Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• MIGHTY MINUTE
• QUESTION OF THE DAY
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

Membership Report
(Click here to go to the Membership page)

James Bache (Attorney - Wills & Trusts) has decided to join our group.

Ralph Cunningham knows of an advertising agency that is interested in joining. 

Gus Dekavallas brought in Fred Kent of First Credit Union.  His membership application was emailed earlier this week.  Fred told us that their emphasis had been on consumer lending but they recently began servicing businesses.  They will soon open their main office on South Arizona Avenue, across from San Marcos.  They are currently located at Rural and McClintock. 

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TEAMS
Dean Synan	Greg Stewart	Paul Kavanaugh	Andrew Jensen
Randy Clark Gus Dekavallas Jana Green Joe Hesch Bill LaLonde David Lathrop Keith Miller Roman Okonowski Stuart Schindler Fred Vandervort	Jean Batt George Booth Robert Busch Dave Crissman Don Ellis Bob Dowle John Gruber Chuck Hultstrand Phyllis Prater Carole Weishaar	Patricia Cox Ralph Cunningham Mark Dreher Brad Evans Dennis Johnson Buck Nance Jim Rieder Lisa Schnaidt Brian Verbraken Wayne Unruh	Althea Bussert Dave Coyne Jim Crosman Chris Curran Sandro Menasci Gary Nelson Dave Spiess Bob Uber Mike Whalen Joe Zingale
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE INCENTIVES
NEW MEMBERS
The Initiation Dues of $150 and the usual quarterly (pro-rated) dues of $150 will apply. A New Member can recoup that Initiation Fee by using other MABE member services. The New Member is given up to 6 months to use other MABE member services to recoup  the $150 Initiation Fee.  They can do this any number of times if they like, with a $25 minimum repayment (6 X 25 = 150) OR a single use of service getting ALL of the $150 initiation fee back at one time. A receipt from the service will be required and given to our Treasurer in order to obtain the repayment.  This will keep it simple for any of our MABE businesses to conduct business in the usual way.
NEW MEMBER SPONSOR REWARD
The MABE member who sponsors a new member will be given a one-time use of a $25 credit, that will be good for 6 months.  It can be used to recoup any  service from another MABE member. A receipt from the MABE business is all that will be required and should be given to our Treasurer in order to obtain the credit.  This is your reward for bringing in a new member.
SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS
[membersonly/archives/applications/submitted_applications.htm]

Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)

No report.

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

• 02/20/04     Nomination Speeches
• 02/27/04     Stephan Chilton
• 03/05/04     Guest Speaker
• 03/12/04     Group Discussion
• 03/19/04     Robert Busch

Treasurer Report

No report.

Leads Report

20-47, 20-34, 20-43, 20-17, 17-16, 23-15, 29-28, 18-47, 05-22, 10-22, 47-15, 15-22, 15-06, 15-10, 15-27, 38-45, 22-19, 03-19, 43-02, 43-38, 43-42.

Notable Mentions

Board elections are just around the corner.  Dave Lathrop will be dropping off (but sticking around as past President) along with Carole Weishaar.  Last week the following members were nominated:   Brian Verbraken, Chuck Hultstrand and Mike Tanner.  Today Roman Okonowski, Denver Johnson and Althea Bussert were also added to the list.  Next week we will open the floor to nominations one more time and then have speeches.  We will hold elections the following week.

If you interested in being a part of a golf tournament see Chuck Hultstrand.  If you are interested in a discounted cruise see Carole Weishaar.

The new Buddy Lunch is posted.  Get them scheduled.

We still have plenty of brochures.  Take as many as you need.

MABE shirts are available for purchase in either navy or white.  The cost is $24.65 + tax.

Mighty Minute

Althea Bussert was today's Mighty Minute.  She has two businesses that she runs.  The main business is AB Weaving and Interiors.  She offers full service interior design work for both residential and commercial customers.  Full service includes space planning and colorizing.  She can visualize what can be done to improve a space.  She does her own scale drawings that can be used by the architect or contractor.  She will also determine all materials needed for the project. 

Althea's second company is Saasha, Inc.  This company manufactures temporary window shades.  She has 3 lines (the Sixway Shade, the NuArc Shade and Saasha Lite) and 5 patents.  The internet is their current focus with this business. 

Althea took a moment to thank everyone in the group for their business and support over the years.

Question of the Day

Joe Zingale wants to know...

Has anyone had experience with metal buildings?

Joe's company purchased a lot and they are considering putting up a metal building on it. 

• Stephan Chilton - They are easy to put up.  The concrete base is the most important part.  You also want to properly install the vents and A/C units.

• Paul Kavanaugh - You might run into a problem with insurance.  Also, we do government contracts and they won't work with us if we have metal roofs.

• Don Ellis - They buckle under fire.

• Randy Clark - Steel will expand under extreme temperatures.

Dave Spiess
Select Security Systems, Inc.

Dave is a charter member of MABE.  He appreciates the relationships that he has formed with members throughout the years.  He even stays in close contact with members that have left the group.  As a business owner, you don't have a lot of time to socialize.  This is probably why MABE means so much to those members that choose to get involved.  If you are new, Dave encourages you to join the board, go on the trips and attend the social events.  The bonds you make are long term.  The business rewards you receive are only a small part of what you can get out of this group.

Dave was born and raised in Pennsylvania.  He attended Penn State where he majored in Pub & Pool and minored in engineering.  He checked out before they could kick him out.  But his education didn't end their.  He spent 6-1/2 years in the air force.  This gave him the chance to travel, something he didn't do much of before.  The military took him to California where he lived for a while before moving here.

Dave got into the aerospace business in Southern California supporting military aircraft (what he did while in the service).  They wanted to transfer him to Luke Air Force Base.  He did not want to move to Arizona so he left the company. 

He had a family to support so for his next job he went with the company that offered the most money.  It was a security company.  He did not intend to be in this industry long term.  But in 1978, he and a fellow co-worker left to start their own security company.  They had signed a no-compete with their former employer.  Arizona was booming at the time.  They saw real opportunities so they came out here to open their security company.  As with most partnerships, it didn't go well.  They were both independent and strong willed.  After 2-1/2 years they separated.

Select Security Systems (SSS) started as a residential security company.  They still do some today but over 95% of their business is now commercial.  They do jobs from little store fronts to large corporate facilities.  They provide full service.  They do everything from consultation and design to installation, service and monitoring.  Much of their business comes from referrals.

They have 10 full-time employees including 5 that are on the road.  Four of them are installers and 1 is their service technician.  Running a service department is a thankless job.  Dave avoided having one for as long as he could.  But 7 years ago their customer-base was large enough to demand a full-time service technician.  They try to get most service calls the same day or the next day at the latest.  But, if it is an emergency, they are available 24/7.

Dave also branched out into e-commerce which now represents 10% of their business.  It has been an interesting evolution.  They are now in the process of revamping the site and going from offering 5000 products to over 20,000.

It is a very competitive business.  There are a tremendous amount of consolidations.  SSS has participated in this.  They have purchased 2 or 3 businesses and they are on the hunt to purchase a couple more this year.  This will give them a larger market share and lead to even more referrals if they do a good job.

They do everything from burglary to access control and CCTV.  They monitor medic alarms and hold-ups.  They also do fire alarms systems including sprinklers and flow.  The average fire alarm system is $13,000.  It is a very regulated part of the business.  The hoops you have to go through is amazing.  And it changes from one municipality to another.  Access control and CCTV are becoming a bigger part of their business.  But Dave misses the recurring revenue generated by the security monitoring.

The trends in CCTV are getting very technical.  It is all going IP digital.  They have systems installed at remote locations that they can call up on the computers to monitor activity and control the cameras.  It is amazing how technology changes.  Just when you get up to speed it changes.  Getting employees trained is an almost impossible task.  They don't understand that it increases their value.

The average residential system is $1300.  There are a lot of free offers out there.  They will offer you a system for $199 as long as you sign a 4 or 5 year contract.  These companies have driven SSS out of the market.  Unfortunately, the system you get is one to be ashamed of.  They don't protect all your openings and usually don't include fire safety devices.  You are under-protected.  SSS refuses to do installations like this.  These salesman will take you $199 and turn around and sell your contract to ADT-type companies.  The salesman, your only contact, are then out of the loop.  You are left with no one to service your system (they usually install proprietary equipment) which is most likely leased so it doesn't belong to you anyway. 

A good lead for SSS is anyone moving into a building, moving a business or opening one.