The Atlantic Builders Convention is slated to return to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, with registration and trade show hours beginning March 25.
By Joshua Burd
Chris Amato’s introduction to the Atlantic Builders Convention came some 15 years ago as he was taking his place in his family’s Jersey Shore homebuilding business.
Disappointingly, he recalls, “there was no product, there was nothing that really spoke to me as a small developer” — especially for someone whose father had regaled him with tales of “big machines” and other innovations that filled the convention floor.
It’s why Amato has been thrilled to see that energy return in recent years.
“Now, when I go and I walk the halls, we’ve got this perfect mix of professionals who are there to help navigate the process and products that are there to help us build,” said Amato, CEO and president of CMM Inc. and chair of the New Jersey Builders Association. “We’re introduced to new products, which is just awesome, and we’re connected with all kinds of manufacturers and professionals in one place that you can’t get anywhere else in New Jersey.
“So the excitement around ABC, to me, is back.”
That’s likely true for the thousands that are set to attend this year’s Atlantic Builders Convention, which kicks off next week at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. The builders association, its host and organizer, says the premier trade show is on track to be bigger and better than ever when it opens March 25, offering two days of networking, education and live product demonstrations at what it says is a pivotal time for the homebuilding industry.
RELATED: Sentiment shift: Encouraged by new Sherrill administration, NJBA sees clearer path to expanded housing production, affordability
Consider that ABC’s exhibit floor was sold out by late February even after being expanded by 20 percent for this year’s show, NJBA said, noting that more than 230 vendors are confirmed. The convention’s room block at Hard Rock was also nearing a sell-out at that time, reflecting what the group expects to be “significant growth” in attendance.
Along with two full days of product displays, special events and programming offering continuing education credits, ABC will have free food and drink opportunities throughout the show and a new Thursday floor celebration with nearly $10,000 in prizes.
“Everybody is there to network, everybody is there to build those relationships and find those professionals,” said Debra Tantleff, who preceded Amato as NJBA’s board chair and now leads the affiliated Builders Political Action Committee. “But the fact that you actually get to touch and see so much product, I think, has brought more builders.”
The longtime developer, founding principal of TANTUM, recalled a time earlier in her career when “we would fill the convention center.” That changed with the Great Recession when NJBA saw declines in both membership and attendance at ABC, but it’s clear that the pendulum has swung back.
“The fact is that we’ve revamped and revitalized our membership base, but our exhibitor base as well,” Tantleff said. “It’s a really diverse mix and we’re bringing back a lot of product.”
RELATED: Tantleff assumes new role as chair of Builders Political Action Committee
Amato, meantime, said it’s important for the event to appeal to the “muddy boot builders that that are using those products (and) … to educate and create a more professional environment around them. I think ABC is the perfect venue to do that.”
That includes home improvement contractors who fall under a new licensing law that has taken effect, with rules forthcoming, requiring them to complete continuing education requirements. That impacts some 60 percent of the residential construction industry, giving NJBA a chance to serve smaller contractors with more benefits and networking and business development opportunities.
“I think that’s even going to be a growing segment of New Jersey’s construction industry because we’re so stifling on new construction, and we don’t have a lot of land left that’s not environmentally constrained and that’s going to be developable,” said Jeff Kolakowski, the association’s CEO. “Reinvesting in our existing housing stock is going be a huge part of our industry going forward here in New Jersey.”
