Vol. 6, No. 6 – March 12, 2007

 

Register for NLBMDA’s 2007 Legislative Conference

Step Up to Bat for Innocent Sellers!

NLBMDA is accepting registrations for the 2007 annual Legislative Conference, which will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. from April 16-18, 2007.

 

This conference gives dealers an opportunity to receive an update on what is happening with industry priorities – including Innocent Sellers – in Washington and to meet with their Members of Congress and Senators to make the case for our issues. Now more than ever, active grassroots participation in promoting Innocent Sellers is critical. Legislators are more likely to respond to the pleas of their constituents, so plan now to attend and help us make the case for Innocent Sellers.

 

Please visit NLBMDA’s website at www.dealer.org to download a brochure and register. The room block at the Ritz-Carlton has SOLD OUT. An alternate hotel list is available on the meetings page at www.dealer.org. The best prices can be obtained through web sites such as travelocity.com or hotels.com.

 

 

BEWARE OF SCAMS

 

MLA received this report from the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association:

 

The following scam has also been reported by retail lumber dealers in Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

During the week of February 19, a retail lumber salesperson in Windham, NY took a call from a gentleman attempting to purchase some ¾" red oak plywood for a church being constructed in Accra, Ghana.  As the lumber yard did not have the capacity to deliver to Ghana, the caller provided the name of a local shipping agent in Ghana, The Rose Shipping Co., which agreed to pick-up the material and deliver it to the church. The caller indicated they were willing to pay the lumber yard for the shipping and provided a credit card with authorization to charge for material and shipping. 

However, when the lumber yard was to wire $3,500 in freight cost to the shipping agent in Ghana, a red flag was raised to the staff which indicated that the credit card was stolen.  If the lumber yard had wired the $3,500 to Ghana, the $3,500 would be charged back to the owner's card. 

This incident is a good reminder for all businesses to review credit card policies. Should your company encounter a similar scam, please immediately notify your state Attorney General.

 

 

MEMBER NEWS

 

NLBMDA Selects Merideth Van Sant as the 2007 Blair Collings Intern

NLBMDA is pleased to announce that Merideth Van Sant, daughter of Bill Van Sant (Oklahoma Home Center, OK), has been selected for the 2007 Blair Collings Internship in Government Affairs. Merideth is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma and will spend part of her summer working closely with NLBMDA staff in Washington D.C. on government affairs activities. Congratulations!

 

BlueLinx Sees Increased Opportunity

 

BlueLinx Holding Inc., a leading distributor of building products in North America and a Fortune 500 company, today announced that the purchase by Georgia-Pacific Wood Products South LLC of the former International Paper Engineered Lumber facility at Thorsby, Ala., provides BlueLinx with a significant opportunity to expand its engineered lumber business in the Central, Southwest and Midwest markets.

 

BlueLinx distributes engineered lumber in these markets under the Wood I Beam and G-P Lam Laminated Veneer Lumber names. Operating at full capacity, the Thorsby facility has the ability to considerably expand the supply of engineered lumber available through BlueLinx in these markets as well as in the company’s existing core markets.

 

Source: Prime Newswire, March 1, 2007

  

 

LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSES

 

Housing Slowdown Hits Home Depot… The Home Depot's (HD) sales continued their downward spiral during recent months, as the home improvement retailer struggles to recover from a host of problems. But new CEO Frank Blake promised to fight off the retailer's competition even in the face of a slowing market for housing-related business.

 

The Atlanta-based company's net earnings amounted to $925 million during the three months ended Jan. 28, down 28% from the same period of 2005. "Reflecting the challenging housing market, our 2006 retail results were disappointing," said Blake in a press release Feb. 20.

 

Source: Builder Business On-Line, quoting Business Week, Feb. 20, 2007

 

Existing Home Sales Improve in January… Sales of existing homes rose in January, reaching the highest level in seven months, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

 

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said observers shouldn’t overreact to the sales gain, or to other short-term effects.  “Although we’re expecting existing-home sales to gradually rise this year, and buyers are responding to the price correction, some unusually warm weather helped boost sales in January,” he said.  “On the flip side, the winter storms that disrupted so much of the country in February could negatively impact the housing market.

 

Source: National Association of Realtors, February 27, 2007

 

Slight Drop in January's New Homes Sales Figures Not a Worry, Says NAHB… Although sales of new single-family homes in January slumped in comparison to those in the two months previous, statistics put out recently by the U.S. Commerce Department indicate the pace of sales are roughly in line with 2006.

 

"The falloff in new-home sales in January largely reflected a return to more normal weather conditions, following the weather-related increase in sales late last year," explained David Seiders, Chief Economist for the NAHB. "NAHB's monthly surveys actually have been showing modest improvements in builders' confidence regarding home buyer demand since last September."

 

Source: LBM Daily, March 1, 2007

 

NLBMDA Works to Preserve Secret Ballots in Union Elections… As part of the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, NLBMDA joined several other organizations and associations in opposing the so-called Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800) when it was debated by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. This legislation is designed to make it easier for unions to obtain certification through the expansion of "card check elections." NLBMDA believes that while employees should retain the right to decide whether they want union representation, they should never feel threatened by abusive card check practices.

The House passed H.R. 989 by a vote of 241 to 185 on March 1. Senate action on the Employee Free Choice Act is unclear, given the unlikelihood of securing the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture and proceed with debate and a vote on the bill. President George W. Bush has threatened to veto the legislation if presented to him for his signature into law. The House fell short of the votes necessary to override any potential veto. Visit www.buildthevote.org to see how your Representative voted on H.R. 800.

 

Source: LBM Legislative Update, NLBMDA, March 2007

 

Softwood Lumber Agreement Hits Rough Patch… Putting the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement into action could be more difficult than previously understood; after only three months, complaints from the U.S. lumber industry cast into doubt the agreement's viability. The lumber industry is especially displeased by Canadian support programs.

 

"These provincial subsidies are egregious and disturbing," stated an industry insider. "And the Canadian government position is that they are legitimate."

 

Source: LBM Daily, March 5, 2007

 

Small Business Administration (SBA) Releases its Fiscal Year 2006 Report on the Regulatory Flexibility Act… According to a report issued on February 26 by the SBA, small business benefits when federal agencies are sensitive to the economic impact of new regulations. The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires agencies to review the potential impact of proposed regulations on small businesses and other small entities and to examine significant alternatives that minimize such impacts while still meeting the policy objectives of the regulation. SBA reports that by following the RFA, federal agencies saved small businesses over $7.2 billion in regulatory compliance costs in FY06. These savings are documented in the Report: www.sba.gov/advo/laws/flex/06regflx.pdf.

 

Source: NLBMDA – LBM Legislative Update, March 2007

 

U.S. Lumber Industry Urges Compliance with Softwood Lumber Deal… Just months after the U.S. and Canada settled on a deal to end the long-standing softwood lumber dispute, complaints are being raised by U.S. lumber industry groups who say that Canadian provinces are not respecting all aspects of the deal. Canada has denied the allegations.

 

The Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports continues to support the deal and urges the U.S. government to enforce the agreement.

 

Source: LBM Daily, March 7, 2007

 

Softwood Lumber Committee Meets in Washington… The newly formed bi-national Softwood Lumber Committee, composed of timber industry executives from the U.S. and Canada, held its first meeting in Washington in February. The U.S. representatives raised complaints about Canadian provincial actions, including reduced energy prices, which they feel might violate the new Softwood Lumber Agreement. Coming just months after the Agreement took effect, it raises doubts about the likelihood of the Agreement remaining in place for the planned seven years.

 

Source: NLBMDA – LBM Legislative Update, March 2007

 

 

PROTECTING YOUR GOOD NAME

 

Thieves still steal purses and wallets or break into homes and businesses to steal people’s identities. More recently, theft of data from corporations, small businesses and even government agencies has increased the risk for more people and businesses. Other methods and preventive measures businesses need to be aware of include:

 

?         “Dumpster Diving” (stealing mail and recycled paper documents from the trash) – Make sure all protected information is properly shredded and disks and hard drives are broken in pieces or “erased” electronically. If you hire an outside business to destroy these records, do a thorough background check of the company first.

 

?         “Skimming” (dishonest employees use small scanning devices to secretly scan debit/credit cards at checkouts) – Investigate prospective employees before hiring. Monitor sales activity and question suspicious behavior by employees such as swiping customers’ cards twice. Also watch for unfamiliar devices near a register. Review your credit sales reports and check for multiple charge backs.

 

?         Online Fraud – Beware when doing business online, both as a buyer and a seller, especially in foreign markets. The schemes are too numerous to list and range from spreading email viruses that capture information to setting up fraudulent web sites that mimic legitimate sites. Protect your own and your customers’ information. Don’t open or reply to unsolicited email to click on web site addresses you don’t know. Type in addresses to known sites and bookmark them instead of clicking on links. Always look for the closed padlock icon on a web page before entering information. Change passwords frequently on sites that store financial or personal information.

 

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

MLA is proud to endorse….

 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY