CHICAGO — The NAFCD + NBMDA kicked off its 2025 NAFCD + NBMDA Annual Convention and again this year brought together leading distributors and suppliers from across North America’s flooring and building materials industries for three days of professional development, strategic business connections and networking.

“We're here for the 2025 NAFCD and NBMDA annual convention,” said Michael Wilbur, executive vice president of the Chicago-based National Association of Builders Materials Distribution Association. “We've got a wonderful couple of days of programming. Over 200 exhibitors, and 1,000 people are here to do business between supplier manufacturers and our distributor members.”

Held in conjunction with the North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD), the three-day business and educational program at Chicago’s Hyatt Regency featured leadership, economic, and AI content “for our members that they can put to use when they get back to their desks.” The networking event, Wilbur said, allowed for mixing and mingling, finding new partners, and catching up with old partners.

“This industry is so focused on business relationships, and that's what we try to craft every year when we're here on site,” he explained. “There are opportunities for them to deepen those relationships and forge new ones. So, in a year when we've seen so much instability in the marketplace, it's an awesome opportunity for members to come together and find some stability as they move into 26.”

The convention has been going on for decades in its current iteration, and for the last 17 or 18 years in conjunction with the NAFCD. While Wilbur describes the annual event as something more than a traditional trade show, it is an impressive and diverse group of companies for the building industry. 

Among the 200 or so exhibitors are manufacturers of wood panels and products; decorative surfaces and laminates; cabinet hardware and components; finishes, stains, and adhesives; flooring materials and accessories;  building product accessories; and software and service providers.

Despite this diversity and numbers of attendee and exhibitor personnel, "it's the most intimate thousand-person event you'll go to," he said. "We do have a larger exhibit hall than you would expect for an event of this size. And, I think one of the dynamics that has worked really well is this partnership between NBMDA and our sister organization NAFCD, which allows it to have that same kind of scale and buzz over the course of the week. I think, it would still be very well received, but it would just have a slightly different feel or vibe."

Tumultuous times
That vibe might have been tested for the North American association, as it has members on both sides of the U.S. and Canadian border. Wilbur said that any tensions between the two countries and the association's members and their customers make it all the more important to run the convention.

"One of the most distinct challenges that we faced this year was the trade relationship with Canada," he said. "It was probably the most tumultuous for this community because, as a North American association, we have predominantly U.S. and Canadian members. Our Canadian members were challenged to get here this year and to see the value of investing in the U.S. market in a year where they were made to not feel wanted and in a year where the Canadian dollar is not going as far as it did.

"So, that has been a challenge to maintain those relationships, but I think it is a worthwhile challenge for us to face," he said. 

One of the hallmarks of this event is the playing of the U.S. and Canadian national anthems as a signal that the NBMDA is a North American association, and a community.

"Everybody's been affected one way or another," Wilbur said. "Our commitment to maintaining that relationship, not just between suppliers and distributors, but between our U .S. and our Canadian members, to say nothing of our other international members, is [important]. But, that longstanding special relationship between the U.S. and Canada is being tried this year and we want to be a place of stability and strength to maintain that relationship."

Giving back
NAFCD + NBMDA continued their tradition of giving back to the industries they serve through their Give-Back Programs at the convention. A portion of every registration for the November 4-6 event will be donated to three nonprofit organizations that are "helping shape the future of distribution in North America."

This year marks an expansion of the program with the addition of a third charity: the Next Generation in Trucking Association. For the first time, attendees will have the opportunity to select this new organization as their preferred recipient during registration, further personalizing their contribution to the industry's future.

Each charity plays a vital role in supporting the workforce and communities that power the distribution sector:

• Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF) – NAFCD’s chosen charity provides financial assistance to flooring professionals facing catastrophic medical crises, ensuring that those who’ve built the industry are supported in times of need.
• The National Woods Board (NWB) – NBMDA’s selected charity is tackling the skilled labor shortage by expanding trade education in high schools nationwide, preparing the next generation of woodworking professionals.
• Next Generation in Trucking Association (NGT) – The newest addition to the Give Back Program, NGT promotes trucking as a viable career path and builds employment pipelines through education, training, and industry partnerships.