n 1831, the philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville traveled to America, the adolescent nation that inspired his country’s revolt against the monarchy. Similar to the present day, America was led by a populist president who was the bane of what we now call coastal elites. Regardless of the political upheaval, however, Tocqueville was enamored with Americans’ proclivity to form associations. He wrote in Democracy in America, “In no country in the world has the principle of association been more successfully used or applied to a greater multitude of objects than in America.”

Brilliant as he was, I doubt that Tocqueville could have anticipated the Self Storage Association, although the industry certainly would have been a success on the Oregon Trail. Nevertheless, almost 200 years later, the Self Storage Association is part of the legacy of associations that Tocqueville observed in Jacksonian America. I want to take a few moments to reflect on two recent examples of the ongoing power of your industry associations, particularly in the area of government affairs.

First, the state of Washington recently proposed a tax on self-storage rents. As soon as we learned of the proposal, the Washington Self Storage Association and the national SSA jumped into action. When the state legislature considered the bill, more than a dozen storage owners offered impassioned testimony against the tax.

Although Tocqueville would likely have been shocked to see each owner limited to one minute of testimony, I believe he would have been impressed with the power of storage owners to band together, through their associations, to oppose harmful regulation to their businesses and customers.

Second, the Self Storage Association of Michigan (SSAM), which the national association manages, recently received a request from the Detroit City Council to comment on several new regulations that are under consideration. The SSAM is now working with owners in Detroit to meet with the city councilmember interested in adding these new regulations.

Based on our experience in states without associations, it is likely that the city would not have sought out industry input but for the existence of the SSAM. To quote Tocqueville, “In civil life every man may, strictly speaking, fancy that he can provide for his own wants; in politics he can fancy no such thing.”

Of course, my colleagues and I would not be where we are without your belief in the power of associations. Thank you for being part of this unique and important feature of American life.