The North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD) and the North American Building Material Distribution Association (NBMDA) have further strengthened their long-time partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic to bring forth resources and programs to meet the specific needs of the distribution channel. 

Since the start of the impact of COVID-19 on the distribution business community, both associations have focused on providing members with relevant content on human resource management best practices, tapping into federal loans and relief offerings, monitoring state-by-state limits on construction trades as well as tracking economic trends. Additionally, a great deal of guidance has been provided in the area of adjusting sales and marketing strategies during these unusual times. Finally, the associations have focused on helping distribution and manufacturing executives lead during times of uncertainty. NAFCD and NBMDA have tapped into a wealth of content produced by their rosters of strategic partners that include leading distribution consultants, trainers and thought leaders.

The associations have hosted a continuous variety of webinars and videos addressing key topics and archiving this training for distribution professionals to access when they have the time. "Our members have been hungry for guidance in a number of areas and have been very pleased with what has been made available," noted NAFCD and NBMDA executive vice president, Kevin Gammonley. "A four-part human resource webinar series attracted hundreds of distribution professionals who are dealing with a variety of employee issues."

Both organizations joined other distributor and manufacturer-oriented trade associations in distributing an impact and implementation survey to their members in the first week of the outbreak that generated over 2,500 responses and helped members gain insights into how other firms across the country were dealing with the challenges. The survey was distributed again after three weeks to generate insights on how distributors and manufacturers have shifted their focus over the past month.

As the source for relevant distribution content, both associations have developed online repositories to make accessing the material and training quick and easy. Much of this content is offered to the industry and is not member-exclusive. Further information can be found at: www.nafcd.org/COVID-19; www.nbmda.org/COVID-19.