While the pandemic put our industry’s need for new labor on a short-term pause, the fact remains that our industry will lose between 60,000 to 100,000 professionals over the next decade.

Over the past year, as American Supply Association member companies pivoted to focus on the rapid changes presented by the pandemic, ASA invested to provide a national recruitment campaign to support members as they emerged from the disruption.

At NETWORK2020 Virtual back in October, ASA President Bill Glockner (Hirsch Pipe & Supply) introduced PROJECT TALENT, the association’s  robust recruitment program that will redefine and deliver our industry brand as an exciting, viable industry to build a highly successful career. An extensive array of recruitment marketing tools and a new dedicated career portal have been prepared and deployed for association members to assist them in attracting new applicants to their companies. 

Beginning in early January 2021, ASA will launch phase two of PROJECT TALENT, which will include an aggressive social media campaign designed to educate career seekers about the great opportunities that exist in the PHCP-PVF industry. 

Recognizing that social media is an escalating and vital part of the personal and professional lives of people at all ages and job levels, ASA will deliver unique content creation (i.e., blog posts, case studies, etc.), combined with social media community development and a strong “careers” site as the hub of all this activity that over time will deliver more prospects and, in fact, will deliver more engaged and educated prospects to our member firms and the industry as a whole.

ASA’s new social career communities will enhance awareness of career opportunities to a wide audience. As ASA rolls out this unique career recruitment program, it will become an engaging landscape that will allow members to highlight their own stories, track their efforts, engage with prospective hires and celebrate an existing workforce as ASA drives career seekers to member websites.

“We Are in the Growth Business” is the new brand identity and experience developed by ASA to attract the active or passive jobseeker by engaging them to want to learn more about our industry. If PROJECT TALENT is successful, ASA will create a dialogue with career seekers BEFORE they might even realize they are interested in engaging with the PHCP-PVF industry.

Will you and your website be ready? As the outbound social media efforts roll out, ensuring that members’ websites are aligned with the newly created brand efforts, members are urged to take advantage of the success stories and tools offered in PROJECT TALENT. Many are already accessing the hundreds of free marketing tools and assets available to them in the PROJECT TALENT toolbox. Make sure that as the success of ASA in driving interested career seekers to our new career portal (website) expands, members should:

1. Assess your website’s attractiveness to potential job seekers;
2. Leverage and utilize the high image and professional marketing assets free to you in PROJECT TALENT. Visit the MyASA webpage at www.asa.net to access the tools;
3. Display the “We Are In The Growth Business” brand on your home page;
4. Ensure that your website displays how to apply/who to talk to at your firm. Make it easy for a prospective job seeker to connect with someone in your firm; and
5. As you see the ASA career social media ads, “like and share” them!

We are a vast, sophisticated and technology-driven sector of our economy because we make, sell, install and supply products that every American uses every day.

Our plumbing, heating, cooling, pipe, and industrial/mechanical pipe, valves and fittings industry means amazing career opportunities, training and benefits across hundreds of companies.

Few associations or organizations have engaged as much as ASA has with attracting the top talent needed to remain relevant into the future for its membership. If you are an ASA member, log in today to the PROJECT TALENT portal on the MyASA webpage and get started utilizing the valuable tools we have worked hard to develop.

If you are not a member, this is just one more great reason to partner with ASA.