While many businesses, organizations and professions have taken significant financial hits amidst one of the worst economic downturns in modern U.S. history, the community association management profession continues to prosper.

According to findings in a Special Report developed by the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM), 97 percent of the estimated 10,000 managers with the Certified Manager of Community Associations® (CMCA) designation are working full-time in the profession.

To put these numbers in perspective, America’s overall unemployment rate increased to 9.6 percent by the end of 2010. When the percentage of part-time workers wanting full-time work is included, the U.S. underemployment rate was at 19 percent at the end of 2010. However, only 1.2 percent of CMCAs reported being underemployed and 2.3 percent unemployed.

“We are very pleased knowing that only 3 percent of CMCAs nationally are not working full-time in the profession,” says NBC-CAM Executive Director Dawn Bauman, CAE. “The community association management profession has remained extremely strong and stable despite the economy.”

While the 2011 employment outlook for the community association management profession is strong, more than half of the nation’s estimated 310,000 homeowners associations (HOAs) are undergoing financial strain due to the foreclosure crisis and the economic downturn, according to a recent survey conducted by the Community Associations Institute (CAI).

In the September 2010 survey of 1,500 CAI members, 54 percent of community managers said their associations face “serious” or “severe” problems as a result of the struggling labor and housing markets.

Many HOA residents have been victims of America’s poor economic conditions. A growing number of residents have been unable to make their mortgage payments or pay their association assessments, which pay for trash pickup, snow removal, maintenance, street lighting and other essential services. High vacancy and foreclosure rates have continued to plague homeowners and community managers, creating unique challenges for CMCAs across the nation.

“Managing a community association is like running a business,” says Robert Felix, NBC-CAM chair and senior vice president of Rossmar Graham Management in Mesa, Ariz.  “Many communities have learned the hard way that they need to entrust their management to a CMCA, especially during challenging times.”

As economic indicators point to improvements in the economy, Bauman believes the supply of qualified community association managers could be strained.

“It’s possible that as the economy improves, we may experience a shortage of community association managers,” she says. “Nearly a third of managers are over 55 and nearly a quarter have been on the job more than 15 years. The incentive to retire typically rises as the economy improves and this could lead many of the more senior CMCAs to leave the profession.”

Bauman believes such factors will likely increase demand for professionally credentialed community managers. “Community management will continue to be a strong business,” she continues, ”not to mention an excellent career opportunity for people who hold professional credentials like the CMCA.”

 

Download the free Special Report, The 2011 State of the Community Management Profession.

NBC-CAM is a 15-year-old independent board that develops certification and standards for community association managers. It administers the CMCA examination, a rigorous, three-hour test that measures managers’ knowledge of community management best practices. Passing the CMCA examination and maintaining the standards of the CMCA certification demonstrate that a manager is a knowledgeable, ethical and professional. CMCA-certified managers have the skills to safeguard the assets of homeowners’ associations, giving homeowners peace of mind and protecting home values.

For more information, visit  www.nbccam.org.