By Michael Strech, President and CEO, North State BIA

In her first column as BIA Chair, Rachel Bardis emphasized a point that I would like to reiterate to all of our members. Its the idea of showing up and being present in this association...your association. While that outlook is certainly important to apply to all facets of the BIA, it is perhaps most important to our Political Action Committee or PAC in 2018.

For over a year now, the BIA PAC has been fundraising for the 2018 election cycle, which as you might imagine will be extremely busy. In fact, the PAC's hard work, under the leadership of Marcus Lo Duca, was recognized as the best regional government affairs effort in the nation by the National Association of Home Builders in 2017.

That hard work has paved the way for the PAC to be in an extremely strong position to start the 2018 election cycle. However, there will be several requests for contributions from political candidates and, once those requests start coming in, our funds will be impacted. 

That's why I would like to encourage all BIA members to consider supporting the PAC. We absolutely need to maintain our position of political strength in order to support the candidacies of business minded individuals who will foster a positive environment in which the homebuilding industry can thrive.

Fortunately, your opportunity to help the PAC is right around the corner. On March 1, the PAC is holding its first event of 2018 with Folsom Builders & Brews. Like Rachel said, I hope that as many of you as possible will show up and be present! We need your support in this critical year.

In addition to Brian, we would like to express our thanks to John Zona with Tim Lewis Communities for spearheading the first Idea District of 2018. And, of course, many thanks to all of our generous sponsors below:

Annual Sponsors

Blue Mountain Construction Services

Cresleigh Homes

Jeffrey DeMure and Associates

KB Home

Pay It Forward Sponsors

CC Bell Properties

MMS Strategies

NEXT New Homes Group

Shattuck Community Planning

Trackside Center, LLC|B9 Urban Infill, LLC

Wood Rodgers

Learn more about the YIMBY movement here and also check out pictures from a great night out.

Thank you so much to our passionate builder captain, Taylor Morrison, especially Mark  Stover and Chris Downum, who really drove this effort from day one. Also, many thanks to KB Home for providing all of the wonderful  furniture. HomeAid's Executive Director, Beth Kang, wrote this short column on how meaningful this particular project was for everyone involved.

Join Us Thursday, March 1 for Folsom Builders and Brews

Placer County Affordable Housing Strategy Contract Awarded

Placer Groundwater Sustainability Meeting

The West Placer Groundwater Sustainability Agency will meet on February 8 at 6 pm in the Lincoln City Hall community room. Agency staff will provide an update on recent activities related to the development of the Groundwater Sustainability Plan. BIA staff will attend and communicate any relevant updates to the membership.

Register Today for the BIA Events Below

"The Sacramento region needs more than 7,000 workers annually in construction and related fields in the next four years," is the finding of a newly released report by Valley Vision that the Sacramento Bee covered in a recent story. 

The report and the resulting news coverage, which included this story on KCRA-3, underscores the critical importance of our upcoming Skilled Trades Job Fair. That's why we'd like to encourage employers to sign up now and to help us promote the event. Events like this one are key in the effort to fill our industry's labor gap. Find out more about the job fair here.

And, stay tuned for the next eNews, in which BIA Chair, Rachel Bardis, will discuss an exciting, new workforce development push that we will soon be launching.

UC Davis Extension's Professional Education Information Sessions are free events and webinars that provide working professionals with the opportunity to learn how continuing education in high-demand fields can advance their careers. Industry-specific sessions let attendees explore the job prospects in each field, meet program representatives and instructors, and learn how a certificate from UC Davis Extension can help them achieve their professional goals.

Most of the free information sessions are online webinars. Sessions indicated as "In Class" will take place at Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St., Sacramento.

To find out more about and to reserve your space in an industry-specific information session, please click here.  Also, attendees will receive a $100 discount on their first UC Davis Extension course (some exceptions apply).