Next Meeting

February Focus on Finance
By Jim Fitz-Patrick

Our speaker for this meeting, arranged by Executive Officer James Fitz-Patrick, is someone most of us know from previous meetings. He is Vincent DiMarco, President of DiMarco and Company, Inc. who comes to us each year to advise what is new in the tax service business. DiMarco and Company is located at 1207 Military Road in Niagara Falls (283-5537). Vince has been in business about 25 years and prior to forming his present company was in charge of the Niagara Falls Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).In addition to tax preparation and representation, DiMarco offers accounting services, payroll services, and estate and financial planning.

Our dinner will be maple pecan pork chops with all the trimmings. We will also offer a meatless meal for those who do not eat meat on Ash Wednesday. The cost of the dinner is $20 inclusive. Reservations, as always, are extremely important to assure proper seating arrangements and food preparation. Please be sure to advise if you want the meatless meal when you make your reservation. Final date to reserve is Friday, February 4th. Call Jim or Jenny at 283-0557 to make yours or fax them to us at 283-0733.

Dues

Bills for the 2005 dues were mailed out last week. We would appreciate your $400 check at your earliest convenience. As you are probably aware, your dues are split between the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) - $150, New York State Builders Association (NYSBA) - $135, and Niagara County Builders Association (NCBA) - $115. We thank you for your anticipated cooperation in this request.

Change of Address

Please be advised that Orville's Home Appliances has opened a new corporate warehouse and showroom located at 3979 Walden Avenue, Lancaster, NY 14086. You can contact Marty Gregoire at (716) 601-0610 or fax him at (716) 601-0614.

Mark Your Calendars

Two IMPORTANT dates to mark on your calendar - (1) Chairman Jim Kuryak of Niagara National Insurance advises that our annual golf tournament is tentatively scheduled for Monday, July 11th, at the Niagara Frontier Country Club. (2) Our other summer event - our annual picnic - is tentatively set for Wednesday, August 24, according to Chairman Larry Quigliano. Complete details will be available in the next couple of months - so stay tuned for all the details.

Remodeling

Riding on the heels of historically low interest rates and a solid level of consumer confidence, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index posted a strong fourth quarter. "This has been an amazing year for remodeling," said NAHB Remodeling Council Chairman Douglas Sutton, a remodeler in Springfield, Illinois. "With home sales remaining record-breaking, the major additions and alterations sector has kept many remodelers busy with continually growing backlogs. With the ongoing favorable interest rates, rising employment and household incomes, and high price appreciation rates, we expect the remodeling market to remain on a strong growth path," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. As in other recent quarters, the strength of remodeling activity was heavily concentrated in the owner-occupied components of the market.

Festival of Homes 2005

As we go to press, we do not have a chairperson for this special event, scheduled for September 2005. As most of you are aware, this home show is a very important showcase for our association. We trust someone will step forward and agree to chair this project. Past Chairman John Ennis has a complete layout on how to run a home show and therefore make it much easier to chair. A decision is necessary by the next Board meeting scheduled for February 9th, since a home show takes about six months preparation to be successful.

Special Notice - Call Before You Dig . . . It's the Law

Whether you're laying a foundation for a building or planting a tree, you must first check for the existence of underground utility lines and cables. If you or your contractors disrupt any of the lines, the results can be dangerous - and costly - to everyone. Call before you dig; toll free, 1-800-962-7962 in all areas of the state except New York City and Long Island.

Mall Home Show

We have been contacted by Julie Clark, the Marketing Director at the Summit Park Mall, in regards to having a home show at the mall like we had several years ago. The mall has a new owner since last September and since that time there have been 12 new stores opened. This matter can be discussed at our next Board meeting if we feel we are interested in doing this.

Resignation Notice

This is to advise that we have received the resignation of Brian D. Tomeny, of B&L Wholesale Supply, as a member of the Board of Directors of our Association. Anyone interested in filling this position is asked to contact President Stan Swogier (731-4240) or Executive Officer Jim Fitz-Patrick (283-0557) as soon as possible. This position on the Board runs until December 31, 2006.