Summer 2023: A note from Advisory Council Chair Michael Foster

Summer is in full swing for those of us in the sports flooring business, and I trust you all are looking forward to a profitable year with minimal headaches. (Ok, maybe that’s a dream.)

I wanted to take a moment of your already busy time and shed a little light on what I think is a misconception about the MFMA. For decades, I have heard the complaint “the MFMA is nothing but a good ‘ol boys’ network of maple mills that don’t care about contractors.” Honestly, this has never been the case. The MFMA contractor base is as important, or even more important, than the maple manufacturers. The mills realize this, thus the expansion of MFMA membership to include contractors in the late 1980’s.

The largest misconception about the MFMA is the belief that the Association is run and driven by the maple mills. In actuality, it is the contractor base that steers the direction, content, and purpose of the MFMA. The six appointed contractors that make up the MFMA’s Sport Floor Contractors Advisory Council are responsible for all aspects of the biannual conferences.

The SFCAC selects the conference dates, location, speakers, technical content, social, and educational aspects of the meetings. The recipients of the annual MFMA Scholarships are chosen by the SFCAC. Almost all the MFMA Position Statements came from needs the contractors face on a daily basis. Most recently, the MFMA Catastrophic Moisture / fastener holding testing and the, soon-to-be-released MFMA Installation app were both created jointly by MFMA HQ and MFMA contractors.

In short, the MFMA is a contractor-driven association with the blessing of solid financial backing from the MFMA mills.

I would encourage you to reach out to your mill’s SFCAC representative if you have any questions about the role of the MFMA and its contractor base.

Your representatives are: