About Us
CSDDA is an association engulfed with a rich and varied history dating back to its original version which was called the Illinois Door Association. This original version was born when the papers were filed in Illinois with the "Articles of Incorporation Under The General Not For Profit Corporation Act" on January 11, 1974. Reviewing the officers and members of that first Association is basically a Who's Who of our industry, names such as Don Hardies, John Mckee, Jr., Harold Tonneson, Don Craig, and Richard Thackson just to name a few. These pioneers were looking for a way to allow our industry members to not only promote the door industry in the state of Illinois, but to also provide a forum to share ideas, set standards not yet formalized in the door industry, and even be so bold as to try and execute and negotiate labor agreements between management and labor/collective bargaining organizations. Meetings were held every few months with at least one educational speaker dealing with insurance, legal matters, political movements in Springfield, and labor relations in the Chicagoland area. The Illinois Door Association became so popular that it became a clearing house for collections and bad debt in the retail and construction industry. This was spearheaded by the most important person in credits and collections of our times, Fred Lewis of then Door Systems. As economic times took a downward turn in the late 1980's, the Illinois Door Association became dormant until resurrected again on July 15, 1998. This new group of door dealers, coupled with some of the original dealers of the 1970's, breathed new life into the old Association. And as it grew, it sprouted affiliates that crossed state lines into Missouri and beyond. When this occurred, the name was changed from the Illinois Door Association to the Central States Door Dealers Association with chapters soon to be forming in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Today the CSDDA encompasses over fifty members in multiple states ranging from the local door dealer to the national manufacturer, accountants, financial managers and insurance agents, and it continues to grow each day. Those same ideals originally born by those early pioneers in the early 1970's are upheld within the Association today, ideals such as integrity, a need for continued education within the industry, and finally, to share common goals of participating in an industry that brings so much to so many. |
