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The Restoration Industry Association (RIA) marked its 80th anniversary in Savannah, Georgia, with a record International Restoration Convention & Industry Expo turnout of roughly 1,450 attendees and an opening State of the Industry session that did not pull punches.

Outgoing leaders handed the gavel to a new president and a new CEO, while warning that margin compression, carrier pressure, and a lack of trade recognition are the defining battles ahead.

A leadership transition at the top

Outgoing CEO Kristy Cohen closed out six years at the helm, citing membership growth toward roughly 1,900 members, more than US$1,064,000 in 2025 revenue, and a record convention registration of 1,464.

Incoming CEO Saima Hedrick stepped into the role with more than 18 years of experience in association leadership and signaled continuity in advocacy, education, and member value.

On the volunteer leadership side, the baton passed from outgoing RIA board president Jeff Moore of ATI Restoration to incoming president Justin Woodard on Tuesday at the convention. Woodard is a third-generation restorer with Woodard Cleaning and Restoration in St. Louis, whose grandparents helped build RIA.

Industry size and the complexity gap

Outgoing RIA president Moore framed the scope: Restoration is a roughly $200 billion industry—larger than roofing, electrical, or plumbing—yet it remains uncategorized at the federal level. Verisk tracked about $110 billion in claims last year and CoreLogic about $40 billion, with another estimated $50 billion sitting under deductibles and outside reported data.

Despite that footprint, the trade still lacks a NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) or SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code, which limits its standing in legislative and regulatory discussions. RIA has been actively pushing for recognition.

Moore contrasted restoration with roofing using Xactimate data: A roofer typically works across roughly 10 trade categories with about 1,500 line items, while a restorer works across all 87 trade categories with roughly 27,000 line items. That complexity, he said, is exactly why carrier-driven attempts to apply roofing-style discounts and efficiencies to restoration do not translate, and why restorers need a unified voice when those policies are written.

Margin compression is real

Moore walked through several pressures that are hitting restorer margins right now. The new Xactimate Large Loss Labor Efficiency model can automatically reduce gross estimates by roughly 5% when applied across the board, and at least one of the three largest carriers is already applying it on jobs averaging $30,000 with a $10,000 median—well below what most restorers would call large loss. Long-standing carrier-side material discounts inside ITEL, a third-party materials analysis and pricing service, and similar tools can quietly take another 10% off material lines on certain estimates. Layered on top of that, some third-party administrators (TPAs) are now floating discount requests of around 8% on mitigation and repair work, importing a roofing-industry assumption about volume discounts that does not align with how restoration is performed and paid.

The Cost of Doing Business (CODB) survey, produced with KnowHow, showed that 52% of respondents reported net margins of less than 10% in 2024, a figure that has trended lower year over year. Moore urged contractors to participate in the 2026 survey, arguing that without broader data, the industry cannot credibly push back on pricing pressure.

Ethics as the trust foundation

Past president Mark Springer, who was instrumental in founding the Advocacy and Government Affairs (AGA) initiative, said the RIA Code of Ethics had not been meaningfully updated since 2006. Duting the last year, the code was revised and used as the basis for first-of-their-kind national conversations with more than 20 carriers about a shared ethical framework across the claims ecosystem.

Vice President Mark Davis is now leading the next phase, which he framed as a movement rather than a document. Attendees were asked to read a pledge card, sign on, and prepare for company-level training that will roll out this summer. The longer-term vision includes a Certified Ethical Restorer designation that TPAs may eventually require for program participation, giving member companies a tangible market differentiator.

Advocacy is moving from theory to action

RIA’s first director of Advocacy and Government Affairs (AGA), Vince Scarfo, was hired earlier this year and brings nearly two decades of Capitol Hill experience, as well as firsthand experience with restoration ownership. The AGA team has reviewed 261 pieces of legislation across 46 states this year and built 59 action plans. Scarfo testified in Connecticut to position RIA as the authority on restoration after the state’s General Assembly bill HB0527 was introduced with a definition that would have created a new licensure scheme for fire and catastrophic work.

To see more related information on the RIA AGA effort,

IICRC director of Government Relations Robbie Bradshaw reinforced the partnership angle, noting that more than 100 bills this year specifically mentioned public adjusting and hundreds more addressed property and casualty insurance. He pushed members to register in RIA’s grassroots database, which he and AGA leaders said is still thin in too many states for the association to credibly represent local constituent voices to legislators.

Membership, education, and what’s next

RIA board member Marcie Richardson highlighted the new Voice of the Independent Advisory Task Force, composed exclusively of leaders from firms that are neither franchised nor private-equity-backed, as a mechanism to keep independent perspectives in front of leadership. RIA also added five Affinity Partners in 2025, bringing the total to 23 and contributing roughly $450,000 in member savings.

On the education side, the AGA Academy and Education Committee were merged into a single Education and Resources Task Force, prerequisite requirements for RIA designations were simplified into a unified domain structure, and a searchable industry glossary is being built. RIA also partnered with Asbestos.com to release the industry’s first restorer-specific Asbestos Awareness and Refresher courses, OSHA-compliant for the two-year requirement.

The handoff

Moore closed his term with a call for involvement, projecting that a trillion-dollar industry could emerge by mid-century if current growth rates hold. Incoming president Woodard took the gavel and pointed to emerging details of a strategic plan now being shaped, addressing future technology and data, member emotions, the Affinity program, leadership development, and the rollout of the updated Code of Ethics.

Woodard’s closing message echoed the day’s theme: A strong industry trade association is the only way independent and national contractors alike can avoid being defined by more powerful interests.

The 81st convention is set for Phoenix, April 4-6, 2027.