GAIN NEW CUSTOMERS WITH CORPORATE PROFILES: ABC’s Corporate Profiles program helps expand member businesses by making it easy for buyers of construction services to connect with ABC members that provide those services.  Although every ABC member is listed in the searchable membership directory on FindContractors.com, Corporate Profiles stand out from the crowd by appearing at the beginning of the search results. In addition, participants in the Corporate Profile program have the opportunity to display their company logo in their listing and include a 50-word description highlighting their company’s expertise and up to 10 trade services offered.

The cost to participate in the Corporate Profile programs is less than $20 per month, or $250 for a 13-month subscription and can be purchased online at www.abc.org/profiles. Members actively involved in the Accredited Quality Contractor program receive a 50 percent discount on their first listing.  Discounts are also available on multiple chapter listings.  

NONRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION JOB LOSSES SLOW SLIGHTLY IN JULY:

Nonresidential construction shed 5,900 jobs in July, slowing slightly compared to the 6,200 average monthly job loss during the previous three months, according to the Aug. 7 employment report by the U.S. Department of Labor.  On a year-over-year basis, nonresidential building construction lost 99,800 jobs (12.1 percent) to reach 727,800.  Construction lost more jobs than any other major segment of the U.S. economy in July.  Contributing to the decline was heavy and civil engineering construction which posted a loss of 10,100 jobs for the month bringing the total to 120,700 jobs lost for the year, and the nonresidential specialty trade segment which lost 32,900 jobs in July and 365,600 since 2008.

“Many nonresidential construction activities tend to lag behind broader economic cycles, including commercial/office construction,” said ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. “However, the impacts of the stimulus package passed in February should become significantly clearer during the next six to 12 months, and this will help nonresidential construction employment stabilize during that period.  In addition, residential building construction lost 11,200 jobs in July and 144,500 on a year-over-year basis while total private construction saw a loss of 76,000 jobs for the month and 1,053,000 since July 2008.

Overall, the nation experienced the smallest monthly decline since August 2008 – losing 247,000 jobs in July – but is still down by 5,740,000 jobs (4.2 percent) on a year-over-year basis.  The unemployment rate dropped from 9.5 percent in June to 9.4 percent in July, an indication that labor market stabilization continues.  “National job loss was slower than expected and employment estimates for prior months were revised up slightly, which is being taken as another sign by economists that the labor market and overall economy are on the mend,” said Basu.  “The unemployment rate also declined slightly, which undoubtedly will be viewed by the media as being incredibly important, though this is more likely the result of seasonal factors and statistical impacts that are difficult to adjust for,” Basu added.  

COMPUTER UPDATE: The construction industry has become much more computerized.  What if two of your estimators resign, accept employment with a competitor, and refuse to return to you the laptops which you bought for them when they worked for your construction company?  In January, 2009, a federal district court in Missouri provided some guidance to this question and it centered on the wording of your employee handbook.  The case involved an employer suing two of its former employees and their new employer under the Stored Wire and Electronic Communications Act (SWECA) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).  The former employer sued under these federal laws alleging that the former employees accessed its computer system and electronically stored information to assist the competitor and downloaded or deleted some of its confidential information and also delayed in returning the laptop computers when requested.  The federal court held that SWECA and CFAA provided an avenue to seek damages for losses and interruption of service.  Based upon these computer issues, the court ruled against the former employer because the employees had been afforded access to the company computers, networks and stored information for the purposes of their employment and accessing information without authorization is a threshold question in SWECA and CFAA cases.  Construction industry employers wishing to avoid this result should review their computer access policies for all employees, especially the portion of the policy concerning access to confidential information.  Prohibitions on downloading and deleting such information need to be specific in order to maintain an SWECA or CFAA claim.  Moreover, the computer access policy should specifically prohibit obtaining the information for the purposes of other employment or to assist competitors and access for such purposes should be specifically prohibited.  Finally, the return of all company laptop computers immediately upon leaving employment should also be a portion of the policy.  Failure to write appropriate restrictions into the computer access policy may well result in losing substantial important information when employees resign and go to work for a competitor.   

                                                                                                                                                               By Bill Harding, Chapter Attorney

                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABC AFTER-WORK WEDNESDAYS!

Come on by for an “ABC Business-to-Business After-Hours Event.”  This will be a casual gathering of ABC members and prospects/guests purely to socialize in a relaxed environment.  The event is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m., and will probably wrap up around 7:00 p.m.  There will be prize drawings around 5:45 so don’t miss out on the fun.  Everyone is welcome to come and go as they please.  Networking is the fun way of doing business.

WHEN:           August 26^th(Wednesday)                                                     

WHERE:         Lazlo’s

                        210 North 7^th Street (Haymarket)                                                              

                       Lincoln, NE

TIME:              4:30 – 7:00 p.m. (come and go as you please)