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Texas Association of Builders
March/April 2016
On Council
Moving Forward
provide value to our almost 10,000 members.
The Association Planning Committee creates,
implements and monitors all of the member
benefit programs. The association business
is a big one, and our staff receives numerous
calls a month from solicitors of member
benefit programs. Our committee evaluates
legitimate prospects and determines if
they are a good fit for the association and
the members. Currently, TAB offers seven
programs that help your business’ bottom line.
These include insurance/risk management,
contracts, safety, marketing and cost saving
initiatives. You are leaving money on the
table if you are not utilizing these. A complete
list of these benefits can be found on the TAB
website under the Membership heading.
Another charge of the committee is facilities
and resource management. This is a two-fold
responsibility since the association owns a
building in downtown Austin where we have
tenants and secondly, we rent space adjacent
to the Capitol for our association offices. In
2003 and 2004, this very committee evaluated
our staff, their function, and the space that
was necessary to conduct the association’s
day-to-day duties. It was determined that the
building we own did not sufficiently serve the
association. The committee considered three
options: renovation of our building, buying
a new building or leasing office space. In
January 2005, our staff moved to the current
space, where we lease 3,350 sq. ft. and we
leased out the office space owned by TAB.
In January 2017, we will once again face this
similar situation as both our lease and our
tenant’s lease will expire. The Association
Planning Committee will once again evaluate
all opportunities and report back to the
membership all options that will be available
to the association. This is a dynamic time for
real estate in Austin, and I am sure that some
of these choices will include: selling, leasing,
moving, buying and building or, even better,
a combination of these. For the good of TAB
and our staff, we must seriously consider all
of our options for the long-term benefit.
Other resources that are very valuable to the
association and this committee are people
and technology. During the past year, the
technology of the association took the giant
leap into the “Cloud.” This change has proven
successful in that our systems have been
remarkably stable and, therefore, reduced
our IT expenses in both our operating and
capital budgets while allowing our staff a
seamless transition. In Q1 of 2016, the TAB
website will undergo a complete overhaul
to streamline the look and functionality.
Our current website is over 10 years old and
definitely has outlived its usefulness.
Human capital is certainly our greatest asset
and a serious part of the committee’s work is
to ensure that TAB is appropriately staffed
to carry out its mission and purpose. After
the great recession, and as many of your
companies experienced, the association was
forced to make cuts in staff positions. While
not all of these positions have been fully
restored, the committee regularly reviews the
association's organizational chart to make
certain the association’s goals can be achieved
at the current staffing level. Our staff works
harder and smarter to meet our needs.
If any of the previous information is of
interest to you, I encourage you to join me
and the other committee members at our
upcoming meeting on March 30 at the TAB
Winter Board of Directors Meetings in San
Antonio. The Association and Long Range
Planning Committee is truly where you can
get down in the weeds and learn the business
of our organization.
Thanks to Frank Murphy, Carol Longacre,
Leslie King, Gary Wilkerson, Beverly Koehn,
Mitchell Anderson, Joel Katz, Clyde Beaty,
Mike Mishler, Gary Nordling, Adam Bakir,
Alan Fails, JC Calcote, Adrian Balderas, Mike
Biggerstaff and Pedro Limas for serving with
me in 2016. I am looking forward to a very
productive year.
David Miller is President of McDougal
Construction in Lubbock, Texas. He oversees
construction and renovation of multifamily
housing and commercial properties and projects.
He holds a B.S. in Engineering Technology from
Texas Tech University and has over 30 year
experience in the construction industry.
The TAB bylaws define the
charge of the Association
and Long Range Planning
Committee as:
“The Association and Long Range Planning
Committee shall have the responsibility for
evaluating the resources and facilities of
the Association and for determining how
best to achieve the appropriate allocation
of the Association’s resources and facilities
with respect to the Association’s tasks and
mission. The Association and Long Range
Planning Committee shall also have the duty
and responsibility of reviewing all activities
of the Association, studying the needs of the
membership of the Association, determining
how those needs can be successfully met
by future activities of the Association, and
developing plans, policies and programs
for Association action which will meet the
long term needs of the building industry.
The committee in conjunction with the staff
may also review and recommend member
services and programs to the Board of
Directors. The committee shall report to
the Board of Directors from time to time
with its recommendations for the structure,
organization, and policies needed by the
Association to meet its long term objectives.”
Wow! That’s a mouthful. In short, this
committee works with the officers,
members and staff to see what’s on the
horizon and determine what’s best for the
association and how we can accomplish it.
Part of this responsibility is how we can
By David Miller