By Ken Roper and Eric Sanderson Now more than ever, contractors are searching for ways to reduce costs and increase profitability. However, you cannot simply cost-cut your way to prosperity. Costs exist for a reason, and you must eliminate the reason or ensure the expenditure creates value for the organization. Reducing costs goes beyond eliminating people - the number one generator of expenses. When you set cost-cutting objectives, consider long-term factors such as your company’s anticipated growth. Set challenging but realistic goals that take into account both your internal and external limitations. Make sure that everyone in your company is involved in identifying ways to reduce costs. Remember that effective cost reduction must be part of a company’s culture. Reducing cost is everyone’s responsibility everyday. Also remember that what you do sets the example for the entire company to follow. You can’t sell these cost cutting strategies and expect buy-in if you don’t serve as a role model. The list that follows is a starting point for you company to begin thinking about reducing costs. Use it to generate other ideas. 1. Review insurance coverage annually and
obtain competitive bids annually. FMI Management Letter June
2002
SMRCA Golf Outing The SMRCA Annual Golf Outing was held on Tuesday, May 21, 2002 at Twin Lakes Golf Club and Black Heath Golf Club. There were approximately 200 golfers. A shot-gun start was utilized at both courses.Upon completion of golf, everyone gathered at Twin Lakes Golf Club where door prizes were distributed and hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and dinner were served. After dinner, prizes were distributed for Closest to Pin, Longest Drive, Low Gross/Low Net and the Pro Pool. The Contractor’s Raffle prizes were also awarded. Fifteen prizes were awarded to “contractors only”. A new “Mystery Raffle” was introduced this year at the SMRCA Golf Outing. All prize monies collected for this raffle were distributed. Prize increments awarded were $20.00, $300.00 and $500.00. Congratulations to all the winners! A special thank you to all prize contributors who made the SMRCA Golf Outing a huge success! All prize contributors are listed below. Schedule of Events June 27-30 — Construction Specifications Institutes CSI Show, Las Vegas, NV Ÿ 703/684-0300July 17-20 — NRCA’s Midyear Meetings, Chicago, IL Ÿ 847/299-9070, Ext. 216 August 8-10 — Michigan Roofing Contractors Association 37th Annual Convention, Crystal Mountain Resort, Thompsonville, MI Ÿ?568/759-2140 September 19-20 — MRCA 53rd Annual MRCA Convention and Trade Show, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Ÿ 800/497-6722 October 3-5 — Arizona Roofing Contractors Association ARCA Convention, Prescott, AZ Ÿ 800/850-1480 The Southeastern Michigan Roofing Contractors Association (SMRCA) Annual Meeting and Reception was held at the Atheneum Hotel located in Detroit, Michigan on Thursday, May 2, 2002. While the cocktail reception was commencing, the RIPF and SMRCA Annual meetings were being held in a private meeting room. All RIPF/SMRCA member contractors were invited to attend the meeting to discuss current issues and to vote for the election of an RIPF Trustee and a SMRCA Board of Director. The 2002 and SMRCA Board of Directors and RIPF Trustees are listed below: SMRCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS President - Jon Kris MilbrandJKM Roofing, Inc. Vice President - George Schena Schena Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Inc. Treasurer - Daniel E. Casey T.F. Beck Company Secretary - Roger LaDuke LaDuke Roofing & Sheet Metal Directors Chuck Rosa Milbrand Roofing Company Cris Davis C. Davis Roofing, Inc. Dan Davis Royal Roofing Company RIPF TRUSTEES President - Daniel E. CaseyT.F. Beck Company Vice President - Roger LaDuke LaDuke Roofing & Sheet Metal Treasurer - Cris Davis C. Davis Roofing, Inc. Secretary - Ted Evans Milbrand Roofing Company Congratulations to you all! WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES FOR CONTRIBUTING PRIZES TOTHE 2002 SMRCA GOLF OUTING:
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL ROOFING TRADE SHOW The Great Lakes Regional Roofing (GLRR) Trade Show took place on Thursday, March 14, 2002 at the Burton Manor in Livonia, Michigan. The show hours were from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We would like to thank all of the GLRR Trade Show exhibitors: ADVANCED Architectural S/M , Inc.ALCO-NVC, Inc. Allied Building Products Corporation Aluminum Supply Co., Inc. Astro Building Products Benson’s Oakland Wholesale, Inc. Bradco Supply Corporation B.R.A.V.E. Enterprises Cargotec, Inc. Certainteed Commercial Rfg. Products Cloverdale Equipment Company Copper Sales, Inc. DeWitt Products Co. Environmental Industrial Services, Inc. Falcon Foam F.J. Moore Mfg. Co. GAF Materials Corporation The Garland Company, Inc. GE Roofing Sys./Polythane Systems Howard Tools, Inc. Hy-Tech Products, Inc. ITW Buildex James Black Sales Johns Manville Kent Underlayment Specialties Koppers Industries, Inc. Louis T. Ollesheimer & Son, Inc. Marshall Ryerson Company Marty Wildfong & Associates, Inc. Michigan State Police Midwest Infrared Services MiRCA Mourer Foster Insurance and Bonds National Ladder & Scaffold Company N. Scott Ballard, Inc. Noble Enterprises North Coast Commercial. Rfg. Sys., Inc. North Country Slate NTH Consultants, LTD. Oakland Metal Sales, Inc. Olympic Manufacturing Performance Roof Systems Portable Pipe Hangers, Inc. Portals Plus, Inc. Precision Demolition Services, Inc. Professional Surety Services, LLC RGM Products/Ridglass Mfg. R.K. Hydro-Vac, Inc. Rizzo Services Roofing Technology Associates, LTD. RyCo Associates Saginaw Bay Underwriters SFS intec, Inc. Siplast/Icopal Roof Systems SMRCA Square Deal Building Supply Tamko Roofing Products Tip-Top Screw Manufacturing, Inc. TK Roofing Products and Marketing Trailer Depot Trailer Trash Rubbish Removal Tremco, Inc. Triangle Design, Inc. Tri-R Products Inc. Trufast Corporation Wimsatt Building Materials, Inc. In addition to the exhibit booths, educational seminars were presented throughout the day. The seminars (listed below) were presented in a professional manner and they were a great draw along with the exhibit booths. Rick BressoNTH Consultants, LTD. “Roof Asset Management” Ray Corbin Johns Manville “BURSI” Seminar Martin Drury & John Thomas Siplast/Icopal Roof Systems “Green Roofs” Jim Markiewicz & Steve Hecht GAF Materials Corporation “Restoration Roofing Option” Tyler Stewart National Ladder & Scaffold Company “Fall Protection” Special thanks to the volunteers who assisted with attendee registration, manning the SMRCA and the MiRCA booths and raffle ticket sales. They are as follows: Stacy FoleyMike Grewette Debbie Morse ALCO-NVC, Inc. Carmen Puhorily Bradco Supply Corporation Heather Yontz Bradco Supply Corporation Michelle Kruse C. Davis Roofing Rick Moreno C. Davis Roofing, Inc. Bob Timko C. Davis Roofing, Inc. Jason Emery LaDuke Roofing & Sheet Metal Doug Stiff Royal Roofing Company Kelly Conway Tremco, Inc. Last, but certainly not least, thank you’s are extended to the GLRR Trade Show Committee: Sue BaumbergerJohns Manville Jason Emery LaDuke Roofing & Sheet Metal Mike Grewette Mike Mass Koppers Industries, Inc. Larry Rowe National Ladder & Scaffold Company Steve Yontz Bradco Supply Corporation On behalf of the SMRCA Board of Directors, Heather, Stacey and myself, thank you to one and all for making the 2002 GLRR Trade Show a success!
Way To Go! Congratulations to Rob Pomaville of Dave Pomaville & Sons, Inc. Rob was named 2002 Coach of the Year at the Michigan Hockey Awards.Rob has been coaching youth hockey for seven years. In this time, Rob has worked as an assistant coach on the peewee and squirt levels and has been head coach on 11 teams. In addition to coaching, Rob teaches at Royal Oak hockey clinics. Our CondolencesWe would like to extend our condolences and deepest sympathies to the following families for their loss: William Fisher Jr. and Robert Fisher (Fisher Roofing Co., Inc.) and their families for the loss of their father, William Fisher. Mike Morss (M.W. Morss Roofing Company) and his family for the loss of Mike’s mother, Eva Morss. Congratulations! Congratulations go out to the following couples on their recent engagements! Heather Hentges (SMRCA Office) and Chris Hadley. They are planning a summer wedding for June 2002! Anthony Schena (Schena Roofing and Sheet Metal Co., Inc.) and Kristy Piana. They are planning a fall wedding for October 2002! Also, congratulations to Barb and Keith Lauzon who were married in Jamaica on May 10, 2002. Barb works as an administrative assistant at T.F. Beck Company and Keith is a foreman at Laduke Roofing & Sheet Metal.Happy Anniversary Stacey (SMRCA) and Jeff WrightJune 29 Teresa (DRIS) and Jeff Sutton July 14 Happy Birthday! Belated birthday wishes go out to:
Siplast/ Icopal Roof Systems April 26 Jim Markiewicz GAF Materials Corporation April 29 Karen Colver SMRCA May 2 Mark Stasa Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC May 7 Jody Smith Bradco Supply Corporation May 15 Teresa Sutton DRIS June 17 Chris Jacobi DRIS June 18 A happy birthday wish to…. Bart ColthurstDRIS July 2 Marie Schena Schena Rfg. and Sheet Metal Co., Inc. July 31 New Arrival Congratulations to Mary Granzka (C. Davis Roofing, Inc.) and her husband Dennis. They are the proud grandparents of Kate Glugokenski. Kate was born to parents Janet and Paul Glugokenski on March 19, 2002. Get Well Wishes Recently, Mervin E. Smith “Smitty”, Executive Secretary for the SMRCA from 1968—1988, suffered from a severe heart attack. Smitty was hospitalized for ten days. He is back at home now getting all the necessary help he needs. The doctor’s have told him that he should be out playing golf again in about four weeks. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery! Kids On The Go! Kristy Piana (Anthony Schena’s fiancé) initiated the KIDS ON THE GO PROGRAM in 1997. This is a six week program that offers speech, occupational and physical therapy to children ages three to six during the summer because most insurances do not provide for kids when the school year ends. To become a sponsor of the KIDS ON THE GO program, please call the MCG Foundation at (586) 741-4010.Have a Great Summer! As we approach the Fourth of July holiday, please keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers.
NRAC's May "10@10" Ergonomics Returns: After the Department of Labor (DOL) announced its new ergonomics initiative on April 5, Senate Democrats responded on April 18 with a plan of their own. The DOL, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), unveiled a comprehensive plan designed to reduce ergonomic injuries through a combination of industry-targeted guidelines, enforcement measures, workplace outreach, and an aggressive research. But Democrats said the plan didn't go far enough, and Senator John Breaux (D-LA) introduced a bill that would force the DOL to develop mandatory workplace rules. The bill is certain to be opposed by the White House and a wide spectrum of industry. In the meantime, NRCA’s Washington staff has already begun working with officials from OSHA to discuss the industry-specific guidelines as they might relate to the roofing industry. Death Tax Vote: After strong pressure from Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) to force a vote on permanently repealing the death tax, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) backtracked on his “over my dead body” stance and agreed to Republican demands for a vote by June 28. The agreement came on the heels of an April 18 House vote to make permanent the tax cut provisions signed into law last year by President Bush. The Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2001 phased out the death tax over 10 years, but in order to comply with budget reconciliation rules, a provision that sunsets (repeals) the tax cuts at the end of 2010 was included at the last minute. Unless the sunset is revoked, tax rates will return to full force in 2011. Already, the sunset provision has injected a new level of uncertainty into the tax code and is wreaking havoc with tax planning for both individuals and businesses. NRCA has been working aggressively the past year to insure another vote takes place, as we believe it’s time for Congress to finish the business it began last year and to offer Americans a tax code on which they can rely. Energy Legislation: After months of debate and postponements, the Senate has produced an energy package that originally promised much, but now looks likely to deliver few solutions. The bill now goes to a conference committee in order to reconcile its provisions with those in a bill passed by the House last August. That conference is likely to be an affair of mayhem given the broad disparity between the two bills, but in a nutshell, the House-passed bill leans toward production while the Senate version emphasizes conservation. Contentious issues in the conference will likely center on issues such as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to limited exploration of new domestic oil and gas reserves. Last August, the House passed H.R. 4, the Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) Act of 2001, to ensure that the U.S. has adequate and affordable energy supplies in the coming years. NRCA actively supported H.R. 4 and will be contacting members of the conference committee to urge final inclusion of provisions benefiting the roofing industry, such as energy efficiency tax incentives. Immigration: This past Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a piece of legislation designed to seal the nation’s borders against future terrorist threats. The legislation would require tighter monitoring of foreign students, tamper-proof travel documents and the creation of a sophisticated computer database for screening visa applications. This is good news for NRCA because the move clears the path for Congress and the administration to resume work on a “guest worker” program to facilitate legitimate immigration from Mexico to ease the worker shortage here in the U.S. Terrorism Insurance: Senate efforts to vote on legislation that would provide a federal backstop for property and casualty insurers in the event of another major terrorist attack has hit a snag. Since September 11, a significant and growing number of businesses are finding that they have to choose between operating without terrorism coverage or paying exorbitant prices to secure such coverage because most reinsurers have stopped pricing terrorism insurance, spurring insurance companies to drop the coverage. As a result, many real estate transactions and development projects are being delayed because investors are freezing capital investments in high profile or “trophy” properties. In fact, President Bush noted last month that the lack of coverage is blocking construction projects across the country, and he urged the Senate to pass the Terrorism Risk Protection Act, which the House passed last November. The legislation enjoys broad support in the Senate, but there’s just one hitch—some senators object that the bill doesn’t outlaw punitive damage awards for terror victims. The objection is strong enough that unless language is included in the bill to limit such damages, it’s unlikely any bill will come out of the Senate this year.
Upcoming Seminars RIEI Seminars The RIEI provides educational seminars that include cities from coast to coast. RIEI addresses a wide variety of seminar topics which are of interest to roofing contractors, consultants, specifiers, plant engineers, and anyone else with a professional interest in roofing design, construction and maintenance. NRCA’s Education Department and RIEI have been combined into NRCA’s new Education Resource Group and will offer new programs this fall. The programs will feature updated versions of popular RIEI and NRCA courses, such as RIEI’s Roofing Technology course and NRCA’s for Foremen Only program. At this time this is the only scheduled seminar. Roofing Technology August 13 - 16 Denver, CO This is a necessary course for anyone who has roofing responsibilities. Discover the advantages and disadvantages of commercial low-slope systems, including new or changing products or application techniques. Learn to evaluate different systems to determine which best meets your roofing needs. For further information feel free to visit the RIEI website at: www.nrca.net/riei/seminars International Code Seminars From BOCA Overview of the 2000 International Building CodeJuly 30 Springfield , IL Introductory code enforcement seminar provides an overview of the critical elements of the 2000 International Building Code. You will learn to identify code requirements, locate and utilize tables, apply basic code requirements to plan review and inspection, and identify compliant and noncompliant building components based on the 2000 IBC. Seminar Code: 290 To register: fax (708) 799-2651. www.bocai.org/training.asp SkillPath® Seminars Excelling as a Highly Effective TEAM LEADER July 15 -16 Troy, MI Managers, supervisors and team leaders will all benefit from this comprehensive two-day workshop on the essentials of leading teams to peak performance. The Conference on OSHA Compliance 2002 July 22 Toledo, OH One information packed day on what every business—large and small—must know now to meet new OSHA regulations and avoid the growing number of inspections, citations, fines, Workers’ Comp claims and workplace related lawsuits. Fundamentals of Personnel Law for Managers and Supervisors September 17 Lansing, MI Are you aware of the legal issues that affect your everyday management of employees? You’ll learn… How to hire and supervise workers with disabilities...How to conduct legally sound performance appraisals... How to terminate without inviting a lawsuit... How to lawfully interview and select job applicants... The legal do’s and don’ts to keep in mind as you enforce your company’s dress code... An overview of EEOC guidelines for testing employees without invading their privacy rights. How to Design Attention-Grabbing Brochures, Catalogs, Ads, Newsletters and Reports August 19 Farmington Hills, MI Learn how to creatively combine text and graphics in a way that powerfully communicates your message. You’ll learn about typefaces and type sizes, appropriate use of color, how to personalize your message with illustrations and photographs, when to use bullets, boxes, callouts and screens to add emphasis. You will also learn how to choose the best equipment and resources to get the job done. To enroll: Call toll free 1-800-873-7545 www.skillpath.com |
