Mountain States Lumber & Building Materials Dealers Association

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Join us October 4-6th at the Sonnenalp Resort in Vail, Colorado for our 2012 Fall Conference
MSLBMDA's 2012 Fall Conference
Join fellow lumber dealers and suppliers for the
MSLBMDA’s 2012 Fall Conference
at the Sonnenalp Resort in Vail, CO.
• Engage • Connect • Re-energize • Learn • Unwind
Industry Roundtables are always some of the most highly valued sessions by both retail dealers and suppliers alike. Join your industry peers for two hours of discussion on pertinent industry topics such as financing and credit, employee motivation, tax issues, technology, regulatory issues and more.
Recovery from the recession has been, and may continue to be, a slow and painful process for many. This opening two-hour session gives you time to network with other industry leaders and learn from each other what business and leadership practices are being put in place as the industry moves toward recovery from the recession.
Details on program content and registration TBA
Call 800-654-8312 to make your reservations. To receive the contract rate of $155 per night for the Junior Suites, guests should identify the group as MSLBMDA 2012 FALL CONFERENCE. All reservations should be made by 9/15/12.

NEW! MSLBMDA Training Center Through ComplyAbility
Introducing the MSLBMDA’s “Training Center”
Online Training, Testing and Performance TrackingA Benefit Exclusively for Mountain States Lumber and Building Material Dealers’ Members We are proud to announce a new member service – the MSLBMDA Training Center. What is the Training Center?The Training Center is an online training, testing and performance tracking system. Powered by ComplyAbility®, this dynamic training system is now available as a benefit for every MSLBMDA member. By using your assigned user name and password, you can access the system AND create a “user account” for every employee. The Training Center has been populated with a number of training modules that employers and employees alike should take. Some modules are designed specifically for management and some are designed for employees. Logging Into the MSLBMDA Training Center SystemThe Training Center is easy to use. Visit the MSLBMDA home page on the Internet at www.mslbmda.org. Click on the “Training Center” icon. You will be immediately linked to the MSLBMDA Training Center Registration Page. Just complete the form and click the “Submit” button. You will then be able to input your “user name” and “password” (that you have established), and log into the system. Once in the system, just point and click on any topic. We suggest that the first thing to do is review the “Using the System” module. You will be able to add all of your employees as users (each will have their own user name and password). There is a brief quiz at the end of each training module. Successful completion of a module is automatically tracked by the system providing you with documentation that your employees are trained and that you have complied with your training responsibilities. Upgrading Your SystemMSLBMDA members are provided with a “Basic” ComplyAbility System as a benefit of your membership. Members can upgrade to the full system including 200+ training modules, hundreds of business forms, manuals and guides, toll free access to HR professionals, and much more at any time. Learn all about this dynamic HR, regulatory compliance, training, testing, performance tracking and reporting system via the “Customizing the System” module. Upgraded Full System Pricing for MSLBMDA MembersMSLBMDA members electing to adopt the full ComplyAbility system can do so at an extremely affordable price. Regular retail pricing is $1,795 (one-time setup) and $9.00 per month per employee. However as a member of the MSLBMDA, that price is reduced to just $895 (one-time setup) and $5.00 per month per employee!
The ComplyAbility system is the key to the delivery of training to your employees. In addition, your employees will be tested and their performance tracked, thus guaranteeing compliance with a seemingly never ending list of federally mandated training requirements.

For more information contact ComplyAbility at: 1-800/708-6460
or CLICK HERE.
How Do Your Salaries and Benefits
Compare To Others In The Business?
In response to requests for an update of our regional compensation and benefits report, we are conducting another vitally important and confidential Compensation and Benefits Survey. The results of this survey will be helpful to you in setting guidelines for the coming year.
Salary detail will be reported by state, with low, middle and high range for each of the categories of employment listed. It is important that you provide as much detail as possible so the calculations can be made. Use your year end projections for any questions that require year end information that may not yet be available. Also, for those of you representing locations in multiple states, please use a separate copy of the form to report each state’s statistics individually.
Participants will receive one FREE COPY of this detailed survey report. Simply complete the form and make sure to include the survey response card. Additional copies of the report may be purchased by those who participated for $50 each. Your response card ensures confidentiality as the card is separated from the questionnaire and assures your receipt of the report. CLICK HERE TO GO TO SURVEY AND RESPONSE CARD.
Colorado Lien Rights Remain Intact
During last year's legislative session a developer-backed bill was brought forward in Colorado that if passed would have made Colorado a pre-lien state requiring a 20-day look back – one of the shortest for states requiring preliminary notices. The bill as it was initially drafted did not contain a requirement for the Owner or Principal Contractor to record a notice with their "notice" information in the public records or to post such a "notice" at the job site so that the subcontractors and suppliers know to whom the preliminary notice was to be sent. It did however require notice to one of the following in order to comply: "owner, or reputed owner, or to the superintendent of construction, agent, architect, or to the financing institution or other person disbursing construction funds." Most subcontractors and suppliers do not have this information.
Armed with comments from several of our MSLBMDA members, MSLBMDA Executive VP Geri Adams had the opportunity along with lien attorney Jean Arnold to testify in front of the House Committee on Economic and Business Development. Thankfully that bill was killed in committee. The Committee however charged all interested parties to meet over the summer to see if we could reach a compromise on the issue.
At a series of stakeholder meetings throughout the summer, the MSLBMDA represented our members and fought hard to maintain lien rights on your behalf. MSLBMDA Executive Vice President Geri Adams and lien attorney Jean Arnold, along with representatives from other industry groups – Home Builders Association, Associated General Contractors, Aggregate groups, Title Company interests, etc. - met to take another hard look at preliminary notice changes being proposed by the developer/contractor groups and try and come up with some compromise language that would not jeopardize your current lien rights. During these stakeholder sessions, initially the bill being brought forward by the developers and HBA would have required a 10-day pre-lien notice being filed for you to maintain your rights down the road which would essentially have put our members in the position of filing a pre-lien notice on every job! It also contained language that would have required pre-lien compliance on projects where the lien claimant supplied materials with a $5,000 minimum threshold. Needless to say, either scenario would have resulted in monumental paperwork for our dealers in order to maintain the right to lien.
We fought hard for a look back of 60-90 days rather than 10 and an increase in the minimum threshold amounts to $20,000 on residential projects and a much higher amount on commercial projects.
After working hard to maintain our members' lien rights we were very pleased to get notification from the Home Builders Association's Government Affairs Committee that they had removed mechanics’ liens as a proactive item from their 2012 legislative agenda and as such would not be proceeding with a bill on this issue!
NEW! Member A/R Solutions Program Through AmerAssist
AmerAssist A/R Solutions, Inc. – a new Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association recommended service provider – and the programs they offer our lumber and building materials dealers. AmerAssist is one of the nation’s leading providers of accounts receivable solutions and collections. We specialize in our industry. In today’s challenging economic conditions, it’s more important and necessary than ever before to protect your organization’s cash flow. AmerAssist offers you full-service cash flow management and collection programs designed to work as an extension of your internal staff to recover and safeguard your delinquent receivables. AmerAssist has developed a program specifically for MSLBMDA members. In addition, members are eligible for exclusive member discounts. The AmerAssist program offers important credit and collection benefits including:

Full-service collections including calls by professional collectors during the daytime, evenings and weekends as necessary to recover your money.
Fees as low as 10% regardless of the size of the account.
Custom Account Auditing to quickly recover accounts without customer alienation.
Every available remedy including filing non-responsive debtors with credit bureaus nationally and litigation, when appropriate, at AmerAssist’s expense.
Our Internet-based programs are easy to use and are a cost-effective alternative to liens to quickly bring money back into your business

For additional information, or to schedule a no-obligation receivables analysis, simply contact AmerAssist at (877) 207-9215 or on the web at www.amerassist.com/ars/affinity. We appreciate your consideration and know you will find AmerAssist’s services a valuable business tool. Thanks so much! CLICK HERE FOR INFO.

MSLBMDA's 2013 Expo Scheduled March 7-8th in Denver
"Just Keep Swingin" is the theme for the 2013 Products Expo scheduled March 7-8th in the Expo Hall at the Denver Merchandise Mart. The Mart is located at 451 E 58th Avenue in Denver, CO 80216. We are looking forward to another great gathering and greatly appreciate our 2012 Exhibitor Partners in making this event the premiere industry event in our region.

Vendors please CLICK HERE to view the basic details and to sign up for space the Expo.

For Information On Industry Education and Training Through the MSLBMDA
GO TO CALENDAR PAGE LINK FROM HOME PAGE

Check the Calendar Page often since we will be adding more classes continually! Give us a call if there is something specific we can help you with that you don't see scheduled. Thanks so much!