Next Meeting

President's Message

It’s that time of year when things really start to get busy for us. New developments are being approved by local municipalities, improvements are being installed, homebuilders are busy putting together their sales for the new year, and suppliers are scheduling deliveries to ensure that they can meet builders’ needs on a timely basis.

For the NCBA it means providing all the support we can to our members, no matter what your position is in the homebuilding
industry. We do that by (1) planning our premier marketing event, the Parade of Homes; (2) keeping you informed on developments in
government at national, state and local levels; (3) providing a couple of breaks from your busy schedule with our golf outing and picnic; and (4) continuing to promote the homebuilding industry in Niagara County.

There are a couple of April dates I want you to mark on your calendars. We need your support
for the Direct Drive campaign on April 17, 18 & 19. If you can give us two hours on each of those days, come in, and help us work on building our membership. If you are personally not available, send us your best salesperson. Four teams of members will have a lot of fun challenging each other, and there will be some great prizes for the top membership recruiters. Call the office if you want to
learn more about Direct Drive or to sign up to participate. More details of the campaign are
available on page four of this newsletter.

Also coming in April is our second annual Industry Day on Thursday, April 26 at the Seneca Niagara Casino Hotel. This “builders industry only” show and seminar will include lunch and dinner, tabletop displays, first-class speakers, workshops on several topics, and the opportunity to meet and talk with others in our industry. The NCBA is joint sponsor with BNBA on this effort.

These two activities have great potential for increasing the size and strength of the NCBA, building our treasury, and giving us a stronger voice in Albany and Washington. If you are not already signed up, please do it as soon as possible. The insert in this newsletter can be used to sign up, or you can call the NCBA office.

Voters' Voice Provides Ready Access To Albany

NYSBA’s website has a feature called Voters’ Voice that provides instant access to New York State legislators in Albany. The feature has drafts of letters and emails that can be sent directly to legislators on a wide variety of issues that affect the homebuilding industry. For example, on March 16 we received an urgent request from NYSBA to contact our state legislators concerning a bill in the Assembly to require that contractors on public works projects pay the prevailing wage. As NYSBA attorneys were interpreting the bill, the Assembly version expands the scope of the law,
which could place the requirement on some of our members to pay the prevailing wage. This would have an incredibly detrimental effect on housing costs. We learned that Senator George Maziarz had sponsored the original bill, which the Senate has passed, and is now in the Assembly. We contacted Senator Maziarz, who assured us that the intent of the legislation was not to force prevailing wage
on any construction other than public works projects. The Senator assured us that he will look into the Assembly bill, discuss it with his attorney, and get back to us.

To access the Voters’ Voice feature, go to the NYSBA website www.nysba.com and click on ACTION CENTER from the dropdown menu. Current issues ready for your action are:

Third Party Escrow
Clean Water Act
Prevailing Wage Mandate

Cluster Housing Approved For Wheatfield

The Wheatfield Town Board has agreed to update a local law to allow for cluster housing developments in the town. Cluster housing typically has smaller lot sizes and uses more of the available area as open space for common use by all homeowners. The concept does not allow for cramming more homes into a subdivision; it merely groups the homes closer together so that the remaining space is more accessible to all. The Wheatfield law would require homes to be at least 20 feet apart, and at least 40% of the land area must be green space. Wheatfield does not currently have any applications for cluster housing sub-divisions.

2007 Parade of Homes

In early March we mailed out a Request for Proposal to every Niagara County developer on our list to determine the level of interest for hosting a single-site Parade of Homes Show this fall. We will soon be gathering to decide whether we will have a single-site or a scattered-site show. The
benefits of a single-site show are many. First and foremost, it makes it easier for the buying public to see all of the homes with a minimum of difficulty. In addition, it gives our builders better exposure by ensuring that every home show visitor sees all of the homes, it improves the NCBA’s ability to make money on the show, it simplifies our marketing of the show, and it facilitates a
kick-off party that ensures that all of our builders receive the full exposure to the media, VIPs and other invited guests. Stay tuned for details on the Parade of Homes as they develop.

April Is New Homes Month

April is designated as New Homes Month by both the NAHB and the NYSBA. It’s a great time to promote the homebuilding industry in Niagara County. We will be looking for opportunities to put our members and our association in the spotlight. Since we are still in the very early planning stages
for our Parade of Homes, we will not be able to promote it, as yet, but we will look for the most effective way to get some great exposure for the NCBA and our membership. We are working on several ideas that will provide us with some excellent visibility in the county. Press Releases, flyers, a brochure, print ads and radio spots are some of the opportunities we are exploring. The ad
shown here is one idea we are playing with for a print ad, but it could easily be turned into a flyer that we could distribute immediately. We also plan to apply for a grant that is available through the NAHB to promote local associations, which could result in the NCBA getting up to $5,000 to be used specifi cally for this purpose. You can help by letting us know if you are participating in any events that will offer a chance to get some publicity. Call Cathy or Jerry with any information, and we can prepare handouts designed specifically for the event.

Livable Communities Award

Have you built a home, apartment building or a whole development that qualifies for the Livable Communities Award? The AARP and NAHB are co-sponsoring an award that recognizes builders,
developers and remodelers for building homes and communities with features that improve veryday
comfort, safety and personal independence. Eligible projects must have been completed and opened or occupied between January 1, 2005 and June 1, 2007. Guidelines for the award are available on the NAHB website at http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=70683. If you think you have a project that may qualify, applications are also availble on their site. If you receive the award, we will be happy to recognize it with some free publicity in the community.

Save this Date!

Monday, July 9, 2007

NCBA Golf Outing
Niagara Frontier Country Club
Youngstown, NY

October 18 & 19, 2007

New York State Builders Show
Turning Stone Resort and Casino
Verona, NY

(see the Direct Drive article to see how you can earn a free pass!)

April Dates

Reminder: The April Board Meeting will be held at Industry Day – there will be no general membership meeting.

Know Your Representatives 

Direct Drive Membership Campaign

The Direct Drive membership campaign is being conducted on April 18 & 19. This effort can strengthen our organization and provide momentum for continued growth for years to come. As V.P. Bob Minkiewicz said at our March membership meeting, “This will be the best and most successful membership drive ever!” An organized eff ort, four teams of four or five people will compete with each other to see who can bring in the most new members. There will be prizes for the top individual and the top team.

We will have prospect lists for you to call, but the best prospects are the people with whom you do business. We are also expanding our search for new members by thinking “outside the box.” Anybody who provides any goods or services to our industry or to you personally is eligible to become a member. Think about car dealers, restaurants, pool and spa dealers, travel agents, etc. all as being prospects. All can benefit from being so closely associated with our homebuilding
industry.

Start working on your prospects today. You can pre-sell some memberships and come in on April 18 with a big head start on the competition. We are in the process of assembling the teams. WE NEED YOU to participate in this vital effort. Call Cathy today, and get signed up to help.

Last year the Finger Lakes Builders Association doubled their membership during Direct Drive, from 37 to 74. The BNBA added 895 new members for a 38% increase. The average increase for associations of a similar size to the NCBA was 44%. Can you imagine what 28 or 30 new members would do for us? GET ON BOARD TODAY!