We would like to welcome and thank all of the new Members that have joined the Susquehanna Chapter in 2014! We appreciate your support and look forward to getting to know you during meetings and events. We are going to have a fantastic 2015 together! Here are the new members for 2014:
1) Brenda Hager, RF Hager Construction, LLC
2) Kristin Small, RF Hager Construction, LLC
3) Larry Logan, Red Rose Cabinetry, Inc
4) Zlatko I. Pticek, Zip Design & Build, LLC
5) Melissa A. Ellis, Art Institute of York
6) Beverly Lefebre, Nuoy Interiors, LLC
7) Cliff Ball, CBC Cabinetry & Flooring
8) Michael J Bovie, Lancaster Stained Glass Design
9) Emily G Reichart, Hunt Valley Tile and Stone
10) Tanisha Bolig, John H Myers & Son
11) Stephen T. Keener, CMKBD, Stephen T. Keener Design
12) Christopher Jacobs, CKD
13) Bernie Copper, Kardean Design Flooring
14) Bryan C. Hunt, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
15) Reed Dillion, Legacy Crafted Cabinets
16) Jeremy J. Thompson, Elkay Manufacturing Company
17) Glenn L. Good, Bareville Kitchen & Design
18) Teresa Craley, 2020 Catalog Development

A Letter from our VP  

of Government Regulations: 

As the Chapter's newly elected "VP Government Regulations" it is my responsibility to communicate federal, state or provincial and local bills concerning the kitchen and bath industry. We need to take action to prevent those laws from negatively affecting our business growth and function - which would directly affect our livelihood.

Why Is This Important To Us?

While NKBA members do not generally call themselves "interior designers," the broad definition of interior design covers the services our members perform on a daily basis. Our members would therefore be regulated by these laws.

What Are The Proposed Laws?

There are generally two types of interior design legislation which the NKBA is concerned about:

Title Act: A title act regulates the use of a title such as "Certified Interior Designer," "Registered Interior Designer," or, in some cases, even the term "Interior Designer" itself. Although a title act does not prevent anyone from offering interior design services, only those who have been licensed by the state can use the regulated term.

Practice Act: This type of regulation is much more restrictive and actually prohibits unlicensed persons from practicing interior design. As noted above, the kitchen and bath services that our members provide fall within the broad definition of "interior design" as defined in the law.

Why does the NKBA oppose Restrictive Interior Design Legislation?

The NKBA has been in the forefront in opposing the efforts of a handful of self-appointed interior designers who seek to corner the design market and limit the rights of our members to practice.

 

For well over 30 years, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has funded efforts to cause states to adopt laws which would limit the right to practice kitchen and bath design to only those whom ASID and their related affiliates deem worthy. The NKBA has been actively engaged in educating various state legislatures about the dangers of narrow interior design practice acts and has overturned restrictive laws that prevented or limited the ability of kitchen and bath design professionals to earn a living.

 

It is the belief of the NKBA that these laws do nothing to further the protection of public health, safety, and welfare. There is no showing that a continued failure to regulate the design community causes harm to the public. This is not adequately protected by a state's architectural and engineering controls and existing building codes and regulations. Furthermore, such laws lead to added governmental bureaucracy and increased consumer confusion about the capabilities of our members and the distinctive field of kitchen and bath design.

 

The NKBA has presented testimony and appeared before numerous state legislatures in opposing these attempts to prohibit NKBA members from continuing to work. The NKBA will continue to advocate for the rights of our members to earn a living in their chosen profession.

What is NKBA doing about Legislation that I should know about?

The NKBA works to monitor legislation and protect the rights of our members to practice their profession. Additionally, the NKBA works to keep members apprised of legislation and regulations that may impact their business.

 

The NKBA has developed a website at www.capwiz.com/nkba, which is dedicated to legislation and regulatory matters of interest to our members. It enables our Legislative Department to communicate directly with our members and send them "legislative alerts" and "calls to action" to target specific state legislators who are involved in legislation impacting our members.

Legislative updates can also be followed at  Facebook.com/NKBAadvocacy  and  Twitter.com/NKBAadvocacy.

April 14th: Bus Trip Cosentino and Fretz

May 19th: Lancaster
Garden State Tile 

If you are planning to take the AKBD, CKD or CBD exam in the near future, this study group can be a very helpful way to prepare for the exam.

Our Chapter is providing (at not charge to our members) a series of 'Study Group' sessions to cover all of the manuals on which the 'Exam' will be based. Each session will be led by a CKD or CBD leader. These are volunteers and it will be expected that those students who sign up will make every effort to attend all sessions.

These are weekly sessions and will consist of a quiz on each manual followed by any applicable discussion on that manual. For information on certification qualifications and registration time frame and other avenues of exam preparation, please check the NKBA.org website.

Schedule and location of sessions not yet established. If you have any questions and/or would like to be included in these sessions, please contact our VP of Professional Development, Ron Hedges, CMKBD, at 717-359-4432 or [email protected]

When paying for your attendance at chapter meetings, it is expected that you will pay with one of the following methods:

1) Ahead of time with a check mailed to the treasurer
2) Through the Chapter's PayPal account. You do NOT need to have a PayPal account to pay with PayPal. You can use any debit or credit card.
3) Check or exact change when you come to the meeting.

All of the officers are volunteers and it takes a lot of time for them to track down payments that are not received at or before the meeting. Thank you for your help in reducing the work load.