MLA LINE

Vol. 4, No. 10 – May 9, 2005

 FORESTRY ASSOCIATIONS APPLAUD NEW SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS LAW 

Little Rock, AR – The Arkansas Forestry Association (AFA) and The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today praised a new law that encourages state agencies to consider environmental impact when funding state building or rehabilitation projects. Gov. Mike Huckabee signed the bill into law on April 7.

 Under the new law, state agencies that are building or renovating should use either the Green Globes or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) sustainable building programs to assess the environmental attributes of the building. The recently enacted legislation also creates a Legislative Task Force on Sustainable Building Design and Practices that has been charged with continuing to review, discuss and advise on green building practices, monitoring case studies and reviewing sustainable building practices used by state agencies.

 “We are pleased with the 85th General Assembly’s efforts related to green building standards. Passage of this legislation makes Arkansas one of the first states in the country to recognize the importance of energy efficient and environmentally friendly construction,” said J. Kelly Robbins, AFA executive vice president.

 “Sustainable building is a growing trend, one which we at AF&PA fully support,” said W. Henson Moore, AF&PA President and CEO. “I am very pleased that the Arkansas legislature was willing to work with all stakeholders to craft a law that is fair and balanced, and one that should improve the environmental performance of Arkansas’s state-funded buildings.”

 The bill, which also recognizes the value of carbon sequestering, bio-based products such as wood, emerged from recommendations by an interim task force formed to examine green building. Aubra Anthony, CEO of Anthony Forest Products and AF&PA Chairman served as one of the tri-chairs of the task force. The consensus bill included input from architects, the forest products industry, green building proponents, several state agencies and the governor’s office.

 Source: Arkansas Forestry Association, April 27, 2005 (For more than 50 years, the Arkansas Forestry Association has been the only nonprofit association representing Arkansas’s entire forestry community. With more than 1,400 members, the organization promotes the conservation of productive, healthy forests. For more information about AFA programs, call 1-888-MYTREES or visit the AFA Internet site at www.arkforests.org.)

 GOLF TOURNAMENT – JUNE 10 

The Missouri “Swing-into-Spring” event was played under picture-perfect conditions at the Lake of the Ozarks. But, if you missed that one, you still have time to sign up for the Kansas Sunflower Shootout XVII. Here are the details:

 Location:  Rolling Meadows Golf Course, Junction City, Kan.

Date: Friday, June 10, 2005

Headquarter hotel: Marriott Courtyard Inn, Junction City.  

If you need additional information on sponsorship or registration, contact MLA at 800-747-6529.

 NLBMDA Member Programs

 Are you or a subcontractor installing windows, doors, or just bathroom fixtures? Do you know all of your additional OSHA responsibilities when doing installed sales? Learn the answers you need to know if your company is or is thinking about doing installed sales.

 Attend NLBMDA's Training Without Travel Teleconference on “Reducing OSHA and Safety Liabilities for Installed Sales,” May 12 at 1 p.m. EDST. Learn the answers to these questions and more: 

·         What new OSHA rules do you need to comply with when implementing various installed sales programs? Is a safety program required?

·         What are our potential liabilities? How can these liabilities impact our bottom line?

·         Does subcontracting eliminate our OSHA responsibilities?

·         What is a multi-employer worksite and what does it mean for you?

·         Maintenance or construction: Does it make a difference in your safety effort?

·         What Personal Protective Equipment should be available for Installed Sales employees?

·         What is the most important aspect of electrical safety?

 Teleconferences are only $95 per line for members. So get the whole crew around the phone to learn what you need to do to comply with OSHA regulations. For more information and to register, go to www.dealer.org or call NLBMDA at 800-634-8645.

 Also, don't forget to apply for NLBMDA's new safety awards! Download an application at www.dealer.org!

 LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSES

 U.S. Housing Market Keeps Growing?  The U.S. Commerce Department reported sales of new homes rose 12.2 percent in March, squelching expectations for a decline and hitting a record high. In fact, some economists are revising their forecasts for 2005, saying it could be even better than last year. Many analysts say there is no housing bubble, and supply simply cannot keep up with demand.

 Source: LBM Daily, April 27, 2005

 Housing Update… According to a nationwide survey by Freddie Mac, while mortgage rates were rising modestly last month, from 5.69 percent for a 30-year mortgage at the end of February to 6.04 percent at the end of March, they have since slipped back to 5.80 percent last week. A separate report last week showed the long-running U.S. housing boom is gaining fresh energy from low interest rates on loans. Applications for U.S. home mortgages increased last week as both refinancing and purchasing activity climbed in response to lower interest rates in April, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association report. 

Source: HCI Business Report, April 28, 2005, published by Home Center Institute

 Home Center Update…84 Lumber, the nation’s largest privately held supplier of building materials to contractors, said last week that sales should pass $4 billion for 2005, as it continues to expand to the Midwest, South and West. The company, based near the original 84 store that opened in 1956 in North Strabane, Pa., said that it has realigned into two divisions, Northeastern and Southwestern, and that each division will oversee four regions, including a new Midwest area that takes in locations in Texas and Missouri. Currently 84 lumber has 469 stores and 17 component plants that make roof trusses, wall panels and other pre-assembled building sections. A minimum of 52 stores and five plants are to open this year, and altogether 78 new stores are in various planning stages. 

Source: HCI Business Report, April 28, 2005, published by Home Center Institute 

Home Improvement Spending Hits New Heights… The U.S. home improvement market has grown to nearly one-quarter trillion dollars, according to a new report released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Remodeling Futures Program. Fueled by the homeownership boom, as well as strong income growth among high-earning households, improvement spending has climbed steadily for a decade. “Households with incomes of $120,000 and up have been responsible for some 60 percent of the growth in spending since 1995,” explains Nicolas P. Retsinas, Joint Center director. “The most popular types of projects are high-end improvements, such as major kitchen or bath remodels or room additions. Households spending at least $25,000 on improvements accounted for almost one-third of all remodeling expenditures.”

 Source: TimberTalk, April 2005, published by Ohio Lumbermen’s Association

 Arkansas Lumber Industry Gets Break… Lawmakers in the Arkansas House of Representatives voted to give tax breaks to the state’s lumber companies. Rep. Ken Cowling sponsored the bill that would gradually exempt gas and electricity used by lumber companies from state sales taxes. The House voted 64-23 to pass HB2103, which would gradually cut the percentage the lumber industry pays in sales taxes by 2 percentage points annually. Currently at 6 percent, the industry’s state sales tax on gas and electricity used in production of timber would be eliminated by Jan. 1, 2008, under the bill. Cowling said the measure was needed to help shore up Arkansas’ timber industry, which he said employs 43,000 people in the state but suffers from stiff competition overseas.

 Source: Hardwood Matters, May 2005, published by National Hardwood Lumber Association quoting the Arkansas Democrat Gazette

 Byrd Amendment Causes Other Countries to Place Tariffs on U.S. Products… Starting Sunday, American exporters of a wide range of products will be hit with penalty tariffs of 15 percent levied by Canada and the 25-nation European Union because of U.S. government payments to American companies that have been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization.

 Under the Byrd amendment, passed in October 2000, companies that bring successful cases against foreign firms alleging that their competitors’ products are being sold in this country at unfairly low prices not only get the benefit of higher penalty tariffs placed on the competing products but also receive the tariff revenue that the government collects.

 Source: LBM Daily, May 3, 2005

 Asbestos Litigation Reform Legislation… Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), Ranking Judiciary Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and six additional bipartisan sponsors introduced legislation (S. 852) on April 19 that will provide compensation to asbestos victims without their having to go to litigation.

 Chairman Specter attempted to raise the bill for a vote by the Judiciary Committee on April 28. Due to procedural hurdles related to the processing of 82 amendments, the committee was forced to delay a vote until May 12. A public hearing was held on the bill on April 26. Under the legislation, the federal government would establish a $140 billion national trust fund that would be privately funded by asbestos defendant companies and insurers.

Source: NRLA Wired, May 2005, published by Northeastern Retail Lumber Association

Judge Grants Injunction on Idaho Timber Sales… Federal Judge Edward Lodge stopped several timber sales in Clearwater National Forest, the Brick Trout and White Timber projects. Judge Lodge found the U.S. Forest Service failed to sufficiently analyze the impact of the timber sales, and called the failure to prepare an EIS “arbitrary and capricious.” His ruling went on to say that the “USFS may have failed to properly monitor” certain species, in accordance with the Forest Plan. U.S. Forestry officials considered the projects restorative in nature, though the sales would have netted more than $2.4 million.  

Source: LBM Daily, May 4, 2005

 States Push Tax to Expand Health Coverage… Last month in Maryland, the legislature passed a bill that would tax large employers that don’t meet a threshold for health benefits spending. Any employer with more than 10,000 workers in Maryland would have to spend at least 8% of its payroll on health benefits or pay the difference to a state fund that would expand Medicaid coverage for low-income adults. Wal-Mart spends less than 8% on health benefits in Maryland and is the only employer in the state that would be subject to the tax. Wal-Mart’s troubles do not end in Maryland and may impact other employers. Connecticut is considering a measure similar to Maryland’s in order to improve Medicaid funding. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, employs the greatest number of Medicaid enrollees in Connecticut, Maryland and many other states. The trend has put Wal-Mart on the defensive. 

Source: By Tom Anderson, Employee Benefit News, May 2005

 Bush Administration's New Roadless Rule to Open National Parks to Development, Create New Jobs… The Bush administration moved Thursday to open up nearly a third of all remote national forest lands to road building, logging and other commercial ventures.  

Environmentalists say the new rule would let the administration rewrite the forest management plans to lift restrictions against development on most of that forestland.  

The Forest Service believes its new rule “helps us to move forward with a policy that is not clouded by legal uncertainty, as was the case with the 2001 rule,” says a current agency document.  

Labor unions are very much in favor of the new law, which should create new jobs.

 Source: LBM Daily, May 6, 2005

 Lowe’s Goes Online with Lumber Sales… The nation’s second largest home channel retailer has added lumber to its lineup of items available for purchase online, a feature Lowe’s says will make shopping even more convenient for its DIY customer base. Lowe’s said shoppers can browse, purchase and arrange delivery of more than 2,000 wood products and related accessories, including structural lumber, plywood and decking materials. The retailer is not targeting builders or commercial customers by adding this service. 

Meanwhile, Home Depot has offered lumber and other building products for sale online since January, although the Atlanta-based retailer geared its online lumber service specifically for its pro customers.  Home Depot pro customers can go to www.homedepot.com/contractorservices to purchase lumber and other building products and services, such as tool and equipment rental.

 Source: Home Channel News, May 2, 2005

 

 

MEMBER NEWS

 Jantz Lumber Do-it Center celebrated numerous anniversaries at their store on May 6 and 7.  Festivities for the event included prize drawings every half hour and door prizes for every tenth customer purchase. Jantz Lumber Do-it Center is located at 200 West Euclid in McPherson, Kan.  This location has been a lumberyard since 1897.  It was originally Burkholder Lumber Company and was purchased by Lake Superior Lumber, then changing to Harris Lumber.  In 1985, Les and Shirley Jantz purchased the yard, and changed the name to Jantz Lumber.  In 1990, they remodeled and adopted the Do it Center retail design program from its wholesale supplier, Do it Best Corp. 

 Lester Jantz has been in the lumber business for 50 years.  Lester’s wife, Shirley, has been in the lumber business for 37 years. Their son, Tony, has been with Harris/Jantz Lumber for 30 years.  Tony’s wife, Joleen, has been with the Jantz Lumber for 18 years.  As a family, they have 135 years experience. Congratulations to Jantz Lumber on their anniversaries!

 Through the Generations

Experts say only 30 percent of family businesses survive to the second generation, and only 13 percent to the third generation.

 Certainly, economic hardships and poor business practices can lead to a downfall. But many times, profitable companies that seem to be doing everything right will dissolve simply because the owners don’t plan for their own exit. 

It’s easy to put off business and estate planning. Business owners may be stressed for time or they don’t want to think that far ahead while enmeshed in today’s activities and concerns. Retirement may be a distant dream and people don’t want to think about their own demise. But, procrastination and denial may be the biggest mistakes a business owner can make. A risk management program isn’t complete unless it includes business succession and estate planning, and the proper funding to accomplish it.

 Business succession planning really begins with finding the right people to help you grow your business, supporting them with valuable benefits such as insurance and retirement plans, mentoring them and developing their skills, and finally, allowing them to share in its success and the vision for its future as the reins are handed to the next generation.

 Our “family” is eager to help yours through the process of evaluating your needs and developing your business succession plan. We want your family business to grow with ours through the next century. 

Like many of our clients’ businesses, Federated began as a one-man operation, which evolved to become one of the largest in our industry. Three generations of a family led the company through most of its first century. The present chairman “joined” the family more than 35 years ago and today, many employees are second, third or fourth generation employees. We’ve learned the value of proper planning through experience, and our financial protection services reflect this knowledge. More than 200 current employees have celebrated their quarter-century anniversaries with Federated.

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