Aug 15 2019
FAIRFIELD COUNTY HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION PARTNERS WITH JM WRIGHT TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL, RECIEVES GRANT

FAIRFIELD COUNTY HOME BUILDERS ASSOCIATION PARTNERS WITH JM WRIGHT TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL, RECIEVES GRANT

 Grant received from the National Housing Endowment will seek to help

impact the local skilled labor shortage.

Fairfield, CT, July 29, 2019 – The Home Builders & Remodelers Association (HBRA) of Fairfield County received a $2,500 grant from the National Housing Endowment with the purpose to expand student knowledge of career paths in the skilled trades. The association has teamed up with JM Wright Technical High School in Stamford, CT to provide opportunities to help match up employers with prospective employees.

Research conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) shows a scarcity of labor remains an important headwind for home builders and the entire construction industry. The median age of construction workers in Connecticut is 44, which is among the highest in the nation.

The grant will in part support an event planned for early February 6, 2020 to bring together members of the HBRA of Fairfield County and students to discuss opportunities in the different trades and what each career path holds. Scholarships will also be awarded to students who need tools or supplies for their new position or help with transportation costs to get to the job site. Scholarship funds can also be awarded for continuing education or certifications in the trades.

“The skilled labor shortage and aging workforce in the construction industry is challenging for our members but it is also affecting housing affordability nationwide. The partnership with JM Wright is critical to ensuring we are training the next generation of carpenters, plumbers & electricians. Hopefully this partnership will yield more of our members hiring students and showing the next generation there are great jobs available in our industry that don’t require 4 years of college” said Jackie Bertolone, Executive Officer of the HBRA of Fairfield County.

Principal of JM Wright Technical, Dr. Phyllis Bartoli released the following statement: “JM Wright Technical High School holds our students to high standards so that they can achieve their personal best in both academics and the trades.  The partnership that has developed between JM Wright Technical High School and the HBRA of Fairfield County recognizes the power of students with the necessary skills to become critical thinkers and productive citizens. This power is strengthened and advanced through the cooperative relationships with businesses and industry in the local community of Fairfield county. In addition to the development of interpersonal skills, the students are well-prepared for post-secondary education, including apprenticeships and immediate productive employment.”

ABOUT:
HBRA of Fairfield County is a not-for-profit organization representing and advancing the interests of the home building, remodeling and land development industries in Fairfield County.

For more information or to register, call the office at (203) 335-7008 or e-mail: hbra@buildfairfieldcounty.com. To learn more about the HBRA organization, visit: www.BuildFairfieldCounty.com.

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Jul 26 2019
The Time Thieves

The Time Thieves By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

You have 24 hours in every day, seven days a week for a total of 168 hours to accomplish what needs to be done in your life. And every day, eleven time thieves gang up on you and work to take some of that precious time away from productive use. Let me introduce you to this inconsiderate troupe.

  1. Poor planning. People don’t plan to fail but a lot of people fail to plan. Without a plan of action set up before your day begins you are likely to get caught up in “stuff”, responding the loudest voice that gets your time and attention. Will you have been productive for the day? Sure, but not as productive as you might have been.
  2. Crisis management. When a deadline sneaks up on you it robs you of all choice and you are controlled by the clock. Crisis management, for the most part, is poor time management because you’re rushed and stressed, letting things slip through the cracks and often having to go back and redo what was not done well in the first place. Most of what puts you into crisis management is within your control, you probably could have seen it coming.
  3. Procrastination. All the planning in the world does not substitute for the doing. Many find that they just can’t get going on the things that will make a big difference in their success. They have “permanent potential”. First thing in your day, get going on the most difficult tasks and get them out of the way.
  4. Interruptions. Unanticipated events coming your way, in person or electronically, can steal your time away. Many interruptions are necessary and part of what you get paid for. However, many are unnecessary thieves of your time. Be less willing to automatically give away your time just because they demand it. Rather, determine whether or not they deserve it in the context of what you need to accomplish.
  5. Not delegating. “If you want a job done well you better do it yourself.” What a thief! Look at everything you have to do and ask, “Is this the best use of my time?” If it is, do it. If not, delegate it. There’s a world of difference between “I do it” and “It gets done.” Leverage your time through others and don’t allow the things that can be delegated to steal your time.
  6. Unnecessary meetings. If two or more people get together and nothing productive comes of the time spent together, that meeting was unnecessary and, sadly, most meetings are time thieves. Before meeting ask, “Is it really necessary?” If it is, then meet but take action as a result of the meeting and not let it be a time bandit.
  7. The “shuffling blues”. Many people manage their time through piles. Piles of paper on their desk. Piles of “to be read” emails on their computer and lots of “to be heard” voicemails stored away. The piles require frequent review creating the shuffling blues which surrenders valuable time. Keep a clean work environment. When encountering something new, schedule it to your day planner under the day you plan to tackle it and then put it away so you are out of piling up the shuffling blues.
  8. Poor physical setup. Not having the things you need the most often within arm’s reach can cause you to waste a lot of time wearing out the carpet retrieving what you frequently need. And of course, as you pass others they will often pull you aside to steal some of your time. Have the most needed stuff near by, within arm’s reach and save that stolen time.
  9. Poor networking. Quality relationships with others can be a huge time saver as they open doors for you with all kinds of opportunities. Failing to develop a good network base will cause you to waste time creating what you might have had through your network of contacts. Be a good networker. Help them whenever possible. You want a friend? You have to be a friend.
  10. Bad attitude. Nothing sinks a day more effectively than having a poor attitude. It causes you to dwell on the problems and not the solutions and makes it possible to throw the day away. When you are burdening others with your problems and complaints you are stealing your time and theirs. And the truth is that when you complain to others, 85% of them generally don’t care and the other 15% may actually be glad it’s happening to you.
  11. Negative people. Some people are the life of the party and some people are the death of the party. The problem with having negative people around you is you wind up spending a lot of your time listening to their complaints rather than focusing on your success.

Arrest each of these time thieves. Sentence them to solitary confinement and re-claim your productive time. You deserve it.

Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

Certified Executive Coach
Author, "Organizing Your Life" and "The Productivity Handbook"
Productivity Institute
Time Management Seminars
127 Jefferson St.
Stratford, CT 06615
(203) 386-8062
(800) 969-3773
ctsem@msn.com
http://www.balancetime.com
Follow me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timemanagement
Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/timeguy

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Jul 1 2019
Statement from NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde on President Trump’s Housing Affordability Executive Order

Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Torrington, Conn., attended today’s signing ceremony at the White House and issued the following statement after President Trump signed his executive order on housing affordability:

“NAHB applauds President Trump for making housing a top national priority. With housing affordability near a 10-year low, the president’s executive order on this critical issue underscores that the White House is ready to take a leading role to help resolve the nation’s affordability crisis.

“Given that homeownership historically has been part of the American dream and a primary source of wealth for most American households, the need to tackle ongoing affordability concerns is especially urgent. As we celebrate National Homeownership Month, we must ensure that homeownership remains in reach for younger and future generations. This can be achieved by providing access to affordable rental housing and growing the inventory of for-sale housing, particularly at the entry-level.

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Jun 13 2019
Rent Control Legislation Heats Up Amid Affordability Concerns

Rents for apartments and single-family homes are rising nearly as fast as home prices. As already high rents climb higher, frustrated renters may move further away from employment centers or look for smaller apartments.

But that doesn’t solve the larger problems of low supply for a growing number of renters and would-be renters choosing to remain in their parents’ homes.

Exacerbating the issue is increased legislative interest in rent control — which, rather than addressing affordable housing issues, often creates more challenges, including reduced supply of available units and reduced income to states and municipalities because of slowed or halted development.

Last year in California, a statewide rent control initiative was narrowly defeated, but the issue remains on the legislative agenda. And many additional cities and states are exploring legislation in this arena as an intended affordable housing solution.

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Jun 12 2019
Tough Legislative Session for Small Business

The 2019 Connecticut legislative session was an extremely challenging one for businesses, particularly small business.

And it's one that CBIA president and CEO Joe Brennan says the state "cannot afford to repeat if we want a strong economy and robust job growth."

The 2019 Connecticut legislative session was an extremely challenging one for businesses, particularly small business.

And it's one that CBIA president and CEO Joe Brennan says the state "cannot afford to repeat if we want a strong economy and robust job growth."

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Jun 3 2019
Builders Call on Congress to Address Housing Affordability Challenges

As the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) celebrates National Homeownership Month in June, builders are urging Congress to address America’s housing affordability challenges.

“Removing regulatory barriers that contribute to the increased costs of housing will pave the way to homeownership,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Greg Ugalde, a builder and developer from Torrington, Conn. “Home builders and the residential construction community are committed to working with Congress to ensure homeownership is within reach of hard working families.”

Rising costs from excessive regulation, a shortage of construction workers, tariffs on $10 billion worth of building materials, and housing finance concerns have detrimental effects on housing affordability. NAHB analysis shows that regulatory requirements alone account for 25 percent of the price of a single-family home, and 30 percent of the cost of a multifamily development.

Even with lower mortgage interest rates, housing affordability is relatively the same as it was a year ago. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found only 61% of new and existing homes were affordable to a typical household. The current homeownership rate (64.2 percent) remains below the 25-year average rate (66.3 percent), according to the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS).

More than half (53 percent) of buyers actively searching for a home in the first quarter of 2019 have been looking for three months or longer, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report (HTR). Home buyers say high home prices are the principal barrier to homeownership. A majority (78 percent) of buyers estimated they could afford fewer than half of the homes for-sale in their markets finding a home. In the first quarter of 2019, prospective Millennial buyers are the likeliest cohort to expect house hunting to become easier in the months ahead (23 percent), followed by Gen X’ers (22 percent), Seniors (20 percent) and Boomers (18 percent), according to the HTR. About 20 percent of Millennials have plans to purchase a home in the next year, compared to only 15 percent of Gen X’ers, seven percent of Boomers, and three percent of Seniors.

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May 29 2019
Federal Flood Insurance Program Could Lapse and Jeopardize Home Sales

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is facing a short-term lapse and any home buyers who require federal flood insurance are encouraged to move any June closings up to May 31 if possible.

The NFIP is due to expire at 11:59 p.m. on May 31. The Senate has approved two bills to extend the program. The first bill is part of a disaster relief legislative package that would extend the NFIP through Sept. 30. The second bill is a stand-alone measure that provides for a two-week extension.

With Congress out of session this week for the Memorial Day recess, it appears the House will fail to gain a unanimous consent on a voice vote for the two-week extension. The House has tried twice to gain unanimous consent but was blocked by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.).

This could result in a short-term shutdown of the NFIP until Congress returns in the first week of June.

Congress requires all properties within the 100-year floodplain that are purchased with a federally backed mortgage to carry flood insurance. So a short-term shutdown means that insurers and insurance agents cannot sell or renew flood insurance policies backed by the program because of a lack of government funding. This means that new or renewing federal flood insurance policies will not be written during the lapse in the program.

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May 29 2019
Disaster Preparedness Must Focus on Upgrading Older Homes and Infrastructure

Disaster Preparedness Must Focus on Upgrading Older Homes and Infrastructure

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today called on Congress to focus on improving the older homes, structures and infrastructure that are less resilient to natural disasters because they were built when there were no national model codes in existence or constructed following codes that are now outdated.

“Sound building codes are already in place in most communities and they are doing their job,” said Randy Noel, NAHB immediate past chairman and a home builder and developer from LaPlace, La.

Testifying at a House hearing on disaster preparedness, Noel said that calling for newer and more stringent building codes to ease damages caused by natural disasters would do little to ease disaster mitigation efforts in vulnerable communities, increase housing costs, and ignore the root of the problem.

“Requiring the use of ‘latest published editions’ of certain codes or standards is too prescriptive,” said Noel. “New construction is built to more stringent codes and standards and is more resilient than older housing – a fact that FEMA and others have reported numerous times.”

What became readily apparent in the aftermath of the devastating hurricane season in 2017 and the California wildfires of last year is that properties that suffered the most damage were largely older housing stock. One hundred and thirty million homes out of the nation’s housing stock of 137 million were built before 2010, and therefore not subject to the modern building codes that are now in effect.

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May 17 2019
THE PRICE OF (NOT) TRAINING

By: Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

As a full-time Certified Contractor Business Coach for the last twenty-five years, I have been asked so many times, “How much does your training cost?” I have learned to reply, “Would “no charge” be too much?”

Training is not a cost. It’s an investment. It really doesn’t matter what we pay for an investment. What’s relevant is what we get in return. One of the best ways to jeopardize a company’s future in today’s world and increase the probability of troubled times is to look at training as a cost and pay the price of not training or provide substandard training that operates only as a Band-Aid for the training requirements. The most expensive training is often for the lowest bidder that does not deliver training that helps people to make changes to give an adequate return on the training dollars spent. Ineffective, inexperienced training at any cost is not a bargain.

It’s a simple principle. An organization’s staff is where they are currently, in terms of competence and success, in direct relationship to what they know and how well they apply what they know. The more we learn and the more we apply what we learn, the greater our success and thereby, the company’s success will been.

Some like to quantify the results from training. Here’s a good example. A person being paid $50,000 per year who is wasting just one hour per day is costing the company $6,250 per year (excluding benefits, overhead, opportunity costs, etc.). If that person can learn how to re-capture just one productive hour per day, that translates into a payback to the organization of $6,250 per year. If there is a crew of 25 people involved in the same training and they all receive a similar benefit, the return to the organization is $156,250 per year. (And this does not include other benefits to the organization such as profitability, reduced turnover, improved morale, enhanced teamwork, better customer service, greater creativity, etc.) Over five years, the payback is $781,250. What should an organization invest to achieve that return and payback?

Many find it difficult to get the time for training. This is another false economy. (They are so busy doing it the wrong way that they cannot take out a little time to figure out how to do it the right way.) When someone says they cannot afford to take time to go to training I know they are looking at that training as an “expense” and not as an “investment”.

Not so many years ago, training, beyond showing employees the basics of doing their job, was an option for most organizations. Today it is no longer an option. If any of us continues to do what we do the same way, without improvement, within five years many of us and our companies might become obsolete. Why? Because our competitors are helping their people to become more effective through training. If we look closely at the GC’s and Subs that are doing well in the long run, they almost always have in place a well thought out and executed training program for their people. They understand that the price for not training is the real expense of training.

Dr. Donald E. Wetmore
Certified Contractor Business Coach
Productivity Institute
127 Jefferson St.
Stratford, CT 06615
(203) 386-8062
(800) 969-3773

Email: ctsem@msn.com

Visit Our Time Management Supersite: http://www.balancetime.com

Follow me on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/timeguy

Follow me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/timemanagement Copyright 2019

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Apr 5 2019
Bipartisan Disapproval Over Trump Administration’s Housing Program Cuts

Lawmakers told Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Wednesday that there's little chance Congress will accept the Trump administration's plan to make deep cuts in housing and development programs.

The president's 2020 budget calls for eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program, the public housing capital fund and the HOME grant program for more affordable housing, for a one-year savings of more than $7 billion. But these programs are popular among lawmakers, especially local officials who say they desperately need money to help their low-income communities.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York noted that the administration's new housing budget echoed last year's proposal, which was rejected by Congress on a bipartisan basis. "This year, your proposal contains even deeper cuts and would greatly reduce public housing and end most community development block grants. It would lead to more people struggling to find affordable housing and more people falling into homelessness," she said .

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