Fall Fling Set for November 6-7

What's NLBMDA Doing for You Lately?

Regulatory Update

Cost of Doing Business Report Available

Save the Date

Rural Retailers Get Boost

BlueLinx Net Income Up

Weyerhaeuser Announces Lay-Offs

Economy on Brink

USGBC Opens Certified Wood Credits for Comments

Reporting Taxpayer ID Numbers

Observers See Light at End of the Tunnel

Avoiding Repetitive Stress

Today's Quote

The “Fall Fling” is the Annual meeting of MLA members. Thanks to members’ enthusiastic response, we are continuing this outstanding event and it keeps getting better. This year’s seminar on Friday, November 7, will be “Benchmarking for Excellence” – a   fact-filled half-day program presented by Mike Butts of LBM Solutions. This seminar will provide the independent lumberyard with the tools necessary to benchmark or “baseline” their entire operation.

The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) actively represents the interests of lumber dealers in Washington.  They’ve just completed work on passing legislation to assist the thousands of businesses, including yours, that rely on a strong housing market.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act passed Congress last week and President Bush has indicated he will sign it.  This new legislation addresses the economic slowdown that has impacted building material dealers down the supply chain. The measure includes three components lobbied for by NLBMDA, which will create a new homebuyer tax credit to help spur purchases and put the industry and the economy back on track; reform government oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and increase the availability of mortgage insurance through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) in an effort to prevent foreclosures.

NLBMDA’s government relations team worked closely with Members of Congress to ensure the concerns of lumber dealers were included in the final measure. NLBMDA mobilized many lumber dealers to weigh in by contacting their elected representatives to ask for their support of the measure. NLBMDA thanks all dealers who responded to our call to action.

NLBMDA is working on other issues that have a direct impact on you and your business.  We are currently aggressively advocating the passage of the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act (ISFA). ISFA would ensure that sellers do not take on liability for a product merely by selling that product. 

You can help pass this important legislation by asking your elected representatives to cosponsor ISFA. Information about how to contact your Member of Congress is available on BuildtheVote.org, NLBMDA’s grassroots advocacy website. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can email a letter to your Member of Congress. 

You can also help NLBMDA continue to spread the word about the need for lawsuit reform by contributing to the ISFA Fund. The ISFA Fund provides support for NLBMDA’s extensive advocacy and political involvement activities in Washington.  Because ISFA Fund is not a political action committee, both personal and corporate contributions may be accepted.  By contributing, you’ll be helping to ensure that lumber dealers like you continue to have a strong voice advocating your interests in Washington! 

Contributions may be sent to the ISFA Fund – NLBMDA, 2025 M Street NW Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036-3309.  Make sure the voice of lumber dealers is not silenced in Washington…send your contribution today! 

As a result of the 2003 passage of the “FACT Act”, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with the various federal banking regulators, has promulgated a new rule relating to the extension of credit that would require covered entities, potentially small businesses that sell goods and services on credit, to develop written identity theft prevention programs.

These new “Red Flag” rules will go into effect on November 1 of this year.  While the FTC asserts that the new rule provides flexibility for small businesses to determine if they will be required to develop these Red Flag programs, a covered entity will be expected to have a program in place able to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft. Because of ambiguities in the new rule’s definitions for “creditor” (who would be covered) and “covered accounts” (what specific accounts would constitute an extension of credit), NLBMDA staff are reviewing the rules and the underlying statute to determine when, if at all, a lumber and building material dealer would be subject to these rules.  In addition to our review, we have requested from the FTC, and the Small Business Office of Advocacy, guidance and clarification for small businesses to determine if they are subject to the new Red Flag rule.

Fresh off the presses, the 2008 Cost of Doing Business Report analyzes the factors responsible for the success of all-sized dealers in a comprehensive business model. The latest edition in the long-standing series has been compiled from the critical financial data of the 2007 fiscal year provided by direct dealers nation-wide who participated in the confidential survey. For over a decade the NLBMDA Cost of Doing Business Report has been the definitive source for lumber dealers to gauge the success of their business with that of the rest of the industry

The price of the 2008 CODB Report is $225 for NLBMDA members and $375 for non-members. Click here for an order form, or visit www.dealer.org for more information.

Rural Retailers across the U.S…. may be getting a boost from the slowing economy. For three decades, small-town retailers have suffered amid tough competition from big box competitors and malls that drew shoppers farther away. But some retailers in rural areas are now seeing a long-awaited boost as shoppers, clobbered by high gas prices, shop more locally. If you want to capture more of this close-to-home DIY business, now is your chance.

Source: Quick.Net.News, Ohio Construction Suppliers Association, August 5, 2008

BlueLinx Net Income up 18 Percent… BlueLinx Holdings, the third-ranked distributor on the Home Channel News Top 150 Distributors Scoreboard, posted second-quarter results this morning that fell in line with Wall Street estimates.

Net income rose 18 percent to $6.6 million, compared with $5.4 million in the year-ago period. Sales fell 23 percent to $834.7 million from $1.08 billion in last year’s second quarter.

The company did see an improvement in gross margins, due to product price increases and increased margins across all the distributor’s product categories, according to a statement.

Source: ProDealer Digest, Home Channel News, August 6, 2008

Weyerhaeuser Announces Lay-Offs… On Tuesday, timber giant Weyerhaeuser revealed its plan to reduce its global workforce by 6.3 percent, or approximately 1,500 positions. Many of these planned lay-offs will occur in the company's Federal Way, Wash. headquarters. Apparently many of the positions became 'redundant' after the sale of Weyerhaeuser's paper and packaging business to International Paper.

Source: LBM Daily, August 6, 2008

Economy on Brink… Among all the dire employment news, no statistic is more telling about the current state of the economy than this: In the last 12 months, unemployment in the U.S. rose by 1.6 million people. As the workforce shrinks, so does the demand for housing, says John Burns, president of John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, Calif.

Source: Builder Business Update, August 6, 2008

USGBC Opens Certified Wood Credits for Comments… The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), at the urging of NLBMDA and allied associations, has conducted a review of their LEED credits requiring the use of only one particular certified lumber, FSC. FSC-certified wood products are available in limited quantities in the U.S., where the bulk of domestic forest products are certified under SFI or other programs. NLBMDA has advocated for several years that the USGBC reexamine this requirement given the difficulty and expense dealers reported in trying to source FSC products and the anti-competitive nature of mandating use of only one product.

The new language that USGBC is proposing would not specify a required program, but would establish Forest Certification System Benchmarks that current and future programs would be measured against to determine if they qualify for credit under LEED. The draft revisions are now open for comment until September 7, 2008.

NLBMDA will be preparing comments on behalf of the industry. If you have feedback that will help us compile those comments, please send it to Colleen Levine at colleen@dealer.org no later than Friday, August 22. Particularly, comments detailing your experience providing FSC lumber versus other types, whether you have obtained chain-of-custody certification for FSC and/or SFI, and the difficulty or interest in doing so, and the demand from your customers for FSC or other certified lumber. You can view the draft at https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=4374. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Source: Colleen Rocha Levine, Director, Government Affairs, NLBMDA, August 8. 2008

Reporting Taxpayer ID Numbers… The Housing & Economic Recovery Act concentrates on reforming government and government-sponsored mortgage companies and providing help to distressed homeowners in the form of a refundable tax credit for first-time homebuyers and a new standard deduction for state and local property taxes.

A $9.8 billion offset requires banks and other credit/debit card processors to provide information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on credit/debit card payments made to merchants. Retailers will be asked to provide taxpayer identification numbers to card processors; without them, card processors will have to withhold 28% of payments to cover tax liability. Reporting begins in 2012 on payments made after December 31, 2010.

Source: Last Week in Washington, published by NRHA, August 8, 2008

Observers See Light at the End of the Tunnel for Housing Crisis? Alan Greenspan, former Chair of the Federal Reserve, commented to the press on Thursday that the American housing market is "likely to start to stabilize or touch bottom sometime in the first half of 2009." Nonetheless, Greenspan went on to say, "Prices could continue to drift lower through 2009 and beyond."

Source: LBM Daily, August 15, 2008

AVOIDING REPETITIVE STRESS

What are repetitive stress injuries? RSIs and cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) can occur over time when you repeatedly use the same motions for activities, such as carrying heavy objects, playing instruments, typing, and exercising. The most common results are (1) tendonitis, which involves your tendons – the bands of tissue that attach to bones and muscles; and (2) bursitis, which involves the bursae, fluid-filled sacs that cushion tendons and bones.

What are the signs? They include tingling, numbness, pain, tenderness, swelling, redness or heat; sore neck or back; or feeling weakness or fatigue in the hands or arms. If you feel any of these symptoms, see your health care provider for advice about how to control your condition and keep it from progressing. Untreated pain will likely get worse.

Practice prevention daily…  

• Proper nutrition helps maintain strong muscles and bones, and supplies the energy to perform physical activities efficiently.

• Exercise builds strength and flexibility – both help prevent injury.

• Warm up, cool down and stretch before and after exercise and other physical exertion.

• Vary your day-to-day activities and take breaks from repetitive motions.

Source: Federated Insurance, “Meeting your goals for good health” newsletter, July 2007

This article provided courtesy of Federated Mutual Insurance Company, your association’s recommended insurer.

 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.”   -- Will Rogers