AFMA changes name, opens membership to importers
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, November 5, 2004
SEA ISLAND, Ga. -- Importers will be able to join manufacturers in the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the new name of the former American Furniture Manufacturers Assn.
AFMA members voted at their annual meeting here this morning to change the name and the organization’s membership requirements.
Previously, to be eligible to join, a company was required to have a manufacturing facility in the United States. Now, any company that manufactures or imports home furnishings products for wholesale distribution in the country is welcome.
“The new organization reflects our continued focus on assisting U.S.-based manufacturers, but also recognizes the new business models many of our members have adopted in recent years,” said Andy Counts, the AHFA’s CEO, noting that more companies are going to all-import product lines.
“In the future, an increasing number of longtime AFMA members who value the association’s programs and services would have no longer qualified for membership,” he said. “While our new organization will remain a voice for domestic manufacturers at the state and federal level, we will also create new services for those members and prospective members whose business models do not necessarily include domestic furniture production.”
He said the AHFA also will place “renewed emphasis on gathering and disseminating timely, accurate and critical industry data and research” to members and the industry.
The operations arm of the new organization will remain focused on government affairs, as well as the professional disciplines within a typical member company, including manufacturing, human resources, safety, environmental affairs, information technology, purchasing, packaging, transportation and finance.
“A professionally staffed Washington, D.C. office will continue to provide a voice for manufacturers and suppliers on legislative and regulatory issues,” said Counts.
Marketing and public relations will take on added importance as the organization works to reach consumers and gain a greater share of disposable income for home furnishings. The AHFA will continue to staff the official Media Center at the High Point market, to facilitate press coverage of new home furnishings products and trends each April and October.
The organization’s Suppliers Division will remain intact and will be open to companies that supply goods and services to AHFA members worldwide.
The Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Assn. also remains intact within the new organization. Earlier this year, the SCFMA board voted to open that group to international members.
A letter from AHFA’s president, Bassett Furniture President Rob Spilman, is announcing the changes to all 252 manufacturing members and 225 supplier members via e-mail today. He wrote, “2005 marks the 100-year anniversary of AFMA and its predecessor organizations. The timing of this change is perfect for advancing the organization and ensuring its ability to continue serving the membership with meaningful programs and services for the next 100 years.”
A marketing campaign celebrating AFMA’s first 100 years and highlighting the changes adopted in Sea Island this week will be rolled out in January.
The organizational changes approved at this week’s meeting were proposed by a subcommittee of the AFMA Board of Directors after a “critical issues” survey conducted among the board members this spring. The survey asked directors to assess the major strengths and weaknesses of the association and to envision the organization a decade into the future.
Results of the survey were presented to the Board in May. A subcommittee, dubbed the Olive Branch Committee, was subsequently formed to explore the issues raised by the survey, including possible ways AFMA might embrace companies that manufacture home furnishings products outside the United States.
This isn’t the first name change for the organization. Here are some highlights of the nearly 100-year history of the group and its predecessors:
1905: North Carolina Case Workers Assn. is established.
1911: NCCWA changes its name to the Southern Furniture Manufacturers Assn., an organization “to promote harmony among the manufacturers of furniture, secure concessions in freight rates … and further the interests of its members.”
1928: The National Assn. of Furniture Manufacturers is established in Chicago.
1959: NAFM establishes a new division, the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Assn., with its own officers and directors.
1964: NAFM organizes an Associate Member Division to open channels of communication between furniture manufacturers and the suppliers to the industry.
1973: NAFM moves its headquarters to Washington to more effectively monitor legislative and regulatory issues affecting the furniture industry.
1984: SFMA and NAFM merge to form the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn., based in High Point.
2004: The AFMA changes its name to the American Home Furnishings Alliance and opens its membership to importers as well as manufacturers and suppliers.
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AFMA changes name, welcomes importers
Nov 21, 2004
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