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Meeting
Minutes:
Friday, September 30, 2005
Volume 12; Issue
32
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Table of Contents
Committee Reports
Membership
Report
(Click here
to go to the Membership page)
Lisa Wolfe is working with current members
to determine if there are any conflicts with the two membership
proposals that she submitted this week.
Pat Cox has resigned from MABE. The
property management category is open.
Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)
No report.
Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)
Main Speaker
Treasurer Report
Mark Dreher put together a budget for the
2006 year. The budget took into account known increases in
expenses. With the increase in membership and the typical
pattern of attendance, we are able to meet the budget without
having to incur a dues increase.
Leads Report
20-45, 20-28, 44-40, 44-15, 44-45, 23-42,
18-46, 29-06, 49-02, 07-23, 07-17, 45-19, 45-13, 15-53, 52-21,
52-03, 03-34, 03-13, 03-10, 03-23, 31-23, 43-21, 19-31, 48-30,
48-46, 09-23.
This week's
leads focus...
Notable Mentions
The deadline for donation checks has been
extended to Tuesday, October 4th.
Mark Dreher is collecting the
checks.
Jana Greene reminded members that it is
not too early to turn in your orders for business gifts.
Carole Weishaar handed out brochures that
help explain a little bit more about the travel services she
provides.
Are you a weekend warrior wannabee?
Or maybe you would you like a little more information about the
latest nutritional fad. Give Keith Miller a call.
If you would like your carpets cleaned
before the holidays, call Randy Clark to book it now.
Sandro Menasci offered a few gas saving
tips. Change your oil on schedule. Arizona is
considered a severe condition area so he recommends every 3000
miles vs. the 5000 miles your manual probably states. Also
make sure your tire pressure is good. Finally, change your
oxygen sensor if needed. Another member recalled a study
that said you could save 20% on your gas mileage if you simply
avoid jack rabbit starts. Using cruise control is highly
recommended and will save you 10% on your gas mileage. As
for running the air conditioning, they saw a minimal difference
to so keep it cool!
Business Spotlight
Denver Johnson was today's
Business Spotlight. He began by thanking members for all
of their business. The work is greatly appreciated.
As many of you know, Dennis started this business right out of
high school with just a chainsaw and a pickup truck. He
has worked in California, Florida and now in Arizona going on 10
years. He started doing tree removal and trimming.
Their business has migrated into the big trees that your
gardener can't usually handle. They have invested in
larger equipment and trucks with buckets to handle the new work.
They have picked up several commercial clients which evens out
their workload throughout the year. Now that it is
cooling down, you should consider having your trees properly
trimmed as their is reduced risk of exposure this time of year.
If you have any questions about your trees, Denver would be
happy to answer them.
Main Speaker
Open
Discussion
Is your business
affected by the shortage of qualified labor?
Joe Zingale has had a very
hard time finding and keeping employees. They have had to
increase pay to keep people even though the level of work is not
there. They have even placed ads in the LA Times to try to
recruit labor. Is anyone else having this problem?
Greg Stewart had a competitor
call and ask if they had trouble finding framers.
Greg blames the problem on the Y-Generation. They are very
particular and don't tend to stay long. They don't have
the same work ethics as prior generations. They were not
molded by hard times. It used to be that 1 or 2 qualified
applicants would walk in the door each month. Now he is
lucky if he gets 1 or 2 in a year!
Steve Chilton has seen a
problem with poachers trying to steal employees from job sites.
Trades are going by the wayside. Nobody is trained
anymore.
Lisa Wolfe is seeing this
problem as her house gets built. They don't respect each
other's work.
Bob Busch mentioned that some
people have better luck hiring older people that rejoin the
workforce. They tend to be more reliable.
Phil Passante is looking at
ways to subsidize the training that he provides. As it is
now, he trains someone for a year and then they leave to go work
for the competition because they are worth more.
Steve Chilton remembers
signing a legal document when he entered an apprenticeship
program. You had to stay with the company that trained
you.
Dave Spiess talked about
companies that tried offering trucks and tools to "jobbers" and
paid them as independent contractors. This backfired and
now their is no pool to pull from anymore. He has good
employees in his company but he is frustrated to see that they
don't invest in themselves and their future. He offers
programs like tuition reimbursement but nobody takes him up on
it.
During his travels abroad,
Keith Miller noticed that other countries would advertise
outside their borders and offer to relocate people, which
included supplying housing. Businesses could go to depressed
areas where there is an available workforce and offer to
relocate people.
Steve Chilton pointed out
that the lack of ethics is not the fault of the children.
They were brought up by parents that did not want their kids to
suffer or go without like they had to. They wanted only
the best for their kids. If anyone is to blame it is the parents.
Mike Whalen first got
interested in his trade while taking shop in high school.
They don't even offer it anymore. It is all about computer
courses. Kids don't learn to enjoy the trades.
George Booth talked about how
the guest services industry in Wisconsin uses a recruiting
company to bring in foreign labor.
Carole Weishaar pointed out
that this could be hindered by the government. They are
trying to cut back on work visas for security reasons - maybe as
much as 50%. It is affecting her clients too.
Joe Zingale heard that
they are considering going to a new social security card that
cannot be duplicated. They are also going after the
employers that hire illegal workers (whether knowingly or not)
and hitting them with huge fines.
Mike Tanner has seen a new
approach to recruiting or poaching, depending on how you look at
it. People see an employee that appears to have good work
ethics (a waitress at a restaurant, for example) and gives them
a business card that has a notice on back that they are always
looking for good people. If the person comes in to
interview, they may not have a position at the time but they put
their name on a list and they now have a good work pool to pull
from.
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