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Bigger is not always better, but for the Tampa Bay construction industry's trade group, it might be.
A series of mergers has made the Tampa Bay Builders Association not only regional, but representing both commercial and residential construction industries, a more potent voice in the region and state.
Originally, the association was known as the Builders Association of Greater Tampa, a non-profit Hillsborough County group founded in 1946. But in 2008 it merged with the Pasco Builders Association and 2003 joined the Pinellas County Contractors and
Builders Association. Typically builders work in all three counties.
It also brought together residential and commercial development groups in the Bay area to create one bigger group tackling education, marketing, networking, lobbying and other issues for the building industry.
“The mergers absolutely helped,” says Jennifer Doerfel, the association's executive vice president who took the helm in February. “To have one association that focuses all of these things has helped streamline things. It's a greater value to members. It's more affordable, with one set of dues.”
Doerfel, 32, is a Brandon native and the association's former director of government affairs. Before joining the association, she worked as a political consultant and lobbyist.
Doerfel has been at the association for four years and because of her previous post, is very familiar with the issues facing builders.
She fills big shoes, following Joe Narkiewicz, an iconic figure in the Tampa Bay business community, who ran the organization for 17 years.
About half of the 1,300 association members are builders. The other members are land-use attorneys, engineers, developers, trade contractors, suppliers, lending institutions, title companies and other types of businesses that have a relationship to the building industry. The association has a staff of five in South Tampa.
One of the main issues for the construction industry is the slowdown in bank lending. Despite comments to The Review by some Tampa banks and even the Florida Bankers Association, Doerfel says many banks have dramatically reduced their business lending, which is hurting companies that want to build.
“Companies have been in business for generations, they have assets, and they need to be able to get a loan,” she says. “The banks are just not lending.”
There is a host of regulations and laws that affect the building industry, especially impact fees. So the association continues to work to reduce these fees, which are passed on to the buyer and affect house sales or office leasing.
The association sees 2009 as a year of challenges and opportunities for builders. Governments are moving away from the continued suburbanization of Florida and are looking at mass transit as well as better roads. There will likely be much tougher government regulation of development patterns and density, stormwater design, water supply, and future limitations on carbon emission and energy use.
Then there is the issue of demand. The slowdown in the construction industry is nationwide, some of it global. For example, developers are bulldozing half-built homes in California and Texas because it is cheaper than getting more financing, finishing them and waiting for buyers, Doerfel notes.
She said Florida's natural amenities will always remain and be attractive to new businesses and residents. States like Michigan might feel an economic pinch a lot longer than Florida, because those states are less attractive to business, she says.
“At the end of the day, people love sunshine and that won't change,” Doerfel says. “Florida is blessed. We are very fortunate to have something everybody wants.”
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