NARI MN Statement
Dear Valued NARI Minnesota Community,
It is humbling to witness the courage and comradery you and all NARI Minnesota members have displayed in recent weeks. Members have shown their capacity to support and advise each other, share resources, lend a helping hand, and give back to the community; all with positivity and humility. As the Great State of Minnesota continues to be diligent and exemplary in their leadership, so too has our Minnesota chapter set an outstanding example to the national NARI community. We cannot thank you enough for your remarkable strength and grace.
Wednesday’s announcement from Governor Tim Walz of Emergency Executive Order 20-20; Stay at Home added a new layer of complexity to our industry. Immediately following the announcement, social media was abuzz with questions and debate about how this specifically impacts remodeling professionals. Employees questioned their employment statuses, employers questioned the implications on their businesses and decisions to be made, and homeowners embarking on or in the midst of remodeling projects questioned how it would impact the completion and safety of their homes. We thank those of our members in legal advisory positions for their swift interpretation of the order and for freely sharing these explanations with other members and our office staff. A profound sigh of relief was released as thousands of our industry’s professionals discovered Residential and Nonresidential Construction to be included on the Minnesota Critical Businesses List.
Still, questions remain: What about homeowners and workers? Is it safe to continue? Is it okay to begin new projects? Will the economy recover? Can my company survive a shut down? Many more questions continue to arise, and more answers and opinions are debated. As with our roundtables, the minds of a group are far more powerful than the mind of one. We have elicited feedback from our Past Presidents and some of our roundtable groups, to better understand the breadth of perspective on these matters. We have held an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors. NARI Minnesota is dedicated to providing the resources you need to consider these and other very important decisions related to your businesses, from the source, based in fact, and without bias. The decisions you make for your businesses at this time are deeply personal and unique to your individual circumstance. There are several tools we have implemented to help you navigate these gray areas and new information. Keep your eye out for new initiatives as the situation evolves.
- The NARI MN Blog is continually being updated with information; legal interpretations of executive orders, layoffs and furloughs, disaster loans, paid leave, the tax extension, permits and inspections, and much more.
- We are working to set up a section of the blog dedicated to collecting and reporting delays or important news about supply lines from manufacturers and distributers. Stay tuned or check the NARI MN blog in the coming weeks.
- Widely share the feedback, dialog, and concerns of our membership in a safe environment. We will continue to ask our members to share advice or individual stories about specific critical concerns and share in blog posts dedicated to each specific concern. All responses will be shared anonymously. The purpose of this exercise is to provide you with a wide spectrum of peer perspectives. We urge you to respond quickly and thoroughly to surveys that hit your inboxes, as this is the most efficient way to collect and share your comments. Please encourage your employees to join our mailing list by sending an email to info@narimn.org asking to be placed on the list.
- The frequency of our monthly Open RoundTable has been increased to a weekly basis. Once per month, we will maintain the original format of the roundtable. All other weeks will be dedicated to providing community discussion on the most imminent issues. This meeting will take place on Tuesdays at 11:30 in a virtual setting. Please see the events section at NARIMN.org for more information about this and other scheduled events.
- We understand that NARI MN members may need to lay off or furlough their employees. We are allowing these laid off or furloughed employees to remain on our email list as a Provisional/Interim member. This opportunity does not have full membership rights attached and includes an expiration date (more information will be provided to those who apply). Companies who have had to let go or furlough their employees are asked to forward this email to these employees to notify them of this opportunity. These employees will need to contact the office, info@narimn.org, to set up this opportunity.
- Follow our social media accounts
The next few weeks and months will, without doubt, be wearisome. We know and appreciate that our members will continue to provide support and encouragement to each other as we embark on an extraordinary era of ambiguity. We cannot thank you enough for all that you do to reinforce the ethics and professionalism of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.
Please contact the office for any reason concerning your membership or if you are in need of information that cannot be found on our website.
Regards,
Donella Olson, CKBR
EdgeWork Design Build
2020 NARI Minnesota President
Beatrice Owen, MA
Executive Director
NARI Minnesota
