MEETING MINUTES
Friday, December 5, 2008
Volume 15; Issue 42

Speaker Update
December 12th - Greg Stewart
December 19th - James Clark

Treasurer Report
The quarterly dues billing was e-mailed on 12/1.  T Please contact Melissa Matthews if you do not receive your e-invoice.

Other Items
Mike Whalen would like to use this group as networking to help family members that have lost their jobs.  If you know of any leads I can pass along, please let him know.

The brochures are on task right now.  They are working on the last few technical issues.  Stuart Schindler said they will be available "this year". 

Ralph Cunningham is having a holiday party December 6th and 7th.  Contact Ralph for the details.

Chris Curran announced that the board invested a prudent reserve into 3 CD's with different maturity dates.  They felt this was a good idea because the interest rate would be higher and it also provided a built-in, spend-proof provision to make it difficult for anyone to impulsively spend more than they should.  Nick Mawrenko has heard that people should avoid putting money into long-term investments right now since inflation would cause interest rates to go up.

Changes you are observing in our community and in your business.
Chris Curran - Unemployment numbers came out today.  They were much higher than previously forecasted...Up to 6.7% - not seen since 1993.  We've lost 1.92 million jobs this year.  This reporting period drop is the largest since 1974.  However, hourly earnings went up .4%, 3.7% for the year.  It is about on par with inflation.  That was the news this morning.  The federal reserve targeting mortgage rates was another topic in the news.  This could create the destruction of an entire industry.  Chris asked Joe Hesch and Dave Lathrop to say a few words about how they see this affecting their industries and if they think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Joe Hesch - The problem is that everything is just speculating right now.  Everything is up in the air.  The mortgage industry is literally moment-to-moment.  We are constantly hearing "it used to be like this".  It would be great if the change happens but it also makes a difference in how it is implemented.  For everything good that can happen, someone can suffer as well.

Nick Mawrenko - They are targeting new home owners with this plan but it is the current mortgage holders that need to refinance who are suffering.

Jim Bache - If you haven't owned a home in the last 3 years, you are considered a new home owner if you come back into the market.

Denver Johnson - There is a population in this country that just wants to rent.  The people who actually did buy but couldn't afford to got burned.  I don't think they would want to do it again.

Chris Curran - I've never before experienced the level of financial insecurity that I am receiving from my clients.  They want me to settle "now" because they need the cash.  It is unprecedented in my years of practice.

Ralph Cunningham - People I get samples from are following up more and more wanting to help me use their products.  As far as receivables go, there are a lot of people that owe me money and I can't get it out of them.

Mark Dreher - I think you are going to find service providers are going to have a harder time getting paid because people need to keep the product coming in so they pay the suppliers first.  I think in the first quarter of '09 people are going to be forced to look at secondary resources of financing.  People may even be faced with giving up partial ownership of their company to get financing.

Dave Lathrop - Is it a good time to buy a car ?  A lot of people that would like a car and can afford one are still waiting for the economy to improve.  If you have good credit you can still buy a car.  The biggest problem right now is leasing.  GMAC is not doing any leasing.  A lot of construction companies lease company vehicles so it affects them.  Imported cars can still be leased.  There is not a lot of confidence in domestic cars right now.  There are good deals but not as great as you may expect. I think what you will see happen over the next few years is that many GM dealerships will go under.  It is probably a good thing because so many are competing against each other.  GM has 7000 dealerships vs. Toyota's 1300.  I think GM and Ford did a crappy job of putting good cars out.

Sandro Menasci - I think it will get really busy in the spring.  People have put repairs off and so the bills will be bigger.  I don't understand why people in Arizona don't keep their cars longer.  There are no rust problems.  You should keep a new car 7-8 years.  If you maintain it, it is a lot cheaper.

Jim Bache - I'm in a growth industry.

Chris Curran - They are expecting that more people will file bankruptcy than graduate from college in 2009.

Main Speaker - Phyllis Prater ... "MABE Black Friday"
"I have diamonds!  They are still popular." 

Phyllis understands that it can be difficult to find time to visit her so she brought her little store to us.

All her business is personal referrals.  This has done her well for over 40 years.  She started in the industry working with parents.  She did that for 18 years before a bad robbery closed the store.  Her own business began by doing a lot of insurance jewelry replacement, probably 30 claims a week.  Now she does about 2 per year.  Times are changing.

She brought in several items to show including beautiful custom work.  She talked about some of the suppliers, the styles, cuts and different qualities of jewelry and even how lighting can effect the look of pieces.  All of her diamonds come from Israel and they all come from point-of-origin.  She tries to be careful to avoid the corruption that is so rampid in the industry. 

She does appraisals.  She believes you should only do them for high dollar items (over $1000).  It is not always wise to have lots of little claims with insurance companies.  Normally she charges $20-25 for each appraised piece.  She does not charge MABE members.  Usually you have to update the appraisal every three years anyway and it is better to use her than let the insurance adjust it as she will be more accurate (and probably higher).

"If you want jewelry, you can afford me."  She marked down the prices for MABE.  As Mike Whalen stated, it is MABE Black Friday!

Thank you to Phyllis Prater for the beautiful display of jewelry.

Holiday Party Roster
The holiday party is on December 13th. 

A room at the Landmark has been reserved for those that wish to dine before the Holiday Party.  Meals will be off the menu and dinners are responsible for their own bills.  Be at the Landmark at 5pm.  Members will be seated in the main dining room making it easier to take the separate checks.

A bus will be available to take members to the Holiday Party later that evening.

At the party there will be a White Elephant Exchange.  Please purchase one gift per couple valuing roughly $15 and bring it to the party! Please wrap it because it makes everything much more fun!

Please check the list below.  Contact Melissa at melissa@mabe-online.org with any updates (add or cancel attendance, dinner, bus ride).