Encourage Your Employees To Get Involved in BIA

Southern California Builder: Tell us about how long you have been involved in BIA.

Jennifer Johnson: Lennar has been a member of BIASC since 1996, but I am not speaking on Lennar’s behalf I am speaking about my personal experience and my road map with the BIA. For myself, I’ve been involved since I started in the industry in 1999 with VanDaele Homes and I’ve been a member of the BIASC Membership Committee for nine years. My membership involvement started with KB Homes, when Chris Haines encouraged me to get involved. Then I went to Standard Pacific, where Marty Langpap was instrumental in supporting my continued journey with membership. Then Standard Pacific merged with Ryland to become CalAtlantic, and then Lennar acquired CalAtlantic, and through it all I was encouraged and supported by Mark Torres and Geoff Smith to continue my involvement with the Membership Committee as well as now holding a position on the Board of Directors for the Riverside chapter as membership co-chair.

It’s funny how I got involved in membership. I’d been attending events since 1999, but wasn’t a part of any committee. I was at KB Home and Chris Haines, a division president, asked for three volunteers. He didn’t say what it was for but promised the first three a gift card to a restaurant. I like restaurants so I was one of the first to volunteer, and we were told to take our phones with us to the Riverside BIA House and participate in a membership drive. I just fit in right away, and I never stopped – they’re my people.

SCB: It is interesting how your involvement continued through all those positions.

JJ: That’s the greatest part. The leadership of every builder that I’ve worked for has been very supportive of my involvement in the BIA, which speaks volumes to how important it is as an employee of a builder to represent our industry. What has been especially good is that even as a person who was not in a high-level position when I originally got involved I was always encouraged to participate. BIA is really for anyone. I started attending events when I was a receptionist. I have had the luxury of having wonderful bosses who encouraged my involvement. They have a limited number of tickets for events, which are usually reserved for directors, VPs or division presidents. But it’s also important to include some of your support staff because those are the people who are the future of BIA, who need exposure to what we do so they can fall in love with the industry as I did.

SCB: It sounds like your BIA participation hasn’t just benefitted you, but also the companies you work for. Is that true?

JJ: Of course, 100%. As just one example, it exposed me to trades and consultants that I have great relationships with today – relationships that at times help our company to succeed on our projects and meet our objectives. And even when we can’t use their services, the wonderful thing is that I can put them in contact with people they can do business with. The builder presence is so important to trade and associate members, no matter what the economy looks like. As for me, participation gave me confidence in my career and helped me to believe that I could be someone influential in this industry.

SCB: When you convince someone to join BIA, what advice do you give them?

JJ: The biggest advice I can give is to attend as many events as they can, because the more events you attend, the more people will recognize you and reach out to you, so you can become part of the building industry family. It’s also important for new members to understand that it can take more than a year for them to realize a return on their investment. But as they attend more events over time, they will start to notice the positive difference BIA membership can make. Stick it out because it will pay off! 