Remodelors Council Renamed NAHB Remodelers
ORLANDO, Fla. — At its Winter Board of Directors Meetings held in conjunction with the International Builders Show, The Remodelors Council of the National Association of Home Builders changed its name to NAHB Remodelers.
The new name, which was adopted by the council Feb. 7, then separately approved by the NAHB on Feb. 9, also marks a departure from the use of a unique spelling for the word remodeler. Taking a cue from the National Association of Realtors, which trademarked an “ors” ending for the generic word realter, the Remodelors Council trademarked and embraced a similar spelling for its key descriptor beginning in the late 1970s.The rebranding effort also dropped the word council, which was a reference to the organization’s relationship within the hierarchy of the National Association of Home Builders.
“I am looking forward to the day when we could simply be known as the NAHBR,” said the group’s outgoing national chairman Vince Butler, CGR, CAPs, of Butler Bros. Remodeling.The rebranding effort is not expected to have an immediate impact at a local level. Local Remodelors Councils will be allowed to keep their current identities alongside a reference to the new name. The group’s trustees did not want to put a timeline on the name change at a local level because of the costliness of making such a change in a short time.
Internet Searches Played a Factor The growing importance of the Internet played a factor in the group’s decision to change its name. With consumers increasing using the Internet, in particular searches on the the World Wide Web, as a way to look for remodeling professionals, the unique “ors” spelling of the word remodeler became an increasing liability in terms of search engine results. Very few consumers knew that searches using the word “remodelor” would turn of up a list of hiqhly qualified professionals.
The rebranding is timed to coincide with a research and growth initiative that is being undertaken by its new chairman, Mike Nagel, CGR, CAPS, owner of Remodel One, in Roselle, Ill. The new NAHB Remodelers received a grant of $141,000 to research the remodeling industry and to a new list of remodelers to target for future membership in the association. Nagel told his colleagues that he would like to grow the group’s membership to 40,000 over the next five years, up from its current enrollment of approximately 7,000 members.