July 2018

Dear ASA Members,

I am excited to serve you and our organization as the 2018-19 President of the American Subcontractors Association. It is humbling to look back over these years and see all the great leaders that I am following. I am proud to represent such a worthy and honorable organization. My time with ASA began as a Board member of the Central Arkansas chapter and evolved into two terms as the President of our chapter. When I was chapter president, I had the opportunity to attend a national ASA event in Washington, D.C., where I learned more about the work of the national organization and met legislators on Capitol Hill. Over that week I also met a number of new friends who were leaders from other chapters who impressed me and were more than willing to share their stories and advice. I was hooked.

My parents started ACE Glass in 1986 and laid a great foundation for who we are today. We do everything we can to treat others as we would want to be treated. I grew up in the company starting from below the lowest position in my teens and had the opportunity to work for many of the people who still help me run the company today. After college and a couple of jobs in other industries, I returned to ACE as an estimator, project manager, and division manager. I realized through that process that I had never fulfilled a lifelong dream of practicing law. I left the company for several years to attend law school and practice law. In that time, I had a successful real estate and construction law practice, but our industry called me back. I’m very thankful for the lessons I learned while helping others.

I’m taking the reins at a time that is both exciting and challenging for many reasons. One of which is the loss of a longtime officer of our organization that did so much to help us achieve our goal to advocate for the rights of subcontractors. Change can be hard, but it also provides opportunity. We have an opportunity to evaluate our goals for the next decade and beyond. We also have the opportunity and responsibility to step into the advocacy role for the organization on a local and national level while we look for a replacement. Through this process, we’ll get a chance to educate ourselves and a new chief advocate and continue the good work that has been done. Although I wouldn’t choose any unnecessary challenges, I’m thankful to be taking this one on with our national Board and all of you.

A couple of things in the works this year are strategic partnerships and more peer interaction. ASA has a unique compilation of members and information that has been gathered over the last 50 years. Many, if not most, of our members belong to other trade specific organizations who educate and advocate for the specific skills and issues particular to those individual trades. ASA has educated and advocated for subcontractors as a whole for over 50 years. We address issues related to the business of subcontracting such as contract negotiation and payment protection. We’re working toward expanding our membership and reach by partnering with other trade specific organizations who can benefit from our work while growing our organization and reach. In that vein, we are also working to provide more intentional opportunities for our chapters and members to interact and share best practices. One of the key values I get from ASA is the advice of others in our industry. Our members are typically the best of the best. I can’t think of a better group of peers and advisors to help us succeed. There are already several things in the works such Chapter Families, which are already sharing best practices and we’ll be announcing a number of other efforts in the future.

I’m very thankful for all of you as members and hope you are getting all you can from ASA. We tend to spend our energy where we see the greatest returns. It’s just our nature. Look at the number and quality of the people who are volunteering and leading at the local and national levels and you can see that ASA involvement has a great return for the time and money invested. If you aspire to grow your business and the industry we share, then ASA involvement should be on your list of things to do. I have seen and heard many stories of success in our ranks that I wouldn’t know without my time in this organization. Those stories have guided me toward success and away from problems in many instances. Our local and national Boards not only improve the environment in which we do business, their members share life and experiences that help. Watch how the Board members interact at the next event you attend. They have built great friendships and are usually succeeding. I’d say this is in some part due to their involvement with ASA. Join us!

Lastly, I have heard it said that money is the muscle of ministry. ASA has a worthy mission and we do a lot with our resources. We have very low administrative costs when you compare them to our reach. That said, we need to grow our membership dues revenue and donations to our foundations so that we can continue the good work ASA does. I don’t know many places where your money goes further. Over the years the Foundation and the Subcontractor’s Legal Defense Fund have provided valuable education materials and very important legal support to guide precedent in courts across the United States. This has benefited us all. We always want engaged and involved members first and foremost and we should ask others in our industry to join ASA and support the work we are doing because it benefits them, too. Our combined efforts have made important improvements to the construction industry. With more members and funds, we could multiply that effect and those benefits for all.

Thank you for your membership and involvement. I look forward to working for and with you in the next year to continue to make the construction industry better for us all. Please let us know how we can help you succeed.

Best Regards,
Courtney Little
2018-19 President
American Subcontractors Association