Today, the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. (ABC ) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) sent a joint letter to members of the U.S. House and Senate on the issue of small business lending. Contractors and builders need money to fund new projects, and these two associations are looking for leadership from congress. Read their insightful thoughts below:

Dear Representative:

On behalf of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. (ABC) and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), we write to express our deep and ongoing concerns about the difficult capital and lending environment for America’s small businesses.

Throughout the economic crisis, ABC and ICBA have called on Congress to support policies that promote small-business lending and job creation. Access to capital continues to be a major concern for America’s small-business entrepreneurs. Tax policy uncertainty and a more oppressive regulatory environment have made it even more difficult to fund private sector projects. With the construction industry unemployment rate at 20.7 percent and a loss of nearly 1.9 million construction jobs since December 2007, policies that foster job creation and economic growth must remain a top priority.

Many ABC members have viable, low risk projects and/or contracts that simply need funding in order for work to commence. Generally, ABC small business owners rely on community banks for capital. During the crisis, it has been a priority for community banks to remain committed to serving local small businesses. However, community banks are facing the toughest regulatory environment in decades. Although community banks were not part of the risky lending practices that led to the financial crisis, federal banking agencies are over-regulating the community banking sector and jeopardizing lending. As a result, many community banks are hampered in their ability to support full funding for qualified small business customers that have received loans in the past.

ABC and ICBA both agree that overly burdensome federal regulations negatively impact the economy. We support a return to a more balanced regulatory environment that would allow community banks to continue to serve the needs of their local customers—small businesses. In fact, community banks support 31 percent of all small business loans that are less than $1 million. During this time of economic recovery, it is critical that small businesses have access to such funds.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and give Americans a sense of pride and accomplishment in our country. Many community banks have relationships with small construction firms and are anxious to make good loans in order to spur job creation.

During the 112th Congress, ABC and ICBA look forward to working with you as you develop initiatives to best support small business lending and economic growth.

Sincerely,

M. Kirk Pickerel
President and CEO
Associated Builders

Camden R. Fine
President and CEO
Independent Community Bankers
and Contractors of America

Fatalities in the construction industry, including fatal transportation incidents, are some the most frequent type of fatal work-related events in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminarily reported 1,682 fatal transportation incidents in the construction industry in 2009. In Canada, The Centre for the Study of Living Standards reported 20.6 deaths per 100,000 workers in the construction industry workers from 1993 to 2005.

Human flaggers and police officers directing traffic on construction sites put themselves in harm’s way every time they step into the roadway. They are often struck by passing vehicles or construction vehicles.  In the U.S. alone, 265 workers were struck and killed on the job in 2009. In November 2010, a Hamilton, Ontario flagger was struck by a drunk driver, thrown into a backhoe and killed just days before his 60th birthday.    

In an effort to reduce the number of tragedies caused by drunk driving and other driver impairments, contractors and municipalities across North America are replacing human flaggers with Automated Flagger Assistance Devices (AFADs) and specifically remote controlled flagging devices.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation granted approval of AFADs, including North America Traffic’s Remote Controlled Flagman, model RCF 2.4, which allows contractors to use the device on roadways in Canada since 1994.  The (U.S.) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) included AFADs the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The Manual defines the standards used by road managers nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all public streets, highways, bikeways and private roads open to public traffic. States must adopt the 2009 National MUTCD as their legal State standard for traffic control devices by this year.

“As we work to eliminate drunk driving, contractors should use mechanical flaggers to keep human flaggers alive,” Peter Vieveen, president of North America Traffic. 

Remote controlled flagmen protect workers as well as drivers in several ways:

1. First, they are operated by radio remote control from a distance of up to 1000 ft, allowing the flagger to stand off the roadway and out of danger from passing vehicles or construction vehicles backing up in the work zone.

2. One operator can control multiple units at a distance by remote control or one operator can control traffic at one end of the work zone with a stop slow paddle and control the unit at the opposite end with a remote control.

3. Drivers can see remote controlled flagmen at a further distance than human flaggers, providing them more time to slow down or stop. Remote controlled flagmen typically have red and yellow signals, so they are easily recognizable. When fully erected the signal head sits 9 ft high.

4. The cost of the remote controlled flagman has dropped in the last few years and new technology makes them very quick and easy to set up, often requiring less than a minute to set up a single device. They run on battery power charged by solar panels and provide ample runtime during the construction season. The devices are trailer-mounted and compact with tandem towing capability.

Remote control flagman devices have already been used on thousands projects throughout North America. As long as the majority of construction projects involve working on or near roads that are already in use, this safety concern will continue to grow. As more contractors and municipalities become aware of the remote controlled flagman’s safety benefits, they will become a mainstay in the road and bridge construction industry.

“Whenever I can I use a flagging device instead of a human flagger. It doesn’t make sense putting my workers at risk when I don’t have to”, said Del Voth of Peninsula Construction.

As fuel prices rise and emission reduction standards increase, a variety of options for on-road light-, medium-, and heavy-duty trucks are available to meet government requirements and marketplace demands. Trucks fueled by propane autogas are one such alternative, proven to exceed performance expectations and environmental standards.

Want to learn more? Live in the Seattle area? Well, the latest alternative fuel workshop for fleet managers hosted by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) and the other members of the Alternative Fuels Trade Alliance will take place January 20 in Seattle. The free workshop will be held in the Summit Ballroom of the Holiday Inn Seattle-Seatac International Airport, 17338 International Blvd. This will be No. 12 in a nationwide series of 14 training seminars in 2010 and 2011, made possible by a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Energy Department. The workshops address alternative fuel quality, infrastructure, available vehicles, safety, the latest technologies and the environmental impact of propane autogas, ethanol, biodiesel and compressed natural gas.

“This is the year to go green for American fleet managers. By bringing together four alternative fuel industries, we can train fleet managers on available options and how alternative fuels can meet their needs,” says Brian Feehan, vice president of PERC. “We all benefit when we have a cleaner environment and less dependence on imported oil.”

At the conclusion of the workshop, fleet managers will have the opportunity to get inside vehicles that run on propane autogas and other alternative fuels. The Alternative Fuels Trade Alliance comprises PERC, the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Biodiesel Foundation and the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation.

Each full-day collaborative workshop involves a site in the Energy Department’s Clean Cities program, which uses local coalitions to promote training on alternative fuels such as propane autogas. The Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition will host the January 20 workshop. Remaining workshop sites for 2011 are Orlando, Fla., and Kansas City, Mo.

Vehicles fueled by propane autogas, the most widely used alternative fuel, emit up to 12 percent less carbon dioxide, about 20 percent less nitrogen oxide and up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide than gasoline-powered vehicles.

To register for the Seattle workshop or another upcoming workshop, or to view an archived webcast, visit www.altfuelsalliance.org. For more information on PERC and its propane autogas programs, visit www.autogasusa.org.

Farmers are faced with new challenges and opportunities every day -- from feeding an expanding global population while meeting strict new emissions requirements, to producing more food on fewer acres while minimizing their environmental footprint. As part of its commitment to help farmers meet their challenges, Case IH issued a survey to gather farmers’ perspectives on the leading issues impacting their operations. Case IH offered the survey to a group of farmer guests attending this year's Ag Connect Expo, as well as to farmers visiting www.CaseIH.com.

“The survey results not only help define the challenges facing farmers today, but also identify future opportunities,” says Jim Walker, Case IH vice president of North America. “Farmer input is crucial for Case IH to develop equipment and technologies that fit farmers’ diverse needs, and allow them to farm the way they want to. Case IH’s producer-driven innovations help farmers solve their challenges so they can succeed.”

Issues identified in the survey include:
1. Supplying the growing global demand for commodities arising from developing economies and world population growth
2. Availability and price of land for expansion
3. New government mandates and regulations
4. Stability, development and fluctuations in global financial markets
5. Impact of global trade policies on food security and the supply and demand for commodities
6. Development and use of bio-based fuels

Farmers were asked to rank the top issues that would impact their business, both in the next year and five years out. The number one issue is new government mandates and regulations, with nearly 30 percent of the Ag Connect farmer group ranking it as having the most impact on their business within the next year. Availability and price of land for expansion, and stability, development and fluctuations in global financial markets are tied, with 24 percent of respondents ranking them as the second most impactful issue.

For the Ag Connect farmers’ five-year impact projections, new government mandates and regulations top the list again, with 33 percent ranking it as the most impactful. Nearly 24 percent of respondents rank availability and price of land for expansion as the second most impactful. Other key findings from the Ag Connect survey:

1. Nearly 25 percent of respondents indicate that equipment dealers/experts will be one of the top advisors to influence their decision making, along with their financial advisor and agronomist advisors.
2. 89 percent anticipate operation growth in the next five years

While the Ag Connect survey attracted primarily large farmers -- 65 percent report farming more than 5,000 acres, and all have a minimum of 1,000 tillable acres -- the CaseIH.com survey attracted more mid-size and smaller-acreage farmers. More than 70 percent of online survey respondents identify themselves as “predominantly cash grain producers,” of which nearly 54 percent farm 1,000 acres or less, and more than 41 percent farm between 1,000 and 5,000 acres.

About 25 percent of CaseIH.com survey respondents rank availability and price of land for expansion as having the most impact on their business within the next year, followed by stability, development and fluctuations in global financial markets (21 percent). Other top issues include new government mandates and regulations and supplying the growing global demand for commodities arising from developing economies and world population growth.

Their five-year impact projections not only track closely to the rankings for business impacts within the next year, but also emulate the Ag Connect survey results. Online respondents rank availability and price of land for expansion (26 percent) and new government mandates and regulations (21 percent) as the top issues impacting their business in the next five years. Another key finding from the CaseIH.com survey: almost 82 percent anticipate operation growth in the next five years.

The latest research study “Win-Win: Project Delivery in a Recession and Beyond” from FMI, the largest provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, found that the recession has at least temporarily changed the momentum of the trend toward greater use of collaborative delivery methods in favor or low-bid or design/bid/build.

Contractors especially warn that this changing trend may have repercussions in raising the “cost of conflict.” With more contractors chasing fewer projects, owners find themselves in a buyers’ market for construction services. Under pressure to get the lowest price for their project, owners are looking for the lowest bid, and often that means a greater use of the traditional design/bid/build delivery method.

In this new study of construction delivery methods, FMI asked both owners and contractors about changes in delivery methods since the recession. One conclusion of this study is that a solitary focus on low-bid doesn’t always mean lowest overall project cost.

However, owners are under pressure to do more for less. According to both owners and contractors, recessionary pressures could be a setback for greater collaboration and cause greater conflict pitting owners against contractors in the bidding game. For contractors, it is still an uphill climb to reduce the perception that low price is the most important factor in construction procurement. While all owners seek the best value for their capital investments, many understand that greater collaboration leads to more project success.

In a low bid environment, it is likely that more contractors will go bankrupt. Those that survive will be more productive and efficient in low bid markets and make better use of collaborative and partnering methods to deliver best value.

Download the report here: “Win-Win: Project Delivery in a Recession and Beyond”

With the year coming to a close and an uncertain economic future looming, many small businesses are looking for tips on how to make 2011 a better year than 2010.  In an effort to help its numerous small and medium sized business customers, Sage Software has launched Project Remedy, a program in which Sage customers are contacted PROACTIVELY by Sage and advised about the many issues that small businesses face when closing out a new year. Here are a list of some of those office-focused tips by Curtis Cochran, Manager of Customer Support at Sage Peachtree

For the Fiscal Year
1. Complete all transactions for the year including Payroll, A/P, A/R as well as any General Journal entries that are required. If you have Fixed Assets, run depreciation and post to the General Ledger.

2. Reconcile necessary GL accounts against bank statements to ensure accuracy before closing the year. In many cases, once the year is closed, businesses are unable to make adjustments.

3. Print any Year End Reports needed for historical purposes. Additionally, backup your data and store in secure location.

4. Review Year End reports and make any adjusting entries needed prior to closing the year. This is often done with the assistance of a CPA or accounting professional.

Payroll Year
1. Complete the final payroll run of the year and create 4th Quarter reporting and filings.

2. Run Year End Reporting and prepare W2’s, 940’s, 1099’s and other Year End filings that the Federal and State governments require

3. If there are changes to tax rates or limits that need to be adjusted, businesses will need to either update software or manually adjust any rates or limits that may be changing for the coming year

4. Many companies provide vacation and sick time at the beginning of each year. This is an optimal time to make any adjustments or changes to businesses setup prior to the first payroll run of the year.

General
1. It is always a good idea to do database maintenance at year end. Purge out old data and run diagnostics to ensure the data is in good working order before beginning the new year.

2. Many companies prefer to make software and computer upgrades at year end once they have finalized everything. It is advisable to perform these types of activities when business activity is at its lowest to reduce downtime.

Who should you vote for this November 2? It’s a difficult decision – especially with all the mind-numbing attack ads overwhelming local television and radio stations right now. Well, when it comes to supporting the construction industry, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) have done all the dirty work for you.

The Associated Builders and Contractors’ Political Action Committee (ABC PAC) announced last week it has endorsed 253 congressional candidates for the 2010 elections – a slate including 25 running for the U.S. Senate and 228 vying for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We are proud to support all these candidates for Congress,” said Michelle Seward Davis, 2010 ABC PAC chairman and CFO for Joeris General Contractors, San Antonio, Texas. “We believe that each one of these pro-business individuals will be strong advocates for free enterprise and open competition.”

Candidates endorsed by ABC PAC agreed to: oppose project labor agreements, a special interest handout to construction labor unions; protect the voting rights of construction employees during union organizing campaigns; support legislation that would give construction companies access to the same health care options as large corporations and unions; and support small business tax relief, among other items.

“We are confident that each of these candidates is committed to cutting government spending, lowering taxes and creating jobs – a focus that our country and economy need. Families, small business owners and their employees being represented by these 253 individuals would benefit from their strong leadership,” said Seward Davis.

To view the entire list of candidates endorsed by ABC PAC for the 2010 election cycle, go here.

Diesel emission regulations have been big news in the construction industry for the last decade, and California has been at the forefront, trying to interpret and push emission legislation (specifically for off-road construction equipment). Now it seems the state has pushed a little too hard. Throughout the summer and into the fall, representatives from the Air Resources Board and the Associated General Contractors of America trade organization (AGC) discussed and agreed on proposed changes to the state’s landmark “off-road” regulation, offering affected businesses additional time and more flexible options when it comes to compliance with retrofitting machines with more modern, cleaner burning engine systems.

“This marks a new chapter for California and its effort to clean up emissions from diesel engines. We applaud the AGC for showing leadership on this issue and recognizing that California needs to control all sources of diesel emissions,” said ARB chairman Mary Nichols. 

First adopted in July 2007, the rule affects the state’s estimated 150,000 off-road vehicles used in construction, mining, airport ground support and other industries. It calls for installation of diesel soot filters and the replacement of older, dirtier engines with newer emission-controlled models to curb diesel exhaust. Improvements were originally scheduled to begin in March 2010 for larger fleets, with medium and small-sized fleets having staggered implementation through 2015.

Many felt the program was too stringent (especially in today’s uneasy construction economy), so AGC and the staff of the California Air Resources Board reached an agreement on proposed changes to the state’s off-road diesel rule designed to give the local construction industry time to recover from the recession while protecting air quality. The proposed changes, which will need approval from the board in December, provides needed relief for an industry that has lost four out of every 10 jobs since the start of the downturn, and still lowers emissions below the levels that the Board originally sought to achieve.

“The proposed changes promise relief for struggling construction workers and improvements for the state’s air quality,” said Mike Kennedy, the association’s general counsel, noting that the association will continue to work with board staff on some of the details of the complex proposal. Kennedy explained that the proposed changes are based on new and far lower estimates of the emissions from the off-road diesel equipment in the construction industry. The association developed the new estimates earlier this year, and over the summer the board staff largely confirmed them. “The new estimates provided a common starting point for changes that everyone agreed the data should drive,” Kennedy said.

The proposed changes call for the Board to delay its emissions standards for off-road diesel equipment until 2014, to ease the annual burden employers have to bear, and to give contractors greater flexibility in determining how to comply. The proposed changes also call for the Board to give contractors credit for the efforts they have already made to reduce emissions and to reward contractors for voluntarily reducing emissions before 2014.

Politics is the name of the game this week. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis issued the following statement on the September 2010 Employment Situation report released yesterday:

"This past September, nonfarm payroll employment edged down 95,000 jobs, but the economy gained 64,000 jobs in the private sector, and the unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent. In the six months before the President took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. We now have added private sector jobs for nine straight months, totaling 863,000 private sector jobs since the beginning of the year. While we need to pick up the pace of recovery to erase the job losses and get Americans back to work, this encouraging growth shows that we are headed in the right direction.

"To continue our commitment to American workers, this week, the president announced the Skills for America's Future initiative that will make it easier to connect students looking for jobs with businesses looking to hire. Our community colleges serve as a gateway to good jobs for millions of middle class Americans, and this initiative will dramatically improve private sector partnerships with community colleges to maximize workforce development strategies, increase job placement and ensure American competiveness.

"As the secretary of labor, I have traveled around the country to observe many of the innovative ways that community colleges are training American workers. At the Department of Labor, we work with community colleges across the country to provide apprenticeship training and job training skills.

"Working together through many of our One-Stop Career Centers, community colleges have been a strategic partner in providing the necessary training for our nation's workforce. And I'm proud to say that in the last 18 months, more than 1 million program participants — who were unemployed at participation — in our Workforce Investment Act Adult, Dislocated Worker, National Emergency Grant and Older Youth programs have obtained employment within three months of their program exit.

"While we are working to speed the pace of job creation and hiring, we continue to work for small businesses. This commitment is reflected in the Small Business Jobs bill the president signed last week — a bill that represents the most significant step on behalf of our small businesses in more than a decade.

"In addition, last week we learned that the Recovery Act has been so efficient in distributing its funds that 3,000 more projects have been funded than originally anticipated. Consequently, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has noted, the Recovery Act is on track to meet the administration's goal of preserving 3.5 million jobs by the end of the year.

OEMs of all shapes and sizes establish dealer councils as formalized sounding boards to place common issues on the table for discussion and resolution. Some of these councils fail from the get-go as they become expensive complaint departments for every uncommon issue under the sun. Other more successful councils are as well oiled as the equipment they support, spawning better products, services and above all, communication between the parties involved – OEM, dealer and end-user.

According to Mike Greene, vice president and COO for fast-growing KIOTI Tractor of Wendell, N.C.: “We understand the dealer council philosophy and work very hard to develop an informative, smooth-running and productive dealer council. The council is our firm commitment to both the dealer network and end-users we both serve and is paramount in our thinking as we grow this exciting brand.”

Proof of those statements is the fact that, for the first time in its history, the KIOTI dealer council has added an important mid-year meeting to get together and help move issues through the system faster, keeping up with the growth of the company. Host of this initial mid-year event was Wichita Tractor Co. with its headquarters office in Wichita, Kan., and branch in Hutchinson, Kan. Wichita Tractor was selected for both its level of excellence and convenient location in the heartland of America.
 
Don McCullough, owner of Wichita Tractor and current council chairman, hosted the meeting portion of the event at the beautiful Marriott Courtyard in Wichita’s Old Town. 

“We were proud to be able to showcase both our city and our operation during this event.  The meeting went extremely well and was very productive,” said McCullough. “All of the other council members own and/or operate dealerships across North America and many of them have had prior dealer council experience with other OEMs. So this council runs pretty smoothly. They understand that the purpose of the council is to help the company help us, enabling all of us to do a better job for our customers.”
 
As do most meetings in the equipment world, this one focused on the primary categories that make a business run: market and economic concerns, parts and service support, financing, warranty, inventory controls at both levels, delivery and shipping, training and other support activities, new products and of course, the product line itself. 

“That latter line item on the agenda didn’t get a lot of attention at this meeting,” said McCullough. “The KIOTI tractor line can go toe to toe and nose to nose with every competitive line in the business. It’s a well designed and built product. And a relatively low maintenance line for dealers to handle. There isn’t a dealer I know who isn’t proud to market this brand.”
 
Greene was equally proud of KIOTI’s dealer network and was especially thankful for all the effort McCullough and the other council members had put in to this meeting specifically and council functions in general. Greene points out that “As we are committed to our dealer network and council, these guys are committed to us. It is this synergy that has enabled KIOTI to grow and based on what we saw in Wichita, things are going to get even better. The council brought some great ideas to the table. We’ll take the knowledge we gained at this meeting, share it with our key people back in Wendell and work hard to make things go a bit smoother for our dealers and their customers.”
 
Following the sit-down portion of the meeting at the Courtyard, the group traveled out to the Wichita Tractor headquarters to tour another first-class KIOTI dealer operation. The next meeting will be held in early 2011 as a part of KIOTI’s annual dealer meeting.