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January Calendar of Events
All Events held at HBA office unless otherwise noted
1) New Year's Day, Office Closed
6) Education Committee Meeting @ 2:30pm
6) NOEL Board of Directors Meeting @ 3pm
6) Executive Committee Meeting @ 4pm
7-9) LHBA Board of Directors Meeting, New Orleans, LA
13) HBA Board of Directors @ 4pm
15) Advanced Building Practices Council @ 12om
15) Parade of Homes Committee Meeting @ 1:30pm
16) Associates Breakfast @ 8:30am
17-22) International Builders Show, Las Vegas, NV
26) Home & Garden Show Board Meeting @ 4pm
28) General Membership Meeting @ 12pm
Rocky & Carlos, 613 W. St. Bernard Hwy, Chalmette, LA
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LHBA Board of Directors Meetings & Installation Banquet
Marriott Convention Center,
859 Convention Center Blvd
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Schedule:
Wednesday, January 7th
3:00- La Homebuilders Disaster Relief Fund Trustee Mtg.
3:30 - Executive Officers Council
4:30 - Residential Licensing Task Force
6:00 - 7:00 - Early Bird Reception
Thursday, January 8th
7:30 - Senior Office, and Assoc Past VP Breakfasts
8:30 - Legislative Committee
8:30 - Associates Council
10:00 - Membership Committee
11:00 -Education
11:00 - Legal Housing Task Force
1:00- PR Committee
1:30 - PAC
2:30 - Energy & Codes
3:30- Presidents Council
3:30 Remodelers
Installation and Awards Banquet - Blaine Kern Ballroom6:00-7:00 - Cocktail reception - Foyer7:00 Dinner - Installation & Awards 9:30 - Dancing - music by Soul express$50 per person paid in Advance by Dec 29th.after December 29th cost will be $65.00(no reservations taken after Jan 5th) Friday, January 9th
7:00 Past President's Breakfast
8:00 Board Orientation
8:30 - 2015 Board of Directors
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January 28th
General Membership Meeting
Rocky & Carlo's,
613 W. St. Bernard Hwy, Chalmette
Details to come!
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 Randy Noel for NAHB Third Vice-Chair For those who do not yet know, our local member and Past State & Local President, Randy Noel, is currently running for NAHB 3rd Vice-Chair. If he is elected by his peers at the Board of Directors meeting at the International Builders' Show this month, he will start on the ladder to eventually become the Chairman of NAHB.
To have one of our own in this position on the national level will mean great things for the state of Louisiana and our local. Staff and members statewide have put our full support behind Randy, because he is just the person we want representing us in Washington, DC.
To find out more about Randy's campaign, check his website HERE. And don't forget to LIKE him on FACEBOOK!
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2015... New Year, New Look, New Offerings!
You've probably already noticed the new look of sticks & bricks. Pretty soon, you'll start to see all sorts of new member benefits and events here at the HBA. Here is a preview of some of the exciting new programs we'll be rolling out in 2015.
HBAGNO
in Building Council
HBAGNO will be starting our own local chapter of NAHB's Professional Women in Building Council! This is an exciting new group - open to ALL members of the HBA - focusing on professional development. (NAHB must approve the local charter at IBS before the council is officially formed, so be on the lookout after IBS!)
Associates' Sales Training Breakfasts - FREE EVENTS
The NEW Associates Council is focusing on providing more services to members. These quarterly breakfasts are designed to leave you feeling motivated and equipped with a few extra sales tools. Breakfasts will be held at the HBA office in January, April, July, and October.
Speed Networking Events The first of these events will be held on March 4, and will be open to a small group of first-come, first-served associate members. Look out for emails for details on these intimate events that give one-on-one time with local builders.
Monthly GMMs Due to popular demand, we're going back to monthly General Membership Meetings in 2015. The feedback was that members were going too long without touching base with one another. We're already planning the programming for all of 2015 - please contact the HBA office if there is a specific topic you'd like covered!
Marketing Tools Access to the Excel spreadsheet of all HBA members is not a new benefit, but we want to make sure that everyone is aware of it! Simply contact the HBA office to request it be sent to you. |
A Word from Jefferson Parish
Submitted by Tiffany Scot Wilken, Director
Inspection and Code Enforcement
Law Changes in the mechanical trade arena . . .
The Louisiana legislature has mandated changes to the International Residential Code for one and two family dwellings which will impact mechanical requirements and inspections effective January 1, 2015. Two tests in particular, a blower door test (optional) and duct blast test (required) are significant. The duct leakage test is required for all new houses and substantial renovations. Test reports from a properly certified company/individual will be accepted. Additionally, a Manual J, Manual S, and Manual D are required to be provided per the code upon request. Please contact the Jefferson Parish Mechanical Section for additional information concerning the new code changes at (504) 736-6921.
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Louisiana Housing Corporation & HUD offering free Fair Housing Accessibility Training
Wednesday, January 21st
Louisiana Housing Corporation, 2415 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge
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 Welcome, Rita Bautista! HBAGNO Governmental Affairs Representative
Rita Bautista is the new Governmental Affairs Representative of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans. In her last position, she
worked as the Executive Assistant to Grammy Award winning Irvin Mayfield; Artistic Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Ms. Bautista graduated in May of 2012 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Business and Urban Society. She is a member of Sigma Lambda Gamma, National Sorority, Inc., which is the largest multicultural sorority in the nation. Once graduated, Ms. Bautista helped found the first alumnae association for Sigma Lambda Gamma in the state of Louisiana. As an advocate for the community, she serves as an advisory board member of Son of a Saint, a board member for the New Orleans African American museum, a committee member of the LatiNola Votes campaign, and also volunteers for Puentes.
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 2015 Board of Directors Installation
Congratulations to our newly installed President, Roy Olsen, Landis Residential Builders, LLC, and the rest of our 2015 Board of Directors.
 | | Fernando Arriola installing Senior Officers: Floyd Simeon, Michael LeCorgne, and Frank Morse |
 | | 2015 HBAGNO Board of Directors |
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Multifamily Council Chair, Michael Kraft, Inducted as 2015 Apartment Association President
Congratulations, Michael! We look forward to a year of your leadership, and the strengthening of the local multifamily industry.
 | | 2015 Apartment Association of Greater New Orleans Board of Directors |
 | | Michael Kraft at the installation ceremony with HBAGNO EO, Jon Luther, and HBAGNO Past President, Peter Young. |
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 Delgado Student Chapter Members Receive Scholarship Awards
NAHB Student Chapter Members Eddie Reyes, Lynn Greco, and Marcio Martinez were recognized at the October GMM for their outstanding performance in the Delgado ... program. The award winners are pictured below with their teacher, Victor Mirzai. 
Congratulations also goes to Woodward architect Juan Burciaga, recipient of Delgado's 2014 Circles of Excellence Outstanding Alumni award! From Delgado to LSU to Woodward, Juan has worked tirelessly for his Architectural License and serves our clients and projects with excellence. Juan is a former member of the Delgado Student Chapter. We're proud of Juan and all his achievements!  |
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Maintaing Certificates of Insurance
Maintaining Certificates of Insurance can save you time and money at audit, as you must furnish proof that each subcontractor used during the policy period had workers' comp coverage in force for the policy period, or that payroll was reported for the work performed. Always make certain the certificate dates correspond to the time frame worked by the individual subcontractors. When it comes to maintaining certificates of insurance on file, it helps to know the CODE.
- Confirm the effective dates of coverage and expiration before work begins.
- Obtain Certificates directly from the workers' comp provider or the agent of the sub.
- Do not accept certificates listing "For Bid Purposes Only" or "To Be Determined" as the certificate holder.
- Examine the certificate to make sure it provides Louisiana benefits if you hire subcontractors from out of state.
LAWORKS.NET, a website accessed through the Louisiana Workforce Commission, is a tool to help determine whether a subcontractor has or had coverage on a specific date.
- Go to www.laworks.net; Select "Businesses" and then "Workers' Compensation".
- Under Compliance, select "Employers' Workers' Compensation Coverage Verification".
- Enter the displayed code to access the Search functionality and select "Submit".
- Enter the subcontractor's name in Employer Name.
- For Coverage/Injury/Illness Date, leave blank when checking coverage for the current date. You may also enter a prior date, but you cannot enter a future date.
- Select "Search". If the subcontractor has or had workers' compensation coverage for the date entered and the insurer or group self insured fund has properly reported their data to NCCI, the search will return policy information.
RECEIVE EMAIL ALERTS WHEN A POLICY CANCELS
Users may now also receive email notifications when a subcontractor's workers' compensation policy status cancels. This is a newly offered feature from LAWORKS.NET. Take advantage of this feature and save time and money at audit.
NOTE: Certificates of Insurance should always be obtained prior to a subcontractor working on your jobsite. LAWORKS.NET is a service offered to assist you in maintaining your COI file. LAWORKS.NET is NOT a substitute for obtaining COIs, as not all WC carriers report data or report timely to NCCI, from which LAWORKS.NET coverage data is obtained.
CERTIFICATES OF INSURANCE ARE REQUIRED AT AUDIT FOR ALL SUBCONTRACTORS PAID DURING THE COVERAGE PERIOD, OR YOU WILL BE CHARGED THE APPROPRIATE PREMIUM FOR PAYMENTS MADE TO THESE SUBS.
SIF Dividend Update
$2 MILLION DIVIDEND TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN MARCH
The SIF Board voted to distribute a $2 Million dividend to qualifying members in March 2015. This will be the second dividend paid this Fund Year, and will bring the total dividends distributed during the 2014 Fund Year to $3 Million and the total returned to date to nearly $76 Million.
2013 FUND YEAR CLOSES ON A HIGH NOTE
The audited financials for the 2013 Fund Year (ending 3/31/2014) are complete. The HomeBuilders SIF has once again posted outstanding results. Net income before member distribution and provision for income taxes for the fund year was $2.9 Million. Total written premiums for the Fund Year were $20 Million, with total revenues of $23 Million. Total Fund assets now exceed $69 Million.
2015 RATES
Based on an actuarial rate analysis, the SIF Board voted to leave rates as is for the 2015 Fund Year. Since 2008, the SIF has effectively reduced rates by nearly 30%.
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 Dangerous Deflation Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D.,
GraphsandLaughs, LLC
On the surface deflation sounds wonderful. Rather than rising prices, deflation results in declining prices. In this way, purchasing power rises, effectively giving everyone a pay raise. Better yet, deflation is accompanied by near zero interest rates making borrowing cheap. What on Earth could be better! It turns out, almost anything.
When people expect falling prices, they wait as long as possible before making large purchases, such as a car or a house because the longer you wait the cheaper the item becomes. Similarly, deflation breeds a strong desire on the part of households and firms to hold cash as it continually appreciates. By contrast, inflation creates an incentive to spend since cash falls in value over time.
Deflation is not simply falling prices, which can be good, but is also characterized by falling wages, not so good. In a deflationary environment, due to a lack of demand for goods and services, firms fight for market share by slashing prices. By doing that, total revenue falls, forcing firms to pay workers less. However, since reducing wages of existing employees is hard, companies first hire fewer workers, then lay workers off, which leads to stagnant wages and eventually rising unemployment, which forces workers to accept lower wages.
Deflation also creates a reluctance to borrow, since loans have to be repaid in future dollars that are worth more than those borrowed. Think about it - if you have a mortgage payment that is $750/month and inflation is 4%/year and your income keeps up with inflation, your mortgage payment becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of your monthly income. But if deflation is 4%/year and your income falls by that amount each year, that $750 mortgage payment can quickly loom large and dramatically crimp spending.
As a result, borrowers find that the real amount of their debts rise over time. In response they save more to compensate and in the process spend less. Of course, lenders are better off, but they do not increase their spending by as much as debtors decrease theirs. As a result, overall spending levels decline more.
Exacerbating this problem, in a deflationary economy banks have little incentive to lend, as the only way to entice borrowers is to offer negative interest rates. But in this case, the more banks lend, the more they lose. As a result, banks do little lending, firms struggle to grow and many of both fail, causing wages to fall. In the end, consumers buy little more than essentials and everyone holds on to as much cash as possible. Not a pretty picture.
Lastly, deflation makes it essentially impossible for central banks to set interest rates low enough to stimulate demand. While central banks can set rates at 0%, it's hard to get below zero. With inflation of 3%, a zero interest rate is a -3% real interest rate. But with -1% deflation, a central bank would have to offer an interest rate of -2% to achieve the same -3% real interest rate. While theoretically possible it's impossible in practice.
Because of chronic falling wages, reduced spending and limited lending, deflation is something to be avoided. Once it takes hold, it's inordinately difficult to get rid of. Japan has been struggling with deflation for decades and is now employing desperate measures to eliminate it, with limited success and high costs. We don't want to wind up like Japan.
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Thank You to our E-News Sponsors!
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Associate Spotlight
Voiron Companies, LLC
PO Box 3277
Gretna, LA 70054
504.913.2986
info@voironcompanies.com
 In 2008, Guy Voiron and Gary Ruiz combined their 25+ years of experience, business knowledge, leadership skills and construction ingenuity to form Voiron Companies. Along with a team of industry professionals, they work to provide the highest quality of construction services, focusing on timeliness, professionalism and attention to detail. Backed by strong credentials, Voiron Companies' history provides a record of success, overseeing all phases of multi-million dollar construction projects for government and private-sector clients.
Most recently, Voiron Companies has worked on projects including the Riverwalk Outlet Mall, the Julia Street Cruise Terminal, Rosenwald Gymnasium, several Copeland's of New Orleans Restaurants and many more. Provided services include General Contracting, Construction Management, Structural Concrete, Metal Framing, Rough Carpentry, Interior/Exterior Finishes, and Drywall Systems. In addition to multiple construction projects, the company is working to redevelop existing real estate in the Southeast Louisiana Region. The developed locations would fill the void in the community for Assisted Living, Multi-Family Housing and Mixed-Use Commercial Developments.
Contact us or visit our website for more information. Thank you in advance for your consideration and the opportunity to work with you in the future!
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 Quick Links & Resources
* Under Compliance, click on Employers' Workers' Compensation Coverage Verification |
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2015 Senior Officers of the Board
President, Roy Olsen
Vice President, Floyd Simeon
Treasurer, Mike LeCorgne
Secretary, Frank Morse
Immediate Past President, Brian Mills
2015 Board of Directors
Steve Albert
John Arms
Fernando Arriola
Lori Barker
Nick Castjohn
Ric Darling
Nicole Dupre
Charlie Fontenelle
Eddie Gandolfi
Phil Hoffman
Kevin Katner
Jo Ann Kostik
Michael Kraft
Peter Lanaux
Ben Laws
Bruce Layburn
Harold LeBlanc
Scott Morse
Helmut Mundt
Randy Noel
Lynda Nugent Smith
Rolf Parelius
Zach Tyson
Kirk Williamson
Steve Wobbema
Wes Wyman
Peter Young
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HBA Staff Contacts
Jon Luther, Executive Vice President
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Please contact Lauren at the HBA office with any pertinent industry-related issues and/or professional achievements you'd like to share with your association members.
Feature Articles in upcoming issues of sticks & bricks or HBA's printed publication, the homebuilder quarterly(HQ), are FREE opportunities for HBA members to market themselves to 1,000+ industry professionals.
Click Here for Details and Submitter Deadlines
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