Table of Contents

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

Committee Reports

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

Catherine Streiner
The Corporate Pen
Sponsoring Member: Ralph Cunningham
Part 1 of Application: Completed
Visited Group: 
Part 2 of Application:  
Status: IN PROGRESS

Is there something we can do as a group to stimulate you to find new members? 

• Because of how invaluable he sees the group, Roman Okonowski feels that he is doing business colleagues a disservice if he doesn't approach them about MABE. 

• Some members feel that the initiation fee scares away many possible candidates.

• Others feel it is important to have.  They look at the initiation fee as an investment in something of valuable and reduces the "revolving door" activity.

• It was suggested that we talk to the newest members about their thoughts on the membership process.

• One newer member admitted that the fee on top of the quarterly dues came at a bad time but felt that it was well worth the money.

• The board will review the initiation fee policy and consider options such as reimbursing the fee in the form of MABE bucks after one year of membership.

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

The group that went to the D-Spur Ranch last weekend had a great time.  It was unfortunate that more members couldn't attend. 

The holiday party is on December 3rd.  Information was sent out in the mail.  If you did not get your invitation, please contact Althea Bussert.   Althea needs to know how many people will be attending so please mail your RSVP and payments in ASAP.  Some people have asked about dress.  Dress is optional.  Just kidding.  Casual or cocktail dress...whatever you wish.

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

• 11/05/04     Carol Weishaar
• 11/12/04     Phyllis Prater
• 11/19/04     Gus Dekavallas
• 11/26/04     No Meeting
• 12/03/04     Chris Curran
• 12/10/04     Andy Jensen
• 12/17/04     Roman Okonowski
• 12/24/04     No Meeting
• 12/31/04     No Meeting

Treasurer Report

Our year-end is October 31st. After all the statements are in and the checks are cleared we will prepare year-end financial statements for members to review.

Leads Report

46-28, 12-13, 12-18, 18-02, 18-21, 18-10, 45-13, 21-33 (x2), 21-13, 21-36, 35-13, 03-41, 43-31, 40-19, 40-35, 02-41.

Notable Mentions

Congratulations to David Lathrop and his new bride!

Good news...Andy Jensen is doing well and should be back next week.

Gary Nelson has finally and officially relocated.  Now if he can just remember where...

Brochures are printed and now in assembly.  They will be available next Friday.

Do your buddy lunches...That's an order!

The board is going to divide members up into sub-committees to help better serve the group and individual members.  We already have a membership chair (Roman Okonowski) and social chair (Althea Bussert).  Jana Greene volunteered to chair a sunshine committee to keep track of event requiring special attention such as illness, death in the family, etc.   Mike Whalen expressed interest in forming a committee focused on attendance.  If there is a particular committee you would like to be on or see formed, please contact Dave Spiess.

Question of the Day

How many of you have prepared for or thought about leadership of your company in your absence?

Roman Okonowski - Both my son and spouse are actively involved in the business.  We have had several conversations about transition plans.  We have involved professional counselors (lawyer, accountant, investment planner).  These events can be a time of great emotion and you need the help of the objective outsider.

Mark Dreher - I have 2 partners and a 3rd on the way.  Our firm has been in transition.  It used to be that the owners did the majority of the work.  We are delegating more of the work load and spending more of our time managing and taking care of the clients.  We are growing fairly quickly.  As the youngest partner, I feel like I am carrying most of the burden.  Some businesses put all their eggs in one basket and others sell.   Sometimes it is not the optimal time to sell or you might bring up people that don't want to run the business.   It is risky either way. 

Greg Stewart - You don't really expect anything to happen.  We think we will go on forever.  I have no family in my business.  It is something I need to address with my franchise.

Gus Dekavallas - We put together a lot of plans for businesses like the "golden handcuffs".  Every situation is different but you need some kind of plan in place.

Bill LaLonde - My two sons are part owners.  We have a plan in place to buy the spouse out if something happens to one of them.

Althea Bussert
AB Weaving Interiors

Althea Bussert was born in small town in Iowa.  Both her parents came from big families so she had cousins all over the place.  And all of them lived close by so she had a great time growing up.  Iowa is a nice place to be from and to visit.

Althea went to college in Minnesota where she got her undergraduate in art education and three-dimensional art.  After  school, she taught a year at two local elementary schools.

She met her husband at a wedding.  He had flown out from Arizona to be best man.  She went to Arizona to visit him and ended up staying 6 weeks.  Just a few weeks later they married.  They have been together 34 years.

They have one daughter, Kayla.  Althea is very proud of her.  She got a dual degree at UofA in middle eastern studies and library science.  She and her husband live in Cairo, Egypt and will probably be there another year.  The university pays for most everything including their car and driver, apartment, housekeeper and cook.  Their only expense is food.  They have holidays all the time!  They get days off for Egyptian holidays, Christian holidays, Muslim holidays, etc.  This gives them lots of time to travel to places like Turkey.  Needless to say, the love it there.

After getting married, Althea moved to Arizona and began teaching at a junior high school in Mesa.  When she had Kayla, she quit so she could stay home and raise her daughter.  But Althea still wanted to be involved.  She got a monstrous floor loom and began building her own tapestries.  Before long she was getting paid commission for her tapestries.  The problem was that it could take up to a year to complete a large one.  She could never recoup her time invested.

While doing the tapestries, clients would ask Althea'design-related questions.  This led to her career in Interior Design.  She began working for a couple of firms doing model homes.  It was not fun.  She decided to venture out on her own.

Althea started her own interior design business called AB Weaving Interiors.  Besides her investment in MABE, she has never done any advertising and probably never will.  MABE has been wonderful.  She likes to get business from referrals.  It is nice to work with people that are already familiar with your work.

Another business venture that Althea started is SAASHA, Inc.  She designed and manufactures her own temporary window shades.  She did this to fill a void in the market for new homeowners that couldn't afford nice permanent window coverings and yet needed something to keep the light out and give them privacy.  Her designs are patented and easy to install.  You can learn more about her shades at her website www.sixway.com.

Althea used the end of her speech today to educate the group on wood flooring.  Wood floors have been around for centuries.  Back in the 50's when broad loom carpeting was made more affordable, people started installing wall-to-wall carpeting over their nice wood floors.  But wood floors are making a comeback.

People out here are still afraid of wood floors because they go right on top of cement instead of over a basement.  They worry about water leaks and the expense of repairs.  But engineering of wood floors has come a long way and clients now have more options.

There are many choices available to suit individual needs whether you are looking to warm up a room or something with more durability.  Today's choices include solid wood floors, glued down wood floors and floating wood floors.   You also have choices of textures (clean or distressed), colors, woods, etc. 

It is highly recommended that you carefully choose your supplier/installer.  You want somebody local (vs. a national chain that will not be familiar with our climate) and that does only wood floors.  Established businesses will know how to properly install the floors to accommodate the increase height and install it in such a way that allows the wood to breathe. 

Of course, your best bet is to call Althea and let her take care of everything.

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