North American Deck & Railing Association (NADRA)

bright indeed. BVM: How did NADRA come into being? Beaudry: “When I came into this industry back in 2004, I was quite surprised that a $4 billion industry did not have any kind of a formal voice representing it. We’d become an industry where we had separate buying groups and other types of associations. So I went to our first big show and decided I was going to start a Deck and Railing one. At the time, the issue was about pressure-treated lumber; switching from CCA to ACQ. There was a real difficulty about why it was happening, how it was going to help the builders, and what it would mean to consumers. “So I stood up at the back of the room and said, “Why are you builders sitting out there not having the support of your manufacturers upstream to help with this situation?” To make a long story short, by the end of the three days, we had 19 guys put $100 each in a hat, and I was holding the hat. That’s how NADRA started. That was 17 years ago and I am still enjoying building an association that’s now across the U.S. and growing.” BVM: What industry sectors does your membership encompass? Beaudry: “We started this with the idea of representing not just one small group, but to bring all the industry parties together. Major raw material suppliers, manufacturers, dealers, distributors, architects, engineers, inspectors, builders, we cover it all. That’s worked out very well because we can support each other and have collaboration. We’re made up of the entire value chain. “We are just approaching 1000 members and it’s taken us a long time to get there… we’ve really taken our time. Building the foundation was extremely important. It wasn’t about a numbers game. It was about making sure we knew what NORTH AMER I CAN DECK & RA I L ING ASSOC I AT ION (NADRA)