New Contractor Enrollments Up More Than 60%
October 2, 2015
Since transitioning to a new "Open Membership" dues schedule in July, ACCA -- the nation's largest association of HVACR contractors and indoor environment professionals -- has seen its membership and participation surge, the association announced.
Prior to July, contractors were required to join affiliated ACCA chapters in their areas, if those chapters existed, which led to a complex dues schedule and confusing membership process. Now, contractors can join ACCA for a flat annual or monthly fee. Between July and September, new contractor enrollments are up more than 60% over the prior year.
"Contractors want an organization that is committed to serving them nationwide, and they don't want to have to jump through hoops to support it," said Phil London, ACCA 2015-2016 Chairman. "Clearly contractors wanted open membership, because the response has been tremendous. In fact, in addition to the new members, a lot of former members are re-joining the association because they appreciate the flexibility and freedom of choice that our new membership program offers. Freed from the chains of administering complicated dues, our association staff are focused on serving members, representing contractors, and developing new member benefits."
To support its advocacy efforts around the country, ACCA has been strengthening its relationships with the nation's largest and most successful state contracting associations. ACCA's Allied Contracting Organizations (ACOs) now include:
- Air Conditioning Contractors of Ohio
- Association of Air Conditioning Professionals (Maryland/Virginia/DC)
- Conditioned Air Association of Georgia
- Michigan Air Conditioning Contractors Association
- New Jersey Air Conditioning Contractors Association
- Pennsylvania Air Conditioning Contractors Association
- South Carolina Heating & Air Conditioning Contractors
- Southern Nevada Air Conditioning Refrigeration Contractors Association
"It's important that contractors have effective, professional representation at the state and national level," said Paul T. Stalknecht, ACCA President & CEO. "We encourage all of our members who operate in the states served by our ACOs to support those organizations as well as ACCA." For more information about ACCA's Allied Contracting Organizations, visit http://www.acca.org/aco.
Key to the association's membership growth has been the launch of a redesigned member community portal at http://www.acca.org/members, where members have exclusive access to hundreds of on-demand training programs, downloadable forms and templates, and the popular Contractor Forum. The Forum connects nearly 8,000 contracting professionals in a convenient discussion group, where they share ideas and solve business challenges.
According to Kevin Holland, ACCA's Senior Vice President for Business Operations, "Traffic on our new website is up more than 40% over last year. Every week hundreds of members login to take full advantage of their ACCA membership benefits, which are accessible 24/7 online. The new ACCA offers exclusive employee and management training, with 3-5 new programs added every month. These programs are provided to our members at no additional cost, and all feature insight from America's top contracting business owners. Our enhanced platform provides a unique opportunity for contractors, and with our month-to-month option, it's offered at absolutely no obligation or risk."
For more information about ACCA membership and its benefits, visit http://www.acca.org/join or call 888-290-2220.