News You Can Use - Running Your Business

Feds Target Employers of Undocumented Workers
Builders must be able to verify that they and their subs meet immigration and hiring statutes
Source: BUILDER OnlinePublication date: June 15, 2009
By John Caulfield
Last week, Michael Sivage Homes and Communities was putting the final touches on new language in its contracts that include requirements that the builder's contractors and their workers comply with current immigration and hiring laws. Read more.

Liens on Properties and Funds are Two Different Things
By Jennifer Wolfe on June 12th, 2009
Liens are one of the most powerful collection tools available to workers in the construction industry. Mechanics Liens are inexpensive and hard-hitting, and perhaps one of the most effective ways to collect on non-paying projects. A properly filed construction lien can affect a property’s title, entangles multiple parties to your dispute, and helps get you paid. Suppliers, prime/sub/sub-sub contractors and laborers all have the rights to lien a property they performed work on.

Dealers confront healthcare costs
(Jun. 12) When a panel of high-performance retailers was asked: "How are you handling health care?" the audience of Do it Best dealers was paying close attention.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) were among the healthcare insurance tools used by high performance retailers who participated in a panel discussion during the Do it Best May Market.

About halfway through the nearly two-hour discussion, titled "Extreme Retailing: Taking it to the next level," someone in the audience posed the question: "How are you guys handling health care?"

One of the most innovative answers came from Kyle Walters, president of Elliott's Hardware, a three-location hardware store retailer based in Dallas. "People are really key for us, and health care is always a challenge," Walters said. Read more.

HUD and CDC Push Healthy Homes Agenda
HUD deputy secretary Sims: "Our homes ought to be a place where we can raise our children without fear of making them sick."
Source: BUILDER OnlinePublication date: June 10, 2009
By Jenny Sullivan

Healthier homes can produce healthier Americans and a healthier U.S. economy.

That was the message in Washington Tuesday, where officials from the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) laid out some of the ways housing can affect public health, challenging the nation's builders, healthcare providers, community organizers, and citizens to play a more proactive role in reducing preventable diseases and accidents in the home. Read more.