Mireya Zapata of Lumber Association of Texas, a voice for business.

In Texas, a voice for business

MIREYA ZAPATA ADVOCATES EVERYWHERE FOR PRODEALERS By Andy Carlo

Mireya Zapata will celebrate five years with the Lumbermen’s Association of Texas (LAT) this summer.

During her tenure at the LAT, where she serves as executive vice president, Zapata has quickly made an impact on the lumber and building materials industry both in Texas and on the national level.

At the most recent ProDealer Industry Summit held in Washington in March, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) presented the Chairman’s Award to Zapata.

“The people in our industry are inspiring and they motivate me in my daily work,” Zapata said in accepting the award. “I believe, small businesses, family-owned businesses are one of our country’s treasures. It is an honor to have a small role in supporting them and I am grateful to Jim [Bishop, the NLBMDA chairman] and the team at NLBMDA for this recognition.”

Some of Zapata’s formative years in her professional career occurred at the Texas House of Representatives. It was there that her office was located next door to then State Representative Allan Ritter. Zapata describes Ritter as “an incredible friend and mentor.”

Ritter and his family operated Ritter Lumber made sure that Zapata was educated on all bills that had the potential to impact the Texas LBM industry.

“In the legislative district that I worked, we had many wonderful independent, Texas Dealers, including McCoy’s Building Supply—Brian McCoy and Meagan Jones—strong advocates for our industry at the legislature,” Zapata told HBSDealer. “I was attracted to our industry because of their passion and commitment to our industry and state.”

The LAT represents 110 Texas dealers and 100 associate members. Zapata says the association is fortunate to have an engaged board of directors and membership. “Their input and guidance keeps me and our association focused on advocating for our members via our government affairs efforts, providing professional development, networking opportunities, and supporting the up-and-coming leaders in our industry.”

Recent achievements from the LAT include focusing on members’ insurance rates being impacted by “frivolous lawsuits and trucking accidents,” Zapata notes.

During the 2021 session of the Texas Legislature, the LAT worked toward getting bipartisan legislation passed that reformed state regulations regarding trucking accidents.

On the national front, Zapata says that Texas Dealers have a long history of engagement with the NLBMDA.

“We strongly believe in the importance of a unified industry voice advocating for the entire lumber and building materials supply chain in Washington,” she says. “LAT members are focused on engaging our industry partners in this work—manufacturers, suppliers, service providers—all of us have a stake in this and we need the entire industry to invest time and resources to it. The policy issues before Congress and the administration and the decisions that are made today—on taxes, workforce, trade—will impact generations.”

The positive impact that family-owned businesses have on the economy and the industry has been a major takeaway for Zapata since she began with prodealers and the association.

“Family-owned businesses matter and much of their success is driven by their culture,” Zapata explains. “In a business world that values consolidation, taking pride in your name and mission drives the success and staying power of the LAT membership.”

“We strongly believe in the importance of a unified industry voice advocating for the entire lumber and building materials supply chain in Washington —Mireya Zapata, Lumberman's Association of Texas (LAT)