Basic HTML Version
14
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HBA HOME BUILDING NEWS
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BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS
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OctOBEr, 2012
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HBApdx.org
S
F
1
Amount of homes sold
January-August 2012
considered
NEW CONSTRUCTION
in Portland Metro area
(Washington, clackamas
and Multnomah counties)
1,729
out of 2,297
Fun
Fact
and “What ’s more important:
more insulation or controlling air
infiltration?” can make huge dif-
ferences in the quality and com-
fort of a home.
We’ve talked a bit about some
basic Flows but there is another
very important one:
3) Cash Flow.
cash is a simple
word but it represents things
with a monetary value like time,
energy, labor, materials, liability
and opportunity. If you don’t con-
trol Moisture and Energy Flows it
is going to cost everyone cash
Flow going forward. Simply put:
it requires cash to accomplish just
about anything, so it is desirable
for your cash Flow to be positive!
Selling comfortable, durable, and
efficient homes allows builders,
buyers and sellers their best op-
portunity for positive cash Flow.
My job is helping people to
understand better performing
structures, so I talk building sci-
ence all day, every day. there
are some developments both in
technology and our understand-
ing of structures that can push
your homes to the forefront of
performance – if you want to talk
about it, give me a call.
Rick Bostrom is the Northwest
Territory Manager for Tremco Bar-
rier Solutions. Tremco makes a
number of industry leading prod-
ucts that control moisture and en-
ergy flows including the Tuff-N-Dri
H8waterproofing/drainage/insula-
tion system for below grade appli-
cations and the EnviroDri Weather
Resistant Barrier System – a fluid
applied water and air barrier for
residential construction. If you have
any questions about his products
or building science in general he
can be reached at (253)-298-8465
or rbostrom@tremcoinc.com.
Biz Tips:
Your structural “flows” make a
direct impact on your “cash flow”
Continued from page XX
By Brian Leong,
Employee Benefits Specialist
Montgomery & Graham, Inc.
Many employers may not real-
ize the impact that the flu season
can have on their company. If a
major influenza outbreak hits
your community, you may face
highly elevated employee absen-
teeism rates, which could lead
to business interruption and lost
production. Being prepared for a
possible severe outbreak in your
community will help ensure that
your business runs as smoothly
as possible throughout the flu
season.
Prevention
As an employer, there are steps
you can take to help your em-
ployees avoid catching seasonal
influenza. Stress the importance
of washing hands thoroughly
and often, and consider provid-
ing hand sanitizer in common
areas. Emphasize other personal
health strategies such as avoid-
ing touching one’s nose, mouth
or eyes and covering coughs and
sneezes with a tissue.
Make sure that commonly
touched objects like elevator but-
tons, door knobs, and keyboards
are disinfected frequently. En-
courage employees to get vac-
cinated against seasonal flu each
year, and consider offering sea-
sonal flu shots in your workplace.
Keep employees educated
on prevention techniques, and
encourage them to apply those
strategies to their own house-
holds as well.
Preparing for an Outbreak
Inf luenza is spread easily
through person-to-person con-
tact, so the best way to prevent
the spread of it in your workplace
is for sick employees to stay home
until their symptoms are gone.
It is essential to review your
company’s policies to ensure
enough flexibility to meet the
challenges that each flu season
may present. Sick leave policies
should be accommodating, non-
punitive, and well-communicat-
ed to encourage ill employees to
stay home and allow employees
to care for sick family members.
consider implementing plans
for such employees to work re-
motely from home if possible. By
accommodating ill employees to
employees with ill family mem-
bers, you can keep business inter-
ruption to a minimum while also
avoiding the spread of influenza
throughout your workplace.
It is important that all employ-
ees completely understand the
sick leave policies and any new
provisions in place, so if the flu
hits, they are informed and pre-
pared.
In addition, you should create
contingency plans for essential
operations and job duties, so
your operations run smoothly
even in the event of absences.
Containing a Local Outbreak
there is a strong likelihood
that your workplace will experi-
ence seasonal flu occurrences
at some point during the fall or
winter season. Encourage all ill
employees to stay home until
their symptoms subside. try to be
flexible with ill employees or em-
ployees who must stay home to
care for their family members. If
employees feel pressured to work
through their illness, it will likely
spread around your workplace,
and you may face even more em-
ployee absence.
If your community is experi-
encing increased flu occurrences,
you may consider canceling non-
essential face-to-face meetings
and travel to avoid close contact
between employees. take advan-
tage of telecommuting, email,
and other remote conferencing
options.
Planning for the
next Flu Season
The Annual HBA Salmon Bake is BACK!
Join us at the HBA on October 11 at 5:30 pm for the
return of this delicious tradition. contract Furnishings Mart
and
Quick
•
Step
®
have teamed up to provide an evening of
celebration, delicious fare, and the announcement of the
2013 Board of Directors election results.
Just $15.00 per person for HBA members.
We expect this event to sell out, so sign up today!
register online at
www.hbapdx.org/calendar
, or contact
Nicole at 503-684-1880 for more information.
SALMON
BAKE