recent national survey, we learned that nearly a third of the professionals in our industry are not currently connected to an industry trade association. At the risk of sounding self-serving, but for education and clarification, let’s discuss four reasons why being an ACTIVE member of a trade association is important to the stability and credibility of your business. Great care should be taken to investigate and compare all the credible organizations to make sure you are getting what you need out of your membership. Choosing wisely could greatly benefit the growth of your company. 

Legal Liability Protection—if an association has a well-designed and insured “best practices” document, your following that document gives you another layer of protections against downside litigation. The trade association, if they also have training requirement for certification, is insured to cover you if, when following the association training, you find yourself being sued. You can simply declare, “Here is the training I received,” and, in most cases, the liability shifts to the association. As a result, you may find your premium discounted or coverage expanded when you are part of a credible association. 

Training and Support—some states require licensure and require CEUs (continuing education units) to renew that license. Whether required or not, staying on top of the industry and keeping informed about changes in the industry are critical to your company’s success in the marketplace. NORMI™ offers FREE CEU Training for States that require it, as well as recertification with NORMI™ each year because connection to the industry is SO important. This is a very fluid industry and learning as much as you can about new products, techniques, rules and laws should be a part of your business plan. 

Networking—some trade associations provide an annual opportunity to get with other industry professionals in an effort to learn about what’s going on in the industry and build a team to help with projects. These opportunities are often time-consuming and expensive but definitely worth the investment. Additionally, we have found that offering ongoing networking opportunities every month through our ZOOM platform has proven very successful in accomplishing the goal of connecting professionals to each other. And, because we don’t burden our association members with the expense of planning a national conference, we take advantage of other shows, like The Experience, to provide FREE opportunities for our ACTIVE members to be involved in our booth and participate in the event. 

Credibility—when separating yourself from the competition, maintaining an internationally recognized certification can be, for the client, the difference needed to determine which professional they choose. Those in the field who do not associate with a trade association are often seen as “cowboys” and without the foundation of a good ethics document may be passed over by the more discriminating client. A trade association’s focus should be on establishing themselves as a credible group, not by purchasing a lobbyist or spending tons of the member’s money on national advertising, but by simply doing the right thing for the client. The word will get out. The right thing is to make well-trained, certified, licensed and insured professionals available to the potential client.

NORMI™, the National Organization of Remediators and Microbial Inspectors is now celebrating its twentieth anniversary (Happy 20^th Birthday!). For more on member benefits go to www.Join.NORMI.org or call Brenda at 989.657.3756 Jayme at 989.916.6264. For training schedule, see www.Training.NORMI.org