Yard Tours are an excellent opportunity to build or strengthen relationships with you federal representative and senators. Unlike Advocacy Day where we are talking about legislative issues, Yard Tours are for you to educate legislators about your business and our industry. It is an opportunity to share about your success as well as any struggles you are facing as a business. Legislators enjoy taking the time to meet with constituents and hearing about what they can do for you and your employees as your federal representatives.

During the tour, you will tell your company story and discuss the current business environment including any challenges you are facing. If you are family owned, let the legislator know how many generations your family has owned the business. Many are often surprised to learn that lumber yards are family owned. You can share how many locations you have an how many people who employ; this shows the legislators your impact in the community.

Make sure to share about who your customers are and how business is doing, such as are you seeing increases in building along with the strengths and weaknesses as you see them in the current market. You can also share about any staffing challenges you are facing, tax issues, and supply chain problems.

All of this information helps your federal legislators see first hand how businesses are doing and how imbedded in the community our ABMA members are. It also gives them a greater understanding for how our industry works.

If you want to host a Yard Tour, ABMA staff will help coordinate. We will work with you to find dates that work for you and then work with your legislators’ office to get them there for a visit. Email our ABMA Government Affairs Coordinator, Nicolina Schonfarber, at nschonfarber@abmalliance.org to get started.