STRICTLY BUSINESS
The ICAA Convention and Trade Show is a “par excellence” example of us humans engaging in doing business in an increasingly rare human-to-human way – that means conversing with one another in person: learning who we are, how we do business, and what our needs are, without the aid of a computer screen or the digital ding of an incoming message … in other words talking face-to-face.
At the 2025 ICAA Convention, we stop the Google Meets, put a lid on Zoom, give Microsoft Teams a break, and, at last, we actually meet the peers, colleagues, and friends we haven’t actually met. We also do what we love to do as business people … we save both time and money. Individually visiting those we do business with can get time consuming; going to the one place where everyone we do business with is already gathering just makes good business sense. And that Annual ICAA Convention and Trade Show IS that place.
This year, it all starts on Wednesday, October 8, in Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. Whether you want to nurture existing relationships, scout exciting new products and prospects, expand your knowledge of how a successful insulation business works, or make some new industry friends on the golf course, I guarantee you’ll be glad you came.
What a novel idea it is these days to meet face-to-face! I know I can’t wait.
Jonathan
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REFLECTIONS ON THE FEDERAL 25C TAX INCENTIVE WITH ICAA PRESIDENT JONATHAN BELANUS
ICAA: Jon, can you please tell us about yourself?
JB: I am the owner of JB Insulation & Drywall of Oakland, New Jersey. We provide insulation and drywall contracting services to builders and homeowners. I have over 30 years of experience in managing, operating, and building a customer-oriented construction company, employing tools and materials made in America.
ICAA: Jon, you previously noted that our industry would be harmed if the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit (25C) terminated prior to its legislative end date in 2032. Congress has now voted to terminate this tax credit on 1/1/26.
JB: First, I want to congratulate all our industry members for stepping up in support of 25C as we employed a combination of Congressional and local district office visits, phone calls, and targeted emails.
Removal of this time-honored tax savings harms working class families, communities, jobs, and US manufacturing across the country. Voted into law by a Republican-controlled Congress and ratified in 2005 by President George W. Bush, the 25C tax credit was never related to any climate change agenda, as has recently been suggested. The 25C tax credit was extended in 2022 for a 10-year period through 2032. The 25C tax credit – in 2023 alone – cut taxes in the amount of $3 billion for more than 3 million American families and also lowered the cost of living for American families.
ICAA: How did the insulation industry plan to meet the production needs of the 25C tax credit?
JB: The 25C tax credit is responsible for stimulating capital expenditures and job growth among multiple insulation manufacturing plants in several states. Insulation manufacturers ramped up production capacity to meet the expected increase in consumer demand due to the 25C tax credit. To introduce a new liability risk to contractors and manufacturers represents a fundamental changing of the rules in the middle of the game.
ICAA: How does terminating the 25C tax credit effect U.S. jobs, working class families, and taxpayers?
JB: Termination of the 10-year 25C tax credit disregards the thoughtful planning, resource commitments, plans, risks, and capital expenditures undertaken by manufacturers and contractors. It also results in a net tax increase to American families who would otherwise benefit from this program.
ICAA: How large is the U.S. insulation industry?
JB: The American insulation industry employs 1.8 million Americans and supports a $100 billion payroll. We are out there on the firing line every day, employing the working class and providing for working-class families. The fact that our industry did everything right in investing in American factories, growing domestic manufacturing and creating jobs by hiring American workers, and relied upon and wisely employed the 25C tax credit, has been completely negated as the tax credit is terminated at the end of this year. Essentially, our industry is punished for effective, thoughtful, and successful American manufacturing capacity planning, and hiring and training of American workers.
