The Association of the U.S. Army is preparing a change to industry membership categories to update, simplify and customize options for businesses and organizations of all sizes.

Under the proposed changes in the AUSA Industry Partner Program, the Sustaining Member and Corporate Member categories that sometimes confuse people will be rebranded as Community Partner or National Partner, names that better reflect their reason for being part of AUSA.

Partner benefits will depend in part on size, with Community Partners with 10 or more members receiving some benefits previously available only to national industry members.

For example, Community Partners with 10 or more members and all National Partners will be eligible for membership discounts for registration and exhibit space at AUSA events. Community Partners with at least five members can be listed in AUSA’s online registry, the AUSA Industry Guide [ www.ausa.myindustrytracker.com/en/buyersguide ].

Both Community and National partners will be eligible for discounted posting of job openings on the AUSA Career Center [careers.ausa.org]. They will also get 10 percent off advertising rates in AUSA publications and 10 percent off on items purchased from the AUSA store.

Under the new program, Community Partners may have up to 10 members aligned with an AUSA chapter. National Partners may have up to 50 members and may be affiliated with up to three AUSA chapters.

Members of both Community and National partners will receive AUSA print and digital publications, includingARMY magazine, AUSA News and Institute of Land Warfare papers.

Here is the new fee structure for this program: Community Partners with two members join for $175 for one year and $475 for three years. For five members, the cost is $370 for one year and $1,000 for three years. With up to 10 members, the fee would be $685 for one year and $1,750 for three years. Those rates have not increased in more than 10 years.

Dues for National Partners would increase to $7,000 beginning Jan. 1. This is the first increase in dues for these members since 2012.

Partners who pay their 2018 dues before the end of 2017 may pay the 2017 rates.

For more details on the planned changes, contact Lynette Nichols, National Partner program manager, at lnichols@ausa.org, or Mark Wolf, Community Partner program manager, at mwolf@ausa.org.