CE Industry Associations Take On Local Politics

Integrators don't necessarily have to "fight the good fight" in the local political arena alone.

Two industry associations representing dealers, the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) and the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA), are more than willing to engage in local issues.

For example, the NBFAA has an entity called the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC) headed by venerable Stan Martin, the former executive director of the association.

SIAC's mission is to defend police response for alarm activations. Over the past few years, several municipalities have cut off police response to alarms, declaring that the high incidence of false activations is wasting police manpower.

At the request of a local integrator, SIAC's team will swoop into a local town or council meeting, or even the office of a police chief or mayor, to lay down the argument for retaining police response.

In most cases, the group is successful. It doesn't hurt that SIAC boasts names like Glen Mowry, the former head of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Meanwhile, CEDIA has been active in several states, where legislation threatened to place unfair licensing requirements on custom installers.

The association's Government Affairs division, led by Darren Reaman, not only meets with local legislators in hotbed areas, but also actively tracks potentially restrictive licensing laws across the nation.

Back in 2001, the association successfully waylaid potentially restrictive legislation backed by the electrician's union in Massachusetts. The association has a hotline e-mail to report detrimental legislative activity (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)), as well as contact information on the Network page of its Web site (http://www.cedia.org).

The association wants to form a grassroots network of dealers who would be willing to go meet with legislators or other municipal officials when the need arises.