Dear Readers –

Spring is here! April is a month of renewal, rebirth, and celebration of life. I hope you rejoiced and celebrated with your family and friends – whatever rituals and traditions you enjoy. Time for spring cleaning, starting anew, out with the old! No more dust bunnies, windows wide open (hack, hack – darn allergies), and daffodils, tulips, cherry blossoms, filled lakes and fast-flowing rivers are a welcome sight. This issue focuses on a slew of varied topics – from securing financing to technology as a way to improve productivity, supplier relationships…and your business.

Do you value your ASA membership? Then make sure you let others know how valuable you find being a member of ASA is, and encourage them to join. We work tirelessly for our members and hope to make this an association you’re proud of. And if you’re having doubts about renewing – what can we do to take those doubts away? We’re NOTHING without our members, and together we’re stronger and better than if we try and tackle our troubles alone. Our membership renewal period is coming up, and I want to personally thank all of you for making this such an amazing, active, powerful, and even fun, association – as you’ll read about in this months’ Always Something Awesome segment.

I’m so proud to be the one to help reintroduce FASA – the Foundation of the American Subcontractors Association. While The Contractor’s Compass has always been published by FASA, the FASA logo was rarely noticed. At SUBExcel in March we relaunched FASA, announcing our focus on two critical initiatives for the construction industry: Diversity & Inclusion and Suicide Prevention. We’ve gathered numerous resources all in one place on our website from various organizations, to help you navigate these issues. Our members will be receiving reminders about this information in the coming weeks. The ASA Chapters have been in front of this campaign and have also held lecture series and discussions to help their members tackle these tough issues. If you have information that you believe needs to be added to our resources, or other help you’d like to learn about, please contact Richard Bright or Matt Levine. 

Let’s work together to make this industry stronger, more resilient, and ready for the future as it comes around too quickly.

Be on the lookout for your renewal notices – or just re-up now, and you can ignore the reminders! Tell a colleague, supplier, partner, about ASA. It’s for the benefit of the industry. 

In closing, please remember to take time for yourself, your family, and your health. A balanced life is a fulfilling life!

Rusty Plowman
President, ASA – 2022-2023