RAHC News – March 2022 Update

RAH Sees Steady Growth While Touring the Country

By: RAHC Board of Directors

It’s convention and annual meeting time for many of the hardwood industry associations around the country, and the Real American Hardwood Coalition is on the road and sharing our recent progress at many of them.

Over 30 associations comprise the coalition, and their respective executive directors and key staff make up the leadership team of the coalition. The group continues to meet weekly as we gradually build the program’s infrastructure, finances, and, most importantly, its participation from member companies.

The website that provides participation resources for industry members has been up and running for a few months now, and we are happy to be experiencing spikes in the number of companies who are choosing to get behind the effort with financial contributions. For example, between the IHLA convention February 7-9 and the AHMI annual meeting March 3-5, the number of companies contributing to the campaign grew by 40%!

Now, as the creation of the all-important consumer-facing website is underway, we begin to get a glimpse of the “magic” that separated Canvas United from the other public relations firms that bid on this project. Canvas distanced themselves from the pack with their amazing ability to evoke emotions and tell a story through visual imagery using minimal words. Without giving away any “spoilers,” we expect Canvas to draw the public towards hardwoods subtly, by touching the hearts and minds of consumers during the critical imagination stage of home improvements and projects.

By emphasizing the style and healthy-home advantages of hardwoods over other products, Canvas has a multi-step process for promoting hardwoods, much like what can be learned about a tree by studying its growth rings.

We believe that what sets this campaign apart from previous efforts to promote hardwoods is the people. Again, over 30 associations have come together, and the “team” who has both funded the program and is responsible for its oversight, works together with a board of industry advisors to make sure we are carefully considering each step of the program and every dollar spent.

For you, the member, that means you have a team of people who you know and already trust, all collaborating in a way that brings out the best in us. None of us wants to be the one that lets the other down, and by utilizing each of our unique talents, we are determined to impress the industry with our results. You are getting our FINEST EFFORT!

We have set this up like a business, taking care of the incorporation of a non-profit entity, building an accounting system, a database backbone and the software to meet our needs.

Best of all, this is a program owned completely by you, the member companies, who are making decisions for your collective best interest, with no government oversight and no limitations on how the funds are spent. The campaign brings together hardwood operations of all sizes, production and distribution methods. Everyday competition among member firms takes a backseat to cooperation within the industry toward a common goal. You can see results of the campaign before you choose to lend financial support, and you can opt out at any time.

We’re going to get this right. All we ask of you is to give it the benefit of the doubt, and if you like what you see, get on board and give just a little each year to keep it going. We’d like to see a broad-based ground force of companies displaying the logo, in addition to their own, and understanding that by pooling resources, we create a tide that lifts us all.