WDMA and AAMA to Further Pursue Consolidation

The board of directors of both the American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) and the Window and Door Manufacturers Association (WDMA) have agreed to fully pursue a consolidation of the two organizations.

According to Rich Walker, AAMA executive vice president, the AAMA board unanimously authorized its negotiating team "to fully and enthusiastically pursue a consolidation with WDMA" with a formal proposal planned for 2005.

"This decision was certainly not reached lightly, but in our opinion, it is the best decision for this industry," said Walker. "As you can imagine, there are hundreds of details to be addressed during the months ahead to translate this vision into a viable organization that is stronger than the sum of the two existing entities."

Walker said there will be a full disclosure of all working plans and timetables during the associations annual meeting to be held February 27-March 2 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The WDMA will also discuss the status of the merger talks at its annual meeting to be held February 12-16 in Pasadena, Calif.

Many agree that a merger would offer a unified voice before code bodies and less duplication of efforts.

"A joining of the two associations can offer more service, speed and streamlined efficiencies to members and a whole host of benefits to all our specifier and user communities through simplified, single-source messages," said WDMA chairperson Chris Simpson.

"A single, stronger window and door association is of high interest to AAMA members from both the residential and architectural markets," said AAMA's chairman of the Board, Chris Fuldner. "Such a change would bring together the two organizations into a more powerful and unified voice as we face issues in standards and code development, increasing legislative opportunities and rapidly escalating legal challenges."

For more information contact AAMA at www.aamanet.org or WDMA at www.wdma.com