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In The Mix October 2011- Vol 3, Issue 7
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| Officers & Directors | |
President
Preston Sparkman
Quality Precast Co
813-685-5615 ext 2228
email
Vice President
Steve Bishop
Maschmeyer Concrete
561-848-9112
email
Secretary
Wade Mullins
Quality Precast Co
813-685-5615
email
Treasurer
Adam Freeman
A-1 Block
407-422-3768
email
Board of Directors
Jeff Bishop
Maschmeyer Concrete
561-848-9112
email
Bobbi Griswold
Griswold Ready Mix
904-751-3796
email
Freddie Jahna
Jahna Concrete
863-453-5155
email
Mark Smith
Bell Concrete
352-463-6103
email
Gary Clements, Past President
Cement Products &
Supply Company
863-686-5141
email
Executive Director
Michele Stropoli
407-333-4694
email
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Associate of the Month | |
Thank you for your support! |
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 Greetings! |
FICAP's Annual Fall Golf Tournament, which was held at Celebration Golf club, was a venture to a new facility and what a resounding success it was. I heard nothing but positive things about the course and our dinner following that evening. I would like to thank Tom Austin with Caterpillar Financial Capital Solutions for finding the new venue, and for Tom, Larry Farmer (Cemex) and Gary Clements for working with Celebration and pulling it all together for an outstanding day.
While at the golf tournament, I was reminded of one of the key foundations of FICAP, our Vision Statement, "Building Florida with Personal Attention the FICAP way." This is a distinction that makes our members so different. We believe that FICAP possesses a unique quality in that we do not have just member companies, but we have the individuals who work for those companies, where those individuals are afforded the benefit of a personal relationship with each other. Whether you are a Producer or an Associate, FICAP offers you the opportunity to be a part of that.
We have always said the best way for an independent Producer to survive in the current economy is to make and enforce those personal relationships and contacts with our customers. As Producers, we also recognize that our Associates strive for those same things, and through our organization we offer the chance to enhance the Producer - Associate relationship.
As President of FICAP, I encourage each Producer to not only meet with our Associates and get to know them, but to also provide Associates the opportunity to present the facts of their organization for business considerations.
Associates, I encourage you to meet the Producers and get to know them. While membership in FICAP will not guarantee you a sale, I think it will afford you the opportunity to get in front of the decision makers. Actively participate in one or more of FICAP's Goal Groups and reach out to the Producers in their place of business. I believe you will find an open door.
Speaking on behalf of FICAP's Producers, I take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the time and effort that our Associates give to the organization. Thank you.
Our next planned event will be a Roving meeting at American Cement's facility on Oct 25th. Since there will be no general membership meeting, this will be a great time to network with members and visit American's Cement Mill. Our next gathering after that will be the Christmas Party Dec 15th at the Lone Palm Golf Club in Lakeland, FL. Please mark your calendars. I look forward to seeing everyone at both of these events.
Sincerely,
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Celebration Golf Club...a great course and a great time for all! | |
On Tuesday, October 4th, FICAP members met at Celebration Golf Club and had a terrific time and a prime rib dinner. For a recap of the day and the sponsors, please use the links below, or visit our featured event link on the FICAP website.
Sponsors & Prizes
Tournament Photos
Uninvited Guest Video
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| FICAP Monthly Meeting - October 25, 2011 |
Please join us in Sumterville for an afternoon of fun at the American Cement Plant.
American will provide the food and facility, you need to provide the people. Use the registration link below to let us know how many to anticipate. The FICAP Board will meet prior to the start of the roving meeting.
Schedule:
Board Meeting: 2:30 to 4 pm
Roving Meeting: 4 to 6 pm
(For catering purposes, we need to know if you plan to attend.) |
| Legislative Update by Wade Mullins |
 The "Concrete Masonry Products Research, Education, & Promotion Act," or as we affectionately call it, the "Masonry Check Off" Legislation is making its way through the legislative process. About three weeks ago we were assigned a bill number, Senate Bill 412, by the Senate staffers, and just this week word came that House Bill 403 had come back from going through the House bill writing process. SB 412 is sponsored by Senator Mike Bennett, while Representative Matt Caldwell agreed to sponsor HB 403. You can help us by contacting your individual Senate and House member now and ask them to support either SB 412 by Bennett and HB 403 by Caldwell. That needs to be in the subject line, if you e mail them or made clear to the staff member when you call. If you need assistance in contacting your legislator, please feel free to contact me directly. I will walk you through the steps. What's next in the process for our filed bills? They are now in the control of the Senate President and House Speaker's Office where they will receive committee references. Each chamber of the legislature will assign the bills to be heard in three or four committees. After the references are made, the next step is to get on the agenda of the first committee of reference. This process is where the lobbyist MAF has hired, David Ramba and his staff will earn their money. Anyone can get a bill filed. Getting one heard and passed is a whole new ballgame. Keep in mind that on average one can expect to see about ten percent of the bills filed each year actually get passed into law, and some years less than that. MAF has succeeded in getting the ball rolling early for the upcoming session, which officially begins in January. My hat is tipped to all those who have been visiting with legislators around the state and discussing the Masonry Check Off initiative.
There is a scheduled Fly In during November Committee Weeks in Tallahassee Nov.15-16. If you can attend, you can help us make a difference in creating jobs for the concrete masonry industry. Contact Pat McLaughlin for additional information at patm@floridamasonry.com.
Wade Mullins
wadem@qualityprecast.com |
| Have You Heard? | |
 Advertising in the FICAP Newsletter is a convenient, affordable way to bring your message to the concrete community and its supporters.
In the Mix goes out to nearly a 1,000 opt-in subscribers each month. By advertising in the eNewsletter, you have the unique opportunity to deliver information about your products and services straight to the e-mail in-boxes of the decision makers within the Florida concrete industry.
Your ad could be right here. Ask us how!
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The Right Filter Director's Corner |
My close friend's dad, a close friend of my family, died this past week. It was unexpected and heartbreaking and a reminder.
I've logged a lot of time in their company and have witnessed firsthand the way they deal with life and each other. In every situation, with the right filter in place, you can ALWAYS find the positive. That's the way Mr. Dixon lived his life, that's the way he raised his family, and that's what he taught anyone who hung around. I didn't recognize the lesson until I was sitting at his funeral listening to his son tell the stories; the wonderful stories of Mr. Dixon's life, especially of the gift of the last 15 years.
Mr. Dixon had a massive heart attack 15 years ago. He spent 60 days in the hospital (mostly in intensive care) and he was not expected to go home. He beat the odds, survived, and he spent the last 15 years embracing each and every day. He didn't miss another birthday or children's production. He didn't forget to stop and enjoy life or to celebrate the little joys we tend to take for granted.
It's so easy to get caught up in the negatives around us and forget that each day is a gift. Mr. Dixon remembered to celebrate life.
No one is guaranteed tomorrow, so what are we doing with today?
I don't plan to wear rose colored glasses, but I do plan to clean the filter I'm using to view life; to search for the positive and keep my focus there. Mr. Dixon's celebration of life ended; however, his legacy continues through all that knew him.
Until next month...
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Around the Industry | |
Lennar shares up, despite Q3 earnings down 31%
Lennar CEO Stuart Miller said has company has seen demand for home purchases slowly return.
Lennar Corp. stock rose by 4.5 percent, or 63 cents, to $14.43 in midday trading as the market reacted to the company's narrative that cheap debt and deep discounting is driving demand for new homes, even as its third quarter profit dropped 31 percent. Read More
A Breath of Fresh Air - (Parliment Pages)
I recently had the opportunity to visit with one of our typical customers. I like stopping in to visit with this customer for a number reasons and try to do so as often as the schedule allows. On my last visit, I noticed a complete change in the personality of the company. The place was vibrant, alive, and full of enthusiasm. On our way to lunch, I asked the owner if business had really picked up. He said it was about the same and they were still plugging along making ends meet. This just didn't seem to be consistent with what I had seen as I walked around the place and expressed that as we sat down at lunch. Read More
Florida's Regions
From Key West to the Great Northwest and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is an exhilarating mix of cutting-edge innovation and easy, laid-back lifestyle. Across this state's eight regions and 67 counties, companies of every size and in every industry sector have found the business climate, workforce and global connections they need to compete in an international marketplace. Join them and share the success. Read More
Southern Pine Design Values To Change
Maximum Spans For Typical Joist And Rafter Applications Will Be Reduced
According to the Southern Forest Products Association (SFPA) upon American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) approval design values for visually graded Southern Pine dimension lumber will be reduced as much as 35% for four of the six basic lumber properties: Read More
Reclamation explores recycling of lime sludge
Sludge, a waste byproduct from the operation of the Yuma Desalting Plant, may get put to use in a new "green" concrete mix formulation. Read More
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| MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub Resources Technical Corner | |
By now, you are no doubt aware of the incredible work taking place at the Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSH) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). But are you also aware of the many resources prepared by the MIT researchers that are already available? Over a dozen research profile letters, special research briefs, and detailed reports are now available on the CSH's first two work plans - Life Cycle Assessment and Concrete Science. And all of them are available to you and your members from here where the RMC Research & Education Foundation has set up a dedicated resources page of all of the materials currently available from the CSH.
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Green Buildings: Concrete's Role
The construction and operation of buildings accounts for approximately 40 percent of all emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States.
The most-used building materials in the world, concrete, is used to construct many of the country's homes and office buildings, but a new report from the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says a variety of measures could drastically reduce, and ultimately even eliminate, the carbon footprint of most new concrete buildings, as well as some older ones. Read More
NAHB Housing Market Statistics
N.J. students turning heads with solar house
New Jersey's first entry in the biennial national Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C., is easy to tell from the rest: It's the only building made of concrete. The 960-square-foot, one-bedroom house dubbed Enjoy weighs more than 500,000 pounds, with the unique "inverted hip" shaped roof tipping the scale at 150,000 pounds alone. Read More
National Concrete Masonry Association Vision 2020
Homes for sale declining across South Florida
The number of homes and condominiums for sale has steadily declined across South Florida in 2011, frustrating buyers and leading to bidding wars in some cases, real estate agents say. An October update from Chip Rowand of the Keyes Co. in Weston shows that Broward County has 13,480 single-family homes and condos for sale. In Palm Beach County, there are 15,782 homes and condos on the market. Those figures are less than half of what they were a few years ago, Rowand said. "We're seeing multiple showings and multiple offers if the homes are priced right," he said. "We need more inventory." Read More
A Look Ahead at New Homes of 2015
If you had asked someone in the 1960s what the home of 2015 would look like, chances are they imagined something akin to The Jetsons' home complete with Rosie the Robot and other space-age appliances that dressed and fed the family. Read More
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Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act of 2011 - H.R. 2681 | |
A U.S. House subcommittee approved a bill Tuesday by Rep. John Sullivan to stop what the Oklahoma Republican considers burdensome regulations on cement plants.
"The Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act specifically outlines a path for common-sense regulation without eviscerating one-fifth of the U.S. cement sector by sending thousands of jobs permanently overseas, driving up construction prices or forcing us to import materials from countries where they will be produced with greater pollution,'' Sullivan said. Read More
Bill Summary & Stats
Legislative Digest Review of H.R. 2681
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NACM Survey Shows Concern for Municipalities Ahead of Harrisburg Filing
Even before Harrisburg's bankruptcy filing, detailed in the story above, concern over municipal bankruptcies had become increasingly widespread among the nation's credit professionals. NACM's September survey showed that while most creditor companies are only mildly concerned with the possibility of major bankruptcies like the one in Harrisburg, many of them expect the trend to worsen before it improves. Read More
Fla. hurricane fund chief warns state in danger
Florida's hurricane fund chief is warning that the state-created fund used to help insurers pay off claims after a big storm is in danger. The state has relied on a hurricane fund ever since Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida nearly 20 years ago. Insurers get help to pay homeowners if a hurricane - or a series of hurricanes - results in widespread damages. Read More
Did You Know?
Business credit is the single largest source of business financing by volume, exceeding even bank loans, according to the National Association of Credit Management. That may surprise you, but the fact is that credit extended between businesses is the fuel that drives today's commercial economy. As companies struggle to maintain or expand their customer base in these challenging economic times, business credit risk management becomes the key to success.
The role the credit department plays within every company key to the stability, growth, and success of any business. Give that side of your business the proper attention it deserves.
Look for future credit related articles...
Banks Start to Make More Loans
Despite all the bleak economic news, a funny thing has been happening in the financial industry over the last few months: the banks have quietly turned on the lending spigot. Read More
The National Association of Credit Management polled it's members regarding their biggest concerns for 2012. Read More
Snapshots from the Vault
The new shape of the Florida banking industry is emerging. All sectors aren't being created equal.
Read More
Florida economy to grow slowly, but still outperform national average
Florida's economy is on track to grow faster than the rest of the country through next year, its population is rebounding and the state will add a combined 64,000 jobs next year on top of 40,000 jobs this year. Read More
Slow Sailing Through a Narrow Passage
Neither recession nor boom, but a disappointing middling growth outlook demands that investors and decision makers choose economic policies carefully. This theme has been our view since early this year and we realize that such is very unsatisfying relative to the experience of prior business cycles. Hiring continues to be cautious, orders have continued to slow. In addition, profit growth will continue to decelerate as real final sales also slow. Read More
Workers' comp rate hearing raises larger reform issues
A hearing Tuesday on whether to raise workers' compensation insurance rates in Florida also acted as a sounding board for airing complaints about the system. The National Council on Compensation Insurance is seeking an 8.9 percent average statewide increase in overall rates, but state regulators and business owners voiced concerns about two main cost drivers in the workers' compensation system: fraud and prescriptions dispensed by doctors. Read More
Florida's economy to further improve in 2012, two studies predict
Florida's economy will further improve in 2012, with the state gaining more jobs, a higher personal income and home prices inching up for the first time in five years, according to two recent studies. Read More
Economists Slash 2012 PECO Estimates by $267 Million
Citing insufficient tax revenue and previous debt, economists on Monday said the state will have no money available to sell new bonds for school construction next year. A panel of state economists, meeting to tweak estimates made earlier this year, slashed estimates for available school construction money by $267 million for 2012, leaving educators with about $113 million in new cash available for building for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Read More
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