MLA Lumber Industry News Express
|
|
Here's the new issue of the Mid-America Lumbermens Association online newsletter. We'll send a new issue every two weeks to let you know what's happening in the industry, at your MLA, and in the world that affects your business. We welcome your opinions and ideas. If you have information you'd like to share with other members, we'd be happy to include it in our next issue. We welcome both personal and industry-related news - members would love to hear your news and views - so don't hesitate to email us with information.
|
|
Need Advanced Estimating Training?
|
MLA will conduct an Advanced Estimating Workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 11-12, in Moberly, Missouri, at Mid-Am Building Supply. In today’s highly competitive market, the success of a material supplier relies heavily on the ability to generate quick and accurate estimates. The ability to estimate the material costs of a project is an essential skill for those in the lumber business.
This class emphasizes the advanced skills needed in estimating material costs. Whether estimates are being generated by hand or by computer, there are basic principles that must be understood to produce a quality take-off. The basic math of quantity take-off methods dealing with length, area and volume and the basic business math of calculating the costs for material profit margin, add-ons, and discounts are some of these essential basics.
Click here for complete information
.
|
|
Lumber Price Hikes Will Stick
Housing expert Ivy Zelman tells NLBMDA confab that builders ‘have no choice’ but to accept increased costs. … Zelman said at another point that inventory issues are a big problem for dealers. There’s a lower-than-normal supply of homes available for sale today. “There are plenty who will balk, but they have to take your prices,” she said
.
Read more
.
Source: Craig Webb, ProSales Magazine, October 30, 2017
|
|
Have You Checked Out the MLA Online Campus?
The MLA Online Campus provides you and your employees with high-impact, "real-world" training that develops your leaders, retains your best people and increases your customer loyalty. Each employee has a unique username to access the campus, which houses more than 700 courses on customer service, sales, leadership and more. Want to try a program for yourself?
Click here
to view an example. If you like what you see, contact us for a one-week trial subscription to see the hundreds of available courses.
Learn more
.
|
|
Time to Consider the MLA MEP
|
MLA has offered a “group” MLA 401(k) plan for members for more than two years. It is saving participating dealers on their fees and offering a great benefit to reward their loyal employees. If you haven’t taken a serious look at this program, now would be a good time. Find out why smart dealers are making the move to the MLA program. Call the MLA Hotline at 800-747-6529, or
click here to learn more
.
|
|
|
Lumber News
NAHB Opposes Republican Tax Plan…
The National Association of Home Builders announced its opposition to the tax plan written up by Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee. A statement from the National Association of Home Builders’ Granger MacDonald, the group’s chairman and homebuilder from Kerrville, Texas, expressed disappointment in the absence of a meaningful home ownership tax credit in the proposal.
Read more
.
Source: HBS Dealer, October 30, 2017
Source: HBS Dealer, October 17, 2017
Lowe’s to sell Craftsman tools…
Craftsman, the tool brand that for generations has been associated with Sears, will hit the shelves of Lowe’s in the second half of 2018. The roll out of Craftsman with Lowe's in the home center channel was announced Tuesday morning during the Stanley Black and Decker third quarter earnings call.
Read more
.
Source: HBS Dealer, October 24, 2017
|
|
Don’t Let Your Business Go Up in Smoke
Fires that hit businesses come in all sizes. They can occur anytime, anywhere, and from a variety of causes. They don’t discriminate. Spontaneous combustion, heating and electrical systems, smoking, poor housekeeping, the storage of flammables, and mechanical equipment failure continue to be the most frequent fire causes across all industries, and are often the result of missed opportunities to recognize and remove the hazard.
Read more
.
This service provided courtesy of Federated Mutual Insurance Company, your association’s recommended insurer.
|
|
The Last Word
(in honor of the World Series)
“Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.”
- Yogi Berra
|
|
Mid-America Lumbermens Association | 800-747-6529 | 816-561-1249 (fax)| ruhler@themla.com |
Website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
