Your Spring Home Maintenance Checklist

By Jason Bekebrede President, HBA of Greater Springfield For home owners, warmer weather means it’s time to get organized and tackle your spring home maintenance jobs early so you – and your home – can enjoy the change of seasons with minimal stress.  It can be daunting to take on a long list of chores…

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(In)stability in Special Trade Employment

NAHB tabulations of employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that nearly 1.4 million specialty trade (or subcontractor) employees left the industry from 2006 to 2011. In spite of the significant drop in the number of specialty trade employees observed in the BLS data on companies, annual statistics for specialty trade nonemployer…

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President’s Blog: NAHB Also Leading on Independent Contractor Issue

HBA President Matt Bailey

Note: This is part two of a two-part blog on this subject. To read part one, click here. As part of its advocacy program on your behalf, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is monitoring issues surrounding the status of independent contracting at the national level. There have been several federal developments on independent contractor status…

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President’s Blog: On the Horizon – Independent Contracting Under Fire

HBA President Matt Bailey

Note: This is part one of a two-part blog on this subject. To read part two, click here. Recently, I’ve seen a new issue emerging on the advocacy landscape for our industry which relies heavily on the independent contracting model. The U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are targeting small businesses like ours…

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Bailey to Host Breakfasts This Week and Next

HBA of Greater Springfield President Matt Bailey announced this week that he will host informal “rap session”-style breakfast gatherings in the weeks ahead with HBA members to gather feedback and input on association priorities. Breakfast is provided free of charge, but reservations are required, due to limited space availability. “There is nothing that is more…

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Bailey Blog: What does it mean to “Engage?”

HBA President Matt Bailey

Member engagement. What does that mean to me or my company? It is a fair question that many HBA members may be asking themselves about Tuesday’s special general membership meeting (Member Engagement Mixer). Let me try to explain this from my point of view. You see, my father had always been active in the HBA…

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Matt Bailey: ‘Membership Matters’ Blog Helps Members Help Members

HBA President Matt Bailey

I am passionate about HBA member engagement. If you were at the Clarion Hotel for the HBA’s February general membership meeting you know from my “State of the Association” remarks how strongly I believe that the most valuable thing we can do for our members is to actively engage them in their membership in the…

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Better Times Ahead

HBA President Matt Bailey

As we start a new decade, we look forward to better times ahead. The last three years have been a struggle in the construction industry, but with the lessons learned have made us all better and more efficient at what we do. That’s good news for you as you plan your next home improvement, remodel…

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Attack on Housing

Rusty MacLachlan

The sobering theme of National Association of Home Builders Fall Board of Directors meetings last week in New York is that housing as we know it is under direct attack by the federal government. The Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction that millions of home buyers have counted on since 1913 is on the Congressional chopping block.…

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President’s Blog: A Winning Season May Be Just Around the Corner

Rusty MacLachlan

“I’m just ready for all of this to be over.” Those words of pain have been uttered by many loyal St. Louis Cardinals fans recently. It’s become pretty obvious that our beloved team has given up. A quick look at the league standings only drive the point home. The team’s season is about to slide…

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Housing Conference Recap – Finding the New Normal

Rusty MacLachlan

The “good old days” of housing are gone for good. If you are waiting for the housing industry to get back to normal, you’re in for a surprise. It’s not going to happen. The old “normal” is gone, a new “normal” is evolving. Springfield’s 1st regional housing conference served as a road map for success…

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