Relocating the corporate office did much more than give employees a beautiful new location in which to work.  It helped raise money for Youth Villages.  

 

All items that didn't make the move to the new location (such as mirrors, plants, furniture, lamps, artwork and more) were auctioned off  to the highest bidder on Thursday, July 10 as employees scurried around the office topping each others bids.   Knowing that all proceeds went to Youth Villages, employees had a lot of fun with the event pushing the bids higher and higher. 

 

 (Left -Brandee Millington bidding on a lamp.  Right - Kristy Mallett bidding highest on a record 12 items!) 

 

74 items were auctioned off and over $1400 was raised for the annual Youth Villages Holiday Hero program. Every December Cornerstone employees line up to "adopt" and sponsor children through this program.  Last year employees "adopted" a record 40 boys and girls and this year they are hoping to sponsor even more.  Each child supplies a Christmas wish list and volunteer "heroes" spend approximately $75 per child so that each child receives gifts of equal value.  Without this program , many of these children would not have a Christmas.  

 

Cornerstone is a proud sponsor of Youth Villages. 

Youth Villages' commitment to helping troubled children and their families spans over 20 years and includes a comprehensive array of programs and services.  Youth Villages is a non-profit organization, a member of the Child Welfare League and the United Way of the Mid-South.

 www.youthvillages.org 

 

A congressional hearing held on August 4 in Long Beach discussed infrastructure needs in Southern California.  National rail and highway infrastructure needs were also raised and the idea of a nationwide container fee was discussed as the most equitable means available for the U.S. to raise the billions of dollars needed to build freight infrastructure.  U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, D-Calif., said taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for infrastructure requirements brought about by international trade.  "A container fee is a unique approach," she said.    And U.S., Rep. Dana Rohrbacher, R-Calif., said "A container fee would ensure that manufacturers (foreign and American) pay their fair share of the infrastructure needed to move their products in the U.S."    Of course any national container fee would add to the cost of doing business in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area where shippers already pay a number of local fees.  This will be an issue to watch.

 

Last week the ILWU and PMA reached a preliminary agreement on a new six-year contract for West Coast ports.  Spokesmen for the PMA and union are withholding details of the tentative contract until employer and union leaders present a copy of the agreement to their respective members.  The ILWU will hold a caucus in San Francisco the week of August 18.  If the 100-member caucus approves the tentative contract, a vote by the entire union will be scheduled.   The ILWU confirmed that it has agreed to extend the previous contract (which expired on July 1) until the general membership votes on the new agreement.  This will prevent work slowdowns which hurt productivity during negotiations.   

 

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent legislation last week to the House floor, in an effort to shut down a year-long pilot program that allowed long-haul Mexican trucks to operate on highways in the U.S.    However, this week The Department of Transportation issued a plan to extend that same controversial Mexican Truck Program for an additional 2 years.  The DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says it needs more information and time to evaluate the program, which has drawn widespread verbal attacks but relatively few actual trucks carrying freight between Mexico and the U.S.    The fate of the program, which allows a limited number of trucks from Mexico access onto U.S. highways, is in the hands of a federal appeals court.  

 

On July 28 the American Trucking Association filed a lawsuit stating that the Los Angeles and Long Beach port programs violate a federal statute that prohibits states from enacting or enforcing a legal requirement that is related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier.  Both plans tighten emissions standards for port drayage operators, but the Port of Los Angeles plan also prohibits owner-operators from performing drayage services after 2012.  "We firmly believe that these concession programs unlawfully re-regulate the port trucking industry to the detriment of motor carriers, shippers, and the businesses and consumers that depend on the products that are handled at those ports, "said Bill Graves, president of ATA.