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CALENDAR AND
EVENT LINKS |
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January 29-30, 2009
NAHB Course - Green Building for Building Professionals
January 31, 2009
NAHB Course - Business Management for Building Professionals
February 5, 2009
MAHB Remodelers Conference - Clare, Michigan
February 7, 2009
NAHB Course - Financial Management
PREP - Professional Remodelers Experience Profile - pre-registration is required.
February 19, 2009
BAR - Builder Assessment Review - pre-registration is required.
February 27, 2009
NAHB Course - Customer Service
February 28, 2009
NAHB Course - Project Management
March 6 & 7, 2009NAHB Courses - CAPS I & II
Midwest Builders ShowMarch 19 & 20, 2009
NAHB Course - Green Building for Building Professionals
March 21, 2009
NAHB Course - Business Management for Building Professionals
May 8 - 10, 2008
June 20 - 28, 2009
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HBAGTA WELCOMES NEW EVENTS COORDINATOR
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We are pleased to announce the addition of Kerry Gartland, whom many of you "met" over the phone during the recent Membership Directory advertising campaign. She joins our HBAGTA staff as our new Advertising and Events Coordinator. She will serve as the staff liaison for our major events, Home EXPO and Parade of Homes and our anchor publications, the 2009 Membership Directory and Parade of Homes magazine.
Kerry comes to us with a wealth of marketing experience, a background in sales and a very positive "can do" attitude. We are delighted to welcome her to our growing team of professionals! |
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TELL CONGRESS TO HELP OUR ECONOMY
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The housing market collapse is pulling down the entire economy, creating a credit freeze and putting hundreds of thousands of American jobs at risk. Join NAHB and the Fix Housing First Coalition in urging Congress to include housing in the stimulus bill. To find out more, read the NAHB press release or go to www.FixHousingFirst.com
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NATIONAL RADON ACTION MONTH
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated January as National Radon Action Month. Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that is estimated to cause many thousands of lung cancer deaths each year. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. Only smoking causes more lung cancer deaths. If you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is especially high.
>>More>>
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BECOME A CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL (CGP)
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The HBAGTA will be hosting the kGreen Building for Building Professionals on January 29, 30, and 31st at the Roger Papineau Professional Development Center in the lower level of the Association Office.
Contact the HBAGTA Office for more information on becoming Green!
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| Greetings! ,
 Thanks to all of you who joined us at the Waterfront last night. It was a wonderful evening for networking and learning! I'm particularly grateful to Bob Skylis of RCS Performance, Inc. from Kalamazoo for helping us to better understand that "selling is really influencing people" and that it's really "all about relationships!" Bob plans to return to our HBA April 10th to offer full day training for those interested in learning more about effective sales strategies. Selling yourself in tough times seems to be a topic that we all could benefit from - whether as a contractor, supplier - banker or broker. Therefore, I hope many of you will take the time to join us at the HBA office this Thursday morning, Jan. 15th from 8:00 -10:30 am for a special seminar brought to us by the Michigan Small Business Center and the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation. Kevin Jackson, Chamber business consultant, has put together a dynamic team of successful presenters along with an opportunity for some valuable Q&A. This is the program that Jim Valesano referred to at last night's dinner and that he said was very pertinent. The cost is $20 and can be paid at registration or by credit card in advance. Call us today at 946-2305 if you're interested. We'll save a seat for you! Also, remember that our 2009 Home Builders EXPO is fast approaching. Our committee has worked very hard to make the venue fresh and new - even though the building is not. Our thematic approach to this year's show will capitalize on the fact that it's Valentine's Day and Daytona 500 Weekend. We'll be helping you to "Rev Up Your Revenue!" while you offer your customers a "Sweetheart of a Deal" on quality products and services. I will continue to communicate to our vendors about upcoming deadlines. If you are interested in exhibitor space, please call the HBA office. As a courtesy to our members and in an effort to be sensitive to our economic climate, the rental rate has been held at $7 per square foot.
Together, we are building a stronger association!
Kathy
Kathy Maisonville
Executive Officer
p: 231.946.2305
f: 231.946.1051
toll free: 800.422.5166
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GETTING BACK TO BASICS |
THIS THURSDAY | |
"Getting Back to the Basics - Creating Business During Tough Times"
Having difficulty getting customers to your door? Are you  losing some of your former customers to your competition? Explore tips on growing your business presented by the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center and the Traverse Bay Economic Development Corporation. Representatives of successful construction and retail businesses will be on hand, along with TBEDC trainers to guide this interactive seminar.
Where: HBAGTA - Professional Development Center
When: Thursday, January 15th
Time: 8:00-10:30 a.m.
Cost: $20 for HBA and Chamber of Commerce members / $25 for non-members
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2009 MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY |
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MEMBER INFORMATION:
 Our new association data management software, Builder Fusion is fabulous but it has taken the staff a lot longer than expected to get all the information entered into the thousands of data fields.
The good news is that we have sent out the 2009 Membership Directory Update Forms to all of you by US mail.
We have gotten many of the forms back, but many are still outstanding. We ask that you send the form back regardless of any changes to help us get the most accurate and up-to date information for your company. Just sign the form and return to our office by fax: 231-946-1051.
ADVERTISING:
We are finalizing the advertising for the 2009 Advertising Directory. If you still would like to advertise, this is the time to do it! Contact Kerry Gartland immediately to arrange for your advertisement to appear in the Directory. If you haven't spoken with Kerry, then you need to know some important perks if you advertise:
- Free website link for any size ad - a $50 value!
- Any ad that is a 1/2 page or bigger will receive an additional recognition on our "Gold Sponsorship" page. This is 2 ads for the price of 1!
Call today to take advantage of this great opportunity and support your local association!
LICENSING:
If you are one of a few members who are not yet fully compliant with the licensure law by the time the 2009 HBAGTA Membership Directory goes to print, more than likely, your company name will not appear in the paper edition. We have made a huge effort to communicate with our members about the licensing requirments. Our Board outlined a generous time frame to be compliant. However, some folks have just not responded to our letters, emails and phone calls. In order to have this ready for distribution at EXPO, we need to send the copy to the printer next week.
If you just are waiting for verification of an individual or company license, please know that once you have everything up-do-date, we will gladly add you to the online directory.
The simple fact is that the law requires that if you are a Residential Building or Maintenance and Alteration LLC, partnership or corporation, you must hold a company license. In addition, the Qualifying Officer of that company must also hold an individual license. The law also requires your license to be published in any advertisement to the public. |
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A SWEETHEART OF A DEAL! |
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Whisk those WINTER BLUES away - we have a SWEETHEART of a deal for you!
 EXPO 2009 Booth prices have been held to the low cost of $7 per square foot - and you didn't have to SWEET TALK us!
With a fresh theme and a new ATTITUDE, we are ready to REV UP your REVENUE!
Come join us!
2009 HOME BUILDERS EXPO
February 14 & 15, 2009
Contact Kathy at
or call 231.946.2305
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ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS DONATES A FACELIFT! |
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A huge thank you to Architectural Elements who recently redesigned the HBA's front office storage units and donated all of the materials and labor! Jim Anderson "imagineered" the new design for efficiency and utility. Vince Pace designed and Doug Hoagg fabricated the new cabinetry. It was recently installed by AE much to the delight of the HBA staff. This member company's generosity and thoughtfulness are deeply appreciated!
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