Expanding the Post-frame Industry into New Market Sectors

By Anna Lockhart.  

The recently appointed president of the NFBA is passionate about branching the post-frame audience outside of the agricultural industry and into new industries in need of metal solutions.  

In a recent episode of the MetalCast podcast, Heidi J. Ellsworth sat down with Megan Pope Miller, the executive director of the National Frame Building Association (NFBA), and Robyn Ommen, the newest president of the NFBA, about their roles in the organization and their goals for the organization’s future. 

Coming from her career as the marketing communications manager for Sherwin-Williams Coil Coatings, Robyn Ommen was recently appointed president of the NFBA, which Sherwin-Williams has been involved with since 1994. This relationship is what involved Robyn in the NFBA organization, “Metal building products are used within the post-frame construction all the time. So, it is something that we [at Sherwin-Williams] are very passionate about talking to our customers in their market. So, we have salespeople that are constantly active within the industry, but it's something that as a company we like to do.” She continues, “I've been on the board of NFBA since 2015, so we want to be able to improve the market and push it forward. So, we always want to be the thought leader and being able to be a part of the industry.”  

As Robyn prepares to embark on the next few years’ journey as the NFBA president, she hopes to introduce the versatility and value of post-frame to industries that could benefit from such design options but haven’t considered using it in the past. “When people think of post-frame, they think of a very specific industry, like agricultural, which is not the case. We really wanted to make sure that we expand that, make sure that architects, building owners and everyone like that is aware of all the great buildings from barndominiums, which is something that's the trending word right now in residential market, to tiny homes to wedding venues,” Robyn explained. “There are quite a few different versatilities that can happen within the post-frame industry, and really seeing if we can push that forward, get that word out.”  

Robyn and Megan hope that one way this can be achieved is through highlighting outstanding projects with the Building of the Year awards that take place at the annual NFBA Expo. The event showcases incredible projects completed by members of the organization and encourages contractors to explore the possibilities of choosing post-frame builds.  

Listen to the full podcast to learn more about Robyn’s goals for the next few years as the NFBA president and how she hopes to continue supporting growth of the post-frame industry into new markets.  

Learn more about the next annual NFBA Building Expo happening in 2024.