Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

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

No report.

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

Red Kangaroo Wines will host a MABE social on August 13th.  The cost will be $50 per person.  Space is limited.  Please signup.

Dave Spiess is working on a group trip to Los Angeles to view the King Tut exhibit.  He passed around a sheet today asking for feedback on preferred dates, pricing for accommodations, and ideas on other places to visit on the trip.

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

Main Speaker

• 08/05/05     Paul Kavanaugh
• 08/12/05     Phil Passante
• 08/19/05     Gus Dekavallas
• 08/26/05     Fred Vandervort

Spotlight Speaker

• 08/05/05     Lisa Wolfe
• 08/12/05     Mike Tanner
• 08/19/05     Nick Mawrenko
• 08/26/05     Joe Hesch

Treasurer Report

We have a two members that still owe quarterly dues. 

Leads Report

46-36, 16-28, 16-26, 16-24, 35-40, 20-34, 20-43, 20-15, 37-21, 37-15, 37-32, 17-32, 26-13, 26-25, 15-34, 21-13, 06-03, 34-47, 34-15, 31-17, 31-21, 14-31, 40-06, 19-45.

This week's leads focus...

• Mark Howard
• Charles Hultstrand
• Andrew Jensen

Business Spotlight

Jim Crosman was today's Spotlight.  He reminded us that when it rains, it pours!  He, along with a half dozen other pest control providers, were given notice that they were no longer certified to spray and that they would have to retest to get their certification back.  The licensing department made a change in the system which obviously caused a lot of confusion.  So until Jim gets his certification back he can only go out if he is accompanied by a certified sprayer.  To add insult to injury, his oldest employee informed him that he was leaving at the end of the month so Jim has to find a replacement and the candidates so far have not been promising!  If that wasn't enough to ruin one's mood, the transmission went out in his best truck.  Ugh!!!

Notable Mentions

We will print new brochures within the next 60 days.  Please make sure to submit any updates to Stuart Schindler. 

The board elections process will begin next week with nominations.  Althea Bussert and Roman Okonowski will be leaving the board and we are looking for two members to fill their spots.  You must have been a member in good standing for at least 12 months to be nominated.

• Nominations will be held on August 5th. 
• Speeches will be given on August 12th. 
• Elections will be held on August 19th. 
• The new board and president will take over September 9th.

Someone commented that the greeter's have not been at the doors lately.  The greeter list is posted on the website and on the weekly email reminder.  If you are scheduled to greet, please show up bright and early that morning with a smile on your face!

Question...
Dave Spiess was curious to know what people defined as "politically correct" and how it affects their business.  He personally feels like people can't be honest anymore because what they say may be politically incorrect.  He finds that it interferes with business meetings and inhibits the hiring process when checking on referrals.

Jana Greene believes the limited amount of information you get when calling on referrals has more to do with fears of liability than with being politically correct.

Don Ellis believes he benefits from being a member of the restaurant association.  He has made friends there and knows that he can get an honest referral from most of them.

Sandro Menasci says that you can tell a lot just in what the previous employer does NOT say and also how they say things.  Even a pause says a lot.

Jim Bache mentioned that limited referrals do not fall under the category of being politically correct.  Being politically correct means avoiding comments and attitudes that can be offensive to others.  Some believe you can't get in trouble for what you say when giving a referral if you are telling the truth.  You won't get in trouble for defamation of character but you could get in trouble for interfering with this person's ability to get work.  Be careful.

Chris Curran asks applicants what their past employer will say about them if he calls for a reference.  You find out quite a bit this way.

Barbara Kollman
Kollman & Associates, LTD

Barbara Kollman described herself as the "mystery person" in the group.  That is because no one really understands what she does.  But before explaining it to us, she gave us a brief bio.

She was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio.  She grew up in a strong, close nit Polish family.  Barbara was the only on of her relatives to leave Ohio.  She and her husband of 32 years decided to move out here after a bad winter and the fact that the economy was so bad in Toledo.  They have been in Arizona 22 years and don't regret the move one bit.

Arizona provided a great opportunity for Barbara's career development.  We talked about being politically correct earlier in the meeting.  Being Polish and a female in business, Barbara has dealt quite a bit with this.  She stripped all bad words out of her vocabulary 5 years ago so that she would be more politically correct.  At times she feels like she is walking on eggs not to offend someone.

Barbara is an actuary specializing in pension plan work.  She is proud of the fact that she was able to become an actuary without finishing college.  You must pass a series of difficult exams and there have been only 10,000 enrolled actuaries in this country covering a span of 30 years.

So what is an actuary?  An actuary is an accountant without a personality!  They tend to be a dry group of people.  They are usually not good communicators.  But Barbara has been doing this for about 30 years and she still loves it.

An actuary makes a living manipulating numbers.  Barbara's goal is to maximize the value of retirement plans for her small business clients.  She offers no investment advice.  But she does make sure that any plan you are set up on is legally compliant and benefits you when it comes to your taxes.  In this regard, she is sort of a cross between and accountant and a lawyer.

She brought in several examples of retirement plans and how she can manipulate them to stretch your retirement dollars.  There are many ways she can structure a plan to meet your individual needs and business scenarios.  In many cases you can give money to your employees rather than the government and actually save money doing so.  She also structures plans in a way that you have control through annual amendments. 

To sum it up, she can manipulate numbers in such a way as to produce fabulous results.  Give her a call and see what she can do for you.   

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