During the first week of March, CPIA Co-Founders Aaron Moore and Steve Hester along with Executive Director Mike Stanley attended the Painting Contractors Association EXPO in Orlando, Florida, where they took the opportunity to meet with dozens of CPIA members from various locations in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Pre-Show Meetings
Prior to kicking things off at the conference, on Monday (Feb. 28), the CPIA hosted a pre-show meeting and multiple engagement sessions where contractor members discussed current and potential future issues facing the commercial painting market. Some of the topics discussed included HR, recruitment, sales, marketing, innovation, technology, estimating, supplier resources, sustainability and planning for the future, among others. Over 40 people from the CPIA attended these sessions.
Each topic was met with its own subtopic that was then assigned to smaller groups of six to eight people to further discuss ideas, processes and potential solutions. After initial discussion within the groups, Moore and Ralph O’Shaughnessy of Higgins Coatings Australia facilitated discussions amongst everyone in attendance. Two CPIA Executive Peer Groups also utilized the in-person opportunity to meet and expand those discussions.
The evening was capped with a cocktail reception and five-star dinner at the Boathouse Restaurant on Disney’s property, courtesy of Higgins Coatings.
“An evening highlight was when Gerard Higgins of Higgins Coatings, Heinrich Schmid of Heinrich Schmid and Craig Bell of Bell Coatings each stood and presented their thoughts and a toast to the group,” reported Stanley after the event. “It goes without saying that it was impressive to have three owners of three epic painting industry contractors in attendance and so involved. Each of these three is the largest commercial painting contractor in their respective country!”
The following day, CPIA members engaged in social networking activities on the golf course, as well as a VIP tour of several Disney properties, among other local amenities and nearby attractions. While everyone was enjoying the sunshine, Moore and Stanley had the opportunity to meet with the PCA Board of Directors regarding the association’s mission on current success and future initiatives specific to growing an engaged and resource-filled commercial painting community. The presentation was met with a high level of interest and discussions as to how the two organizations might be able to complement each other, as the PCA continues to focus on the residential segment, while the CPIA is the only organization of its kind that cultivates and encourages individual and corporate professional growth for the commercial sector.
The Expo portion of the PCA Conference took place on Thursday afternoon, with the CPIA located at booth #607. During the expo, it was reported that the CPIA booth was a destination for many commercial contractors and other residential contractors looking to connect and gain insight in not just commercial work, but the organization, too.
In response to the event, Nick Higgins, General Manager – Operations for Higgins Coatings, later stated, “Excellent networking through PCA and CPIA to engage all levels of business and business owners.”
In signing on new contractor members over the course of the event and in recent weeks, the association has updated its overall annual revenue, now reporting $1.4 billion! Since 2021, the CPIA contractor membership has grown tenfold, with primary membership in America and six international members.
Trips to Atlanta, Chicago
Following a successful and productive week in Orlando, several international members of the CPIA were invited to participate in meetings, tours, training sessions and fun activities with other members in Atlanta and Chicago.
In starting this portion of the trip off early, on Sunday night (March 6), seven international members traveled north where they watched the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning at the National Hockey League’s United Center arena. During the first period, Higgins Coatings and Heinrich Schmid were formally welcomed on the scoreboard!
On Monday, the group met with the Hester Painting & Decorating management team. During this visit, members were taken on a tour of the Chicago-area apprentice training school and later met to review industry best practices and discuss important topics that affected each company. These meetings were then followed by recreational activities at Top Golf and a dinner.
On the second day, the group met with All-Tech Painting, another Chicago-based CPIA member, at one of their job sites for a tour. This was followed by an additional review of important topics, ranging from operations to HR, estimating to technology, and more.
Taking place the same two week days, Harrison Contracting (Villa Rica, Georgia) hosted two members from Higgins Painting along with several members of the Atlanta Professional Painter's Association (APPA) in Atlanta. The collective was also hosted at Graydaze Painting’s facility in Alpharetta, Georgia. During this visit, Harrison Contracting Company, Graydaze Contracting, Baker Paint, Benise-Dowling & Associates and Rosing Painting & Wallcovering were reported to participate in a round-robin discussion of the key challenges currently faced by the group.
“It was a great pleasure hosting this group,” said Calvin Pate, CEO of Harrison Contracting Company. “Hopefully everyone came away with something that will help their respective companies and help our industry.”
Also in attendance was Jim McBrayer, CEO of McBrayer Associates and CPIA Peer Group Moderator. After the meetings, McBrayer noted that all the information and sharing of experiences was well-received.
Going Home
“We have had a fantastic time the last two weeks and look forward to you visiting us next year or so,” concluded Nick Higgins. “Thanks very much for coordinating.”
As a whole, regarding both of the eastern-located cities, other attending representatives from Higgins Coatings were quoted as saying the event, meetings and overall experience had a great customer focus, and that they were impressed by American quality control systems, recruitment and onboarding strategies, in addition to the association’s collaboration between competitors and business networking.
The association continues to uphold these self-made standards, while always continuing to strive for greater success and committing to the advancement of the commercial coatings industry.
