No one understands the challenges of being a contract painter like another contract painter.
As it turns out your so-called competitor may be your best friend in disguise. They can offer tips on how to run and grow your business or a sympathetic ear when you need to vent about employees or materials costs.
Yet too often, painters in the same market give each other the cold shoulder. Maybe it’s just because painting can be such a solitary activity. Some paint contractors go their entire career without once breaking bread with the fellow traveler working down the street.
That’s exactly what Gathering Groups are designed to solve. Each state has its own Gathering Group sponsored by the PCA, full of opportunities to learn from other contract painters.
Each Gathering Group is run locally, so they have a variety of meeting schedules and topics (it appears Top Golf is a popular field trip).
We reached out to the leaders of some of the biggest and most active Gathering Groups to learn more about how they commune with colleagues in the trade.
Missouri
Founded: 2023
Members: 154
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/953148381994473
Contact: [email protected]
We currently only meet in person about once a year and we usually try to plan an event with it. Our in-person meetings have one speaker on a topic of importance at that time and then something fun or charitable.
The meeting in the picture had one speaker and then we were raising money for a young lady who is part of A Seat at the Table, an organization that helps young adults find jobs and provides a home when their backgrounds are a little rougher.
We raised enough money for her to get whites, shirts, and gas to start a new job in the trades. She was hired by one of our local painters and is doing amazing.
“I love the Gathering because it gives us all a support system,” says Michelle Marler, of The Works Home Services. “There is more than enough work out there, and by getting to know others in the area we have not only become great friends, but also collaborate on jobs together. What one person may specialize in may not be the strong suit of another, but together we can serve clients to the fullest.”
Minnesota
Founded: 2018
Members: 430
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/145519276292065
Contact: [email protected]
The ethos of the group is that members drive content, not vendors. We want to break down the idea that there is any competition in residential house painting and we want to learn from each other.
We typically have a vendor buy lunch and provide a space for us. This picture was taken at the Graco Factory and sponsored by Sherwin-Williams. We did anonymous pricing experiments where we all estimated three projects and discussed the market rate for estimating in our area.
“The Gathering Groups is a grassroots effort to solve the two biggest stress points about our industry: loneliness and lack of good examples of success,” says Nick Slavik, of Nick Slavik Painting & Restoration Co. “It’s our offering to the social media generation of Master Craftspeople and paint business entrepreneurs.”
Ohio
Founded: 2020
Members: 300+
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2853467658307588
Contact: [email protected]
We meet quarterly giving each of the three main vendors–Sherwin-Williams, PPG, and Benjamin Moore–the opportunity to sponsor one of the events. For the fourth annual event, we’ve gone to Timberlane Finishing Solutions HQ as well as Wooster HQ.
We plan out all of our meetings in January in order to give the vendors time to get all of the ducks in a row. In our most recent Q2 meeting sponsored by Sherwin-Williams, we had Torlando Hakes come in and present.
We usually meet in Columbus since it’s centrally located, but we’ve also hosted other regional events where each zone does its own thing.
“What I like best is the ability to not only meet other like-minded professional contractors, but to be able to network and pick their brains too,” says Aaron Steininger, owner of Sunlight Housepainting.
Michigan
Founded: 2022
Members: 565
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/909715019600642
Contact: [email protected]
We meet once in Q2, Q3, and Q4 and encourage as many members as we can to attend the PCA Expo during Q1
Our meetings typically feature a speaker or two on a specific topic, followed by group discussion, and ending with either open networking time or some event (we did TopGolf at the beginning of Q4 last year).
This picture is from our most recent event at John MacFarland’s shop.
“The Gathering group has been a fantastic tool to meet like-minded contractors, share ideas, share referrals for projects outside of our service area, and find subcontractors,” says Brad Ellison of Ellison Painting.
