2019: Real Wood Floors, Always in Style

As we wind down 2018 and head into a new year, here’s a look at some of our accomplishments as an industry and an outlook on work to come.

The NWFA Board of Directors completed its strategic planning process, involving members at large through surveys, focus groups, and roundtables to ensure as many voices were included as possible in establishing organizational objectives for the next three years.

One of the clear needs that emerged to move the industry forward became a definition of wood flooring, which has been completed and is available at nwfa.org. Related to this, the need for NWFA to engage in more consumer-facing communication became apparent.

To further take the face of NWFA to consumers, the association’s Emerging Leaders Network reviewed our branding and provided feedback on marketing concepts. This group also held its first stand-alone meeting and lobbied on behalf of our industry in Washington D.C. this fall.

As we flush out the consumer approach, first with the next issue of the magazine, then with a toolkit for members to carry branding forward, a redo of the consumer site, woodfloors.org, and organized media outreach, we will need your help to tell the story of wood flooring. We will also focus on industry-wide and company branding during Expo, May 1-3, 2019 in Ft. Worth.

Coming up from an education standpoint, NWFA University will launch a manufacturing track and an inspector track this year. What’s great about the online platform is that 75 percent of the participants are new to NWFA, which helps ensure a healthy future for the association. The university also will go international, with a new U.K. version.

With dues renewals this year, members received a copy of the new NWFA technical publication, Problems, Causes, & Cures. This latest revision joins the library of Sand and Finish Guidelines, Ornamental Floors, and Moisture & Wood, which were revised in the last three years. These tools also are available electronically. Additional print copies may be purchased at nwfa.org. A new version of the NWFA Installation Guidelines and the Wood Species Guide will be coming in 2019.

At the end of the year, we learned through the magazine’s second economic outlook that more than 75 percent of you expect 2019 to be a great year, perhaps even better than this year.

With new tools to educate you and your employees, and resources to help the industry maintain consumer preference for real wood floors, we hope to help that expectation become reality.

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