DULUTH, Ga. — The Georgia Burglar and Fire Alarm Association is breaking off its association with the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association (NBFAA) and changing its name after its members voted on Dec. 29 to end the association’s status as a chartered state member of the NBFAA.

The association is now known as the Georgia Low Voltage Contractors Association (GLVCA).

“The time came to either fish or cut bait,” GLVCA Executive Director Pat Cook says, adding the group was losing members who she says were dissatisfied with NBFAA. “Our basic concern here in Georgia was the attrition rate we were having. There were either small businesses who couldn’t pay the dues or the perceived notion that national issues aren’t impacting them as much as state and local issues.”

GLVCA will operate as a statewide association that will concentrate on all electronic security, fire and other low-voltage issues within Georgia.

Cook says training was also an issue contributing to the break-off from NBFAA, saying her association wasn’t seeing enough revenue from the National Training School (NTS). “If we were getting a tremendous amount of revenue from NTS, we wouldn’t have broken off.”

Georgia’s break-off from NBFAA may not be permanent.

“We’re definitely not closing the door, but our focus will be on serving our members,” Cook says. “There have been promises of new charter state agreements. If they come up with one that works and we like, we would like to return.”

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