Coronavirus, Events and Industry News
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NRHA Announces 2020 Top Guns Award Honorees
For 13 years, the
North American Retail Hardware Association
(NRHA) has recognized retailers who are leading their operations in innovative ways through the Top Guns Awards. Whether they are focused on fine-tuning the customer experience, exploring new business endeavors or making the independent industry a career path of choice, each year sees a new group of retailers who are committed to making their operations and the industry better than they found it.
Top Guns are continually dedicated to being ahead of the curve, using the inherent agility of independent retail to the ultimate advantage.
Mid-America Lumbermens is proud to say that our member, Star Lumber, made the list!
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Sales Soar for Retail LBM Businesses
By Mike Lindblom
The U.S. economy suffered its worst period ever in the second quarter, with GDP falling an unprecedented 32.9%. Neither the Great Depression nor the Great Recession nor any other slump over the past two centuries have ever caused such a sharp drain on the economy. This contraction last quarter was driven by a deep pullback in consumer spending, which accounts for about 70% of all economic activity. I want to credit both CNBC and Fox Business for these sobering numbers. There is no doubt that COVID-19 has caused significant financial loss to many industries. How would you like to be responsible for filling a cruise ship or a hotel right now? I know that I would not.
The LBM industry is not immune to the impact of this pandemic, either. Supply issues, along with significant price increases, are causing a lot of stress right now. These supply issues are caused by strong demand. The “essential” designation was a huge win for our industry. Not only did this help mitigate financial loss, it caused a boom in our industry. I am hearing reports of record sales figures from many of our members. The work that regional associations like ours, along with our National Association (NLBMDA), is more important now than it has ever been, and we will continue to work diligently to support our industry.
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NLBMDA: Senate HEALS Act contains LBM industry priorities
Key priorities included in the HEALS Act introduced in the Senate this week include liability protections, expanded PPP eligibility, business tax provisions and reduced unemployment benefits, among others items championed by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA).
Senate Republicans released a package of bills that will serve as their “Phase 4” COVID-relief legislation. NLBMDA shared with its members key aspects of the proposed legislation that are beneficial to the industry.
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MLA Offers New Services: OSHA Manual and Bankcard
OSHA
Mid-America Lumbermens Association provides an OSHA Manual that is customizable for your business. Info is updated through June 2019. It includes:
- General Safety Programs
- Forklift Safety Program
- Hazardous Energy Control Program
- Hazard Communication Program
- Emergency Plans
- PPE Plans
- And More!
Bankcard Processing
Mid-America Lumbermens Association provides members with competitive credit card processing services.
Through a partnership with the Minnesota Retail Hardware Association, MLA leverages the combined purchasing power of its members, along with the members of fellow industry partners, to keep rates low. Process your Visa, MasterCard and Discover transactions with no application fees, monthly minimum fees or inactivity fees.
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Please Welcome New MLA Members!
MLA would like to thank all the members who have renewed their membership for 2020. We are pleased to welcome the following new members to the association:
Hull Lumber- Weston, Missouri
Miami Lumber- Paola, Kansas
Midwest Lumber- Locations in Butler, Harrisonville, and Urich, Missouri
Please join us in welcoming these members to MLA! We hope to see new faces at upcoming events!
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Federated Insurance: Risk Management Corner
Cybersecurity and Small Business
It’s nearly impossible these days for businesses to operate without the help of Internet-connected devices, which exposes them to cybercrime. It’s the small- to medium-sized businesses that are especially vulnerable: half are victims of cybercrime and nearly two-thirds of those victims go out of business.
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Hackers increasingly target small businesses because there is a low risk they will be caught and a high probability they will be successful.
Maintaining personally identifiable information (PII) on a computer connected to the Internet creates a nearly unavoidable risk. More than likely, names, addresses, and employment information are stored. If PII is acquired by someone without the authority to do so, that may result in a data breach.
Banking, credit, and vendor account information is also vulnerable. Even if that valuable information is not stored on an Internet-connected computer, employees who have access to it can be duped into handing it over to criminals.
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Firekeeper Golf Course Mayetta, KS
Holiday Shores Osage Beach, MO
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