Table of Contents

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

No report.

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

Main Speaker

• 02/10/06     Andy Jensen
• 02/17/06     Lisa Wolfe
• 02/24/06     Phyllis Prater
• 03/03/06     Denver Johnson
• 03/10/06     Sandro Menasci
• 03/17/06     Bob Busch
• 03/24/06     Roman Okonowski

Spotlight Speaker

• 02/10/06     Chris Curran
• 02/17/06     Nick Mawrenko

We need spotlights!  Take 5 minutes to promote your business!

Treasurer Report

We are still in business :)

Leads Report

54-33, 54-24, 23-17, 18-13, 26-04, 10-26, 15-40, 15-19, 21-34, 21-28, 04-48, 04-32, 04-14, 04-23, 14-23, 43-31, 25-38, 25-10, 48-34.

This week's leads focus...

• Bob Uber
• Wayne Unruh
• Fred Vandervort

Notable Mentions

Carole Weishaar - Passports! Passports! Passports! Get 'em!!!!

Jana Greene reminded members to get their Valentine's Day orders in before the rush.

Amy Ahrensdorf is still a local television celebrity.  You can catch her 5 minute cooking segment every Saturday morning at 11:30 on Channel 3.

Brian Verbraken is forming a by-laws committee.  This committee will be responsible for reviewing and recommending updates to the current by-laws.

Mark Dreher was presented with a plaque in honor of his service as president of MABE.

Althea Bussert thanked members for their recent kindness and also let us know that the people of Egypt love and miss their American visitors.

Board elections schedule...

February 3 & 10 - Nominations
February 17 - Speeches
February 24 - Elections

Today Mike Tanner and Barbara Kollman were nominated.  Nominations will be open again next Friday.

Business Spotlight 

Mark Grant was today's spotlight.  Mark is in the process of a divorce and dissolving his business partnership.  They are currently at the valuation stage.  Mark's intention is to keep his business running.  But, depending on how things proceed, he may need to close business and start a new one.  It is mind-boggling to say the least.  He would appreciate any input or advice members may have to offer. 

Wayne Unruh
Inside Jobs

Wayne Unruh was today's main speaker.  He was born and raised in a small Kansas town - - A great place to be from...far from :)  After high school, Wayne did one year at a local college.  He left to join the Air Force.  He was in the military four years and became an electronic specialist working on nuclear missiles.  After getting out, he went back to college where he earned an electrical engineering degree from KSU.  He interviewed for positions all over the country but settled on a position with Motorola.  He moved here in 1973 and has never regretted it.  He loves it here.

Wayne worked seven years in the electronic business.  He didn't like the corporate world so he quit in the 1980's.  He decided to try real estate.  Unfortunately, with high interest rates, it was the worst time to get into this industry.  He also went through a divorce during this period. 

Wayne's new wife wanted to be an interior decorator.  This led into doing wallpaper and then interior remodeling work.  Wayne got his residential contractors license in 1992.  In 2001, Wayne bought the Kitchen Solvers franchise.  This gave him another income source to help through slow periods.  Now Wayne is starting to focus on the cabinetry and refacing work vs. doing the larger remodeling jobs that require the hard-to-find manpower.

Wayne has a 10-year franchise agreement with Kitchen Solvers.  There is only one other franchise in the Valley but they are hoping to expand to 5 or 6.  This franchise has been around for 25 years which gives their customers peace-of-mind. 

Wayne let the group in on a few remodeling trends...

• People are leaning towards multi-colors.  They might do the main cabinet one color, the island a second color or wood finish.  Or they might use colored moldings.

• Granite is very big but you can also get engineered stone which is a little less expensive but very strong.  Up-keep is easy and it is hard to break, damage or stain.  BTW...Granite needs to be sealed once in a while.

• Solid surfaces are still very popular.  Korian is the main type in this group.  It comes in many colors and is virtually seamless.  It is also totally impenetrable. 

• People are now having sinks molded out of the same material. 

• The product sold by Granite Transformations is OK.  They install a 1/4" thick granite slab using a heavy-duty adhesive then polish out the edges.

• Granite tile is not as common.  People don't want to mess with grout lines.  They prefer a smooth surface.

• Stainless steel appliances are popular.

• Mexican tiles are OUT!

• People are installing taller cabinets.  Usually there is space to do this but sometimes Wayne has to raise the ceiling.

• Halogen light is in.  Florescent lights are out.  Under cabinet lights are decorative as are pendant lights over islands.

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