Vol. 6, No. 7 – March 26, 2007

 

LAWSUIT STORIES NEEDED

 

Unfounded and unfair lawsuits are increasingly having a negative effect on the ability of lumber and building material dealers to run their businesses and contribute to their communities. A winter 2005 survey of NLBMDA members found that more than 1 in 4 has been the subject of a product liability lawsuit within the past five years; 65 percent of        those have been involved in more than one. The high costs of defending such lawsuits ($50,000 - $100,000, according to the Small Business Administration) typically force dealers to settle, regardless of the merit of the case.

 

To address this problem, NLBMDA secured the introduction of new federal legislation, the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act (ISFA; H.R. 989). This bill, sponsored by Representatives Dan Boren (D-OK) and Steve Chabot (R-OH), accomplishes two goals:

 

1. Protects sellers from predatory lawsuits by removing liability from sellers if they merely supplied the product and had no part in its manufacture, design, or installation; and

2. Holds sellers responsible in proportion to their wrongdoing, freeing them from liability when they have done nothing wrong.

 

Request for Assistance

 

NLBMDA members and staff are working to make the case for the Innocent Sellers Fairness Act to legislators nationwide. We are discovering, however, that Members of Congress are more interested in the legislation when we can demonstrate how it impacts the building supply industry in their districts. To this end, it is critical for NLBMDA to collect “home-grown” lawsuit stories to share with the legislators with whom we are meeting.

 

We are requesting your assistance in helping NLBMDA collect these stories. Ideally, we would love to have one example of a lawsuit in each targeted Member’s district (or, if that is not possible, state) to share.

 

Attached is a form that can be used to collect these stories. It is important to note that your stories will be presented anonymously. While NLBMDA asks that you submit your name and contact information for follow-up purposes, we do not divulge your confidential information to legislators. See the sample case description below:

 

A dealer in Ohio sold slate-style shingles to a customer. The shingles were shipped directly from the wholesaler to the jobsite; the dealer never saw nor touched the product. The coating later wore off some of the shingles, resulting in a spotty appearance, and the dealer was forced to pay $16,000 in a settlement.

 

Your assistance in collecting these stories to share with targeted Members of the Judiciary, Energy and Commerce and Small Business Committees will strengthen our case as we seek their support of H.R. 989. If you have any questions or would like to submit a lawsuit story, please contact Sarah Owen at sarah@dealer.org or toll-free at 1-800-634-8645. 

 

 

Greg Brooks Joins LBM Institute

NLBMDA-created Institute hires building supply veteran to lead its programs

 

The Lumber and Building Materials Institute (LBMI) Board of Trustees has selected Greg Brooks, president and CEO of the Building Supply Channel, Inc., as the new executive vice president of LBMI. Formed in 2006 by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA), LBMI's purpose is to research and analyze distribution channels serving the U.S. housing industry, to develop safety and health training programs for building material suppliers, and to support NLBMDA's affiliated state and regional associations in providing employee skills training.

 

“We are very excited to have Greg on board.” said Carl Tindell, LBMI Chair and owner of Tindell’s Inc. “His knowledge and expertise in the building supply industry make him the ideal person to build this new organization into a valuable knowledge center for industry executives.”

Brooks is a 39-year veteran of the construction supply business with over 20 years of field experience in operations, sales, management, and training. He is a columnist for LBM Journal, a former editor of ProSales, and a member of the Remodeling Futures Steering Committee at the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies. Brooks is a leading industry analyst who has conducted seminars on distribution channel trends and strategies for executives throughout North America.

 

Brooks launched the Building Supply Channel, Inc. (BSCi) in September 2000 with a group of 18 investors that includes executives from nine leading independent pro dealers. The BSCi Learning Management System is a clearinghouse for industry training resources that includes over 200 topics, with a web-based testing and reporting system that enables dealers to manage all the training they do regardless of the source.

 

“Globalization, technology and new building systems are altering the competitive landscape," says Brooks, "and the construction supply industry is likely to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the past 50. Our mission is to provide market intelligence to help suppliers formulate new strategies, and to support the training they need to capitalize on emerging opportunities.”

 

As executive vice president, Greg Brooks will administer and further develop the Lumber and Building Materials Institute and its programs. He will uphold the Institute’s mission to engage in, conduct, promote, and support the study, research and analysis of lumber and building material distribution channels, environmental impact, and provide specific data on industry issues, trends and business practices. Brooks will report to NLBMDA President Shawn Conrad.

 

The Institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and is headquartered in Washington, DC.

 

 

FREE ON-DEMAND WEB SEMINAR

 

Mike Butts, president of LBM Solutions, firmly believes that professional training is a small investment in a company's future that will return an increase in revenue and a more successful balanced business.

 

Mike is ProSales’ Best Practices Professor, presenting a free 30-minute, on-demand course, including a downloadable Profit Analysis spreadsheet.

 

In his free web seminar, Five Pillars to Installed Success, he’ll methodically walk through the Five Pillars, which include:

• Competition Analysis

• Labor

• Operations

• Business

• Financial Management.

 

Within the Five Pillars, Mike addresses the importance of servicing the builder and top five primary product categories. Finally, he has included full working knowledge and calculations for daily labor recovery and profit analysis.

 

View Web Seminar

 

You will need to log-in at the web training site, but no cost is involved. If you would like to consider providing installed sales, take 30 minutes to take part in this free web seminar.

 

Source: Pro-Sales Business Update, March 20, 2007

 

  

 

Taxpayers warned about fraudulent irs web sites

The Internal Revenue Service wants to remind taxpayers that the address of the official IRS government website is www.irs.gov.

 

Taxpayers may be confused by the proliferation of Internet sites that contain some form of the Internal Revenue Service name or IRS acronym with a .com, .net, .org or other designation in the address instead of .gov. Since many of these sites also bear a striking resemblance to the real IRS site, taxpayers may be misled into thinking that the site they have accessed is indeed the official IRS government site. These sites are not the official IRS website and have no connection to the official IRS site or to the IRS.

 

"There is one legitimate IRS site: IRS.gov," said IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson. "Always check carefully and make sure you know what website you are using."

 

Because .com, .net and .org are such common parts of Internet addresses, taxpayers may automatically or inadvertently type these extensions, instead of .gov, into the address line of their Web browser when trying to find the genuine IRS website.

 

Following recent concerns that Internet sites may be causing confusion among taxpayers, the IRS is working with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration on this matter. TIGTA has authority to review issues protecting the integrity of tax administration, including impersonation of the IRS. The IRS and TIGTA are committed to ensuring that taxpayers are not misled.

 

Although the IRS web site offers interactive features, the tax or private financial information that these features ask the taxpayer for is extremely limited. The IRS reminds consumers who access unfamiliar sites, or sites they have never dealt with before, that they should never reveal any personal or financial information, such as credit, bank account or PIN numbers, without verifying the validity of the site.

 

The IRS also reminds consumers to be alert to an on-going Internet scam in which consumers receive an email informing them of a federal tax refund. The email, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link — often a website resembling the IRS website — that requests personal and financial information, such as Social Security number and credit card information.

 

This scheme is an attempt to trick the email recipients into disclosing their personal and financial data. The practice is called "phishing" for information.

 

The information fraudulently obtained is then used to steal the taxpayer's identity and financial assets. Generally, identity thieves use someone's personal data to steal his or her financial accounts, run up charges on the victim's existing credit cards, apply for new loans, credit cards, services or benefits in the victim's name and even file fraudulent tax returns.

 

Taxpayers who receive an unsolicited email purporting to be from the IRS should never click on any links in the message, open any attachments or provide any personal or financial information to the sender.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

 

LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSES

 

Free Choice Act... The House passed the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union if it receives signed authorization cards from a majority of a company's employees. This would eliminate the current requirement for secret ballots in union elections. It sailed through the House on a 241-185 vote. It may not move at all in the Senate where Republicans are expected to launch a filibuster. President Bush has already said he would veto it. This bill is organized labor's top legislative priority.

 

Source: Last Week in Washington, a service of North American Retail Hardware Association, March 12, 2007

 

Senate Bill Introduced to Repeal 3 Percent Withholding Tax... On March 6, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) introduced S. 777, entitled The Withholding Tax Relief Act of 2007, which would repeal the section of federal law that imposed this withholding tax. That law is the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-222). Section 511 of that law imposes the 3 percent tax, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2011. S. 777 has been referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

While this 3 percent withholding tax is not scheduled to take effect for almost five years, there was an attempt last year, and there could be more attempts this legislative session, to move up its effective date. Members of Congress are under a mandate to introduce bills that are "revenue neutral" and, therefore, must find revenue offsets for any new or expanded funding proposals.

 

The 3 percent withholding tax doesn't directly impact citizen taxpayers, so it could be a tempting target as a source for new, near-term federal revenue. Moving up the effective date of this 3 percent tax would bring in the revenue earlier to fund new spending plans designed to take effect in the near future.

 

In a statement released by his office, Sen. Craig said, "Section 511, inserted in conference as a last-minute $7 billion revenue-raiser, imposes a sweeping new 3 percent tax withholding on all payments for products and services made by the federal, state and local governments. Section 511 stands to negatively impact nearly every sector of the economy, and I look forward to working to repeal this unfair tax penalty in the new Congress."

 

Source: NACM National Weekly Update, March 13, 2007

 

Canfor To Take Downtime… Canfor Corporation announced on Wednesday that they would be taking downtime at five British Columbia sawmills due to poor market conditions. All downtimes will begin between March 19th and April 2nd.

 

The curtailments encompass approximately 70 million board feet of lumber production.

 

Source: LBM Daily, March 15, 2007

 

Home Depot Hiring… Home Depot’s plan to create 15,000 new positions this year at stores nationwide fits a pattern.

 

The Atlanta-based retailer added about the same number last year, on top of 20,000 in 2005, company spokesman Tony Wilbert said Monday.

 

The new positions are in addition to hiring about 50,000 people to fill existing jobs that come open during the year.

 

Source: ProSales Business Update, March 15, 2007

 

Logging Halted in Owl Habitat… When a ruling from a 9th Circuit Appeals court required that logging be suspended in a spotted owl habitat in Oregon, it had a ripple effect on other logging sites, as well. The court demanded a stronger showing from the scientific community that the species would not be threatened; because the same opinions and data was deemed insufficient for one location was also used in other logging sites, logging in those areas has similarly been suspended for the time being.

 

Source: LBM Daily, March 19, 2007

 

Existing-Home Sales Rise Again in February … Existing-home sales rose strongly in February following a healthy gain in January, reaching the highest level since last April, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

 

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the strong gain is a bit of a surprise. “Some of the rise in home sales may be from mild weather that brought out shoppers in December, but fundamentals have improved in the housing market and buyers see a window now with historically low mortgage interest rates and competitive pricing by sellers,” he said. “Even so, winter storms last month discouraged shopping, and buyers were chilled with the third coldest February on