February 2007
Welcome to the February Edition of The Voice

HPBAC Hires New Manager
After more than thirteen years of dedicated service to the hearth industry, Tex McLeod is moving on to continue his work in Indoor Air Quality with CMHC and other clients. Tex has been with the association from the beginning.

The association and its members will miss Tex's advocacy and passion for the industry and his strong voice and personality. Don't miss the opportunity to join us in thanking Tex for his service at the Canadian Reception in Reno on Thursday, March 15th from 5 to 7 pm in Rooms C1-3 of the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

You will also have the opportunity to meet the new HPBAC Manager, Tony Gottschalk, at EXPO this year. The HPBAC Executive Committee conducted a search in the latter part of 2006 and has hired Tony as full-time HPBAC Manager working out of the Huntsville office.

Tony is 46 years old and lives in Huntsville with his wife and their 19 year old son. Their 22 year old daughter is studying medicine at Cambridge University in the UK. He was born in Liverpool, and grew up in London, England. In 1982 Tony graduated from Loughborough University with an honors degree in Economics, Politics and French Language. He worked for more than 20 years in the textile industry in England where he enjoyed considerable commercial success. He is well used to dealing with technical issues, government standards and is experienced in the process of facilitating relationships between government and industry. He has been visiting Canada since 1992 and bought a cottage in Muskoka 10 years ago. Having recently immigrated to Canada as a permanent resident, Tony is eager for a new challenge and is very much looking forward to serving the interests of our industry in the years to come. He will be attending Expo in Reno next month and hopes to meet as many of you as possible.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend EXPO

10. Location, Location, Location – Reno is America’s Adventure Place with casinos, night life, proximity to great skiing at Lake Tahoe, concerts (Brooks & Dunn tickets available through HPBA special).

9. Bid a fond farewell to Tex McLeod and meet the new HPBAC Manager at both the Focus Canada meeting on Thursday from 7:30 am to 8:30 am and the HPBAC Reception on Thursday from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

8. Hearth Products and Grill equipment demonstrated live indoors and in the unique outdoor burn area

7. Network with over 13,000 industry professionals from the US and around the world. Meet with your suppliers. The number of exhibiting companies is up by 11% compared to last year at this time.

6. Attend the fabulous HPBAC Canadian Reception. Our co-host is the Western Chapter and our theme is the Spirit of BC. Participate in our 3-person Floor Hockey Tournament (Don't worry, games will only be a few minutes long each), try the luge and snowboard runs.

5. Attend the VESTA awards ceremony on Friday at to see the award-winning industry products.

4. Increase your competitive edge by attending some of the excellent education sessions available at the show, including sales, business and marketing and technical training.

3. Be part of North America's largest gathering of leading suppliers and manufacturers in the hearth, barbecue and outdoor living industries.

2. Find new product lines - as of the end of January new companies exhibiting at EXPO was up 45% with 77 new exhibiting companies. That means new ideas and new products for your store.

1. Check out the latest innovations all in one area in the exciting New Product Pavilion and on the trade show floor. We polled 12 manufacturer members to find out how many new products they were exhibiting at EXPO. The combined number is 84 for just those 12 companies.

 Click here to visit the hpbexpo.com website for more information.

HPBAC Events At EXPO

Focus Canada Meeting
Thursday, March 15, 7:30 am to 8:30 am
Room D4, Reno-Sparks Convention Center

It will be worth waking up early to join HPBAC members from across Canada for an update on:

  • EnerGuide for Gas Fireplaces and the new EnerChoice designation for higher efficiency gas fireplaces. This exciting new public education point of sale program will launch in BC after EXPO and will be introduced at EXPO. Hearth retailers will soon receive kits to help promote the EnerGuide Fireplace Efficiency Rating and EnerChoice products. Find out more at Focus Canada.
  • Meet the new HPBAC Manager Tony Gottschalk and the HPBAC Board.
  • Education Update - Find out about all the great developments at the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Education Foundation and the training opportunities offered by HPBAC and its regional chapters.
  • This is also a great opportunity to provide feedback to your association and to discuss issues with other members from across the country.
HPBAC Canadian Reception
Thursday, March 15, 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Rooms C1-C3, Reno-Sparks Convention Center

Co-hosted by the HPBAC Western Chapter, this year's theme is the Spirit of BC. And with the Olympics coming to Vancouver in 2010 we thought we should bring a little competitive spirit to the Canadian Reception this year. So... get ready for our HPBAC Floor Hockey Tournament. Enter your 3 person team for a chance to win prizes and bragging rights. The tournament will start at 5:00 pm. Email your team name and roster with contact information to hpbac@bellnet.ca to make sure you get a spot on the schedule.

Thank you to our generous sponsors:
Manufacturers
Enviro
Eucania International Blowers
ICC / RSF
Jøtul / Scan
Napoleon Fireplaces & Grills
Pacific Energy
SBI
Selkirk Canada
Simpson Dura-Vent
Valor / Miles Industries

Distributors
Compact Appliances
Concorde Distribution
The Foundry
Northwest Stoves

Utility
Union Gas

 Looking for a great financing program? Don’t forget to check out the HPBAC CitiFinancial program. This comprehensive program will allow you to offer these options to your customers:

  • Up to 12 months deferred payments

  • No Interest

  • Low payments

Your customers receive a private label credit card for use in your store only. 7% of customers have used their cards more than once in the stores participating in the program. There's no sign up fee and you will receive the latest technology to use in your store with rapid response to credit applications. Call 1-800-792-5284 for more information and look for the flyer in your membership kit - coming your way this month.

HPBAC is holding an exciting new contest to find great hearth installations. Send us your best work in any of the four categories. There will be five prizes awarded. We're developing an award with the help of Muskoka sculptor Brenda Wainman-Goulet. Brenda has been acclaimed for her bronze on stone landscapes and whimsical figures and has received international attention for her statues of Dr. Norman Bethune in Gravenhurst, ON, nurse Rene Caisse (Essiac founder) in Bracebridge, ON and artist Tom Thomson at Huntsville's Town Hall. Awards will be presented at the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Summit Awards Breakfast, Monday, June 4th.

Entry forms will be included in your membership package and are available at www.hpbacanada.org or by emailing nhowell@bellnet.ca.

Communications Committee Update

The Communication Committee is exploring a Hearth magazine supplement to be published in 2008 and distributed to the subscribers of a major Canadian shelter magazine. Other projects include ongoing improvements to hpbacanada.org and this newsletter.

Government Relations Committee Update
EnerGuide / EnerChoice comes to BC
Within the month retailers in BC will be receiving an EnerGuide retailer kit which includes a banner, a point of purchase display, a quantity of brochures and some carriers that will hold the EnerGuide ratings of the units on display in your store. The actual ratings will be provided by the manufacturers and / or distributors. Partnering with the province and Terasen, HBPAC has created a consumer education program to help folks better understand energy efficiency as it relates to gas hearth products - we are also introducing a new designation, "EnerChoice" to help guide consumers to the most heat efficient options in each of the 3 categories (the top 25 percentile) - fireplaces, inserts and free-standing appliances. We are looking forward to the active participation of retailers in the program - done well, we will have helped our customers to make better energy choices - done poorly, we will see some strict new regulations. Lets make sure it is done well - we'll be looking for each of you to give us a hand. To find out more, join HPBAC at the Focus Canada meeting on Friday, March 16th at 7:30 am in Room D4 of the Reno-Sparks Convention Centre.
Membership Committee Update

Membership at HPBAC has grown dramatically in the past seven years. At the end of 2000 HPBAC had a total of 275 members with 236 non-manufacturer members and 39 manufacturer members. To date in 2007 we have 460 members with 404 non-manufacturers and 56 manufacturers. Last year at this time we had 276 non-manufacturer members. Our membership retention rate is 92%, one of the highest of all HPBA affiliates. And we plan to keep growing by continuing to provide and expand on our great member benefits.

Link to the following at hpbacanada.org . . .
Affinity Programs
Coming Events

If you've been forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to get your own copy here.

Sincerely,
Kim Rodgers, HPBAC President