BuildStrong Coalition

Issue

An insurance industry building code coalition had struggled for years to gain traction in Washington. In 2011, Navigators Global was retained to revive the coalition and establish it as an influential voice on federal disaster policy.

Process

Working with our former client, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Navigators refocused and rebranded the coalition as the BuildStrong Coalition. We made the Safe Building Code Incentive Act its signature legislative priority and positioned the bill as a free-market solution to the rising federal cost of natural disasters.

Under Navigators’ direct management, the coalition launched an aggressive issue advocacy campaign. It placed more than 25 news stories and editorials in publications including The Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, The Hill, and Politico, and launched a dedicated website and Facebook page to serve as the campaign’s hub. We educated policymakers on the benefits of strong building codes by hosting policy forums with key Members of Congress and placing witnesses to testify before the committees of jurisdiction.

Results

• Significant growth in the coalition’s budget and membership within three years.
• Enactment of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018, which included BuildStrong-supported provisions directing a share of annual disaster spending to pre-disaster mitigation, funding that can be used for building code development and enforcement.
• Recognition of BuildStrong as the go-to organization for federal mitigation and building code policy. Demand from organizations well beyond the insurance industry to join its board led to the creation of BuildStrong America, a standalone 501(c)(4) whose members now range from firefighters and emergency responders to engineers, architects and manufacturers.