On December 19, 2009 President Obama signed into law the the Department of Defense (DOD) Appropriations Act, 2010 which includes provisions extending the COBRA premium subsidy that was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
Under ARRA, individuals are eligible for the 65% COBRA premium subsidy for up to 9 months if they lose group health plan coverage because because of involuntary termination of employment between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009, elect COBRA coverage, and pay 35% of the full COBRA monthly premiums.
The DOD Appropriations Act makes three important changes:
1. It extends the deadline for the involuntary termination of employment to February 28, 2010.
2. It clarifies that eligibility for the subsidy is based on the date of the qualifying event (i.e., employment termination), not the date the individual becomes eligible for COBRA continuation coverage.
3 It extends the maximum eligibility from 9 to 15 months, both for those who became or become eligible by December 31, 2009 and for those who become eligible by February 28, 2010.
The DOD Appropriations Act also includes transitional provisions protecting those individuals whose eligibility for the premium subsidy expired before the extension (e.g., individuals whose period of eligibility began on March 1 and ended on November 30) and requiring group health plan administrator to notify them of their retroactive eligibility for the subsidy.
For employers, the extensions of COBRA premium subsidy eligibility mean that they will be filing Forms 941 claiming the employment tax credit for the 65% past IRS's originally expected end-point of the fourth quarter of 2010.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
CSA Joins New Alliance
With the mission to benefit companies doing business in the building supply channel by developing services and products that make them more effective, efficient and less prone to liability, seven leading regional building material trade associations have formed the Building Product Retailers Alliance.
Founding members of BPRA include CSA, Florida Building Material Association, Illinois Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, Kentucky Building Material Association, Northwestern Lumber Association, Southern Building Material Association and Western Building Material Association.
“For years, the regional and state LBM associations have talked about the opportunities we’d have if we pooled our thoughts and resources,” said Bill Tucker, president of the BPRA and the Florida Building Material Association. “With this new alliance, we’ve created the structure to turn those opportunities into reality.”
The regional and state LBM associations have historically focused on providing products and services to building material dealers, and that will not change. The BPRA’s focus is on developing programs that benefit the entire building supply channel.
CSA's President, Jim Moody, serves as vice president for BPRA.
Founding members of BPRA include CSA, Florida Building Material Association, Illinois Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, Kentucky Building Material Association, Northwestern Lumber Association, Southern Building Material Association and Western Building Material Association.
“For years, the regional and state LBM associations have talked about the opportunities we’d have if we pooled our thoughts and resources,” said Bill Tucker, president of the BPRA and the Florida Building Material Association. “With this new alliance, we’ve created the structure to turn those opportunities into reality.”
The regional and state LBM associations have historically focused on providing products and services to building material dealers, and that will not change. The BPRA’s focus is on developing programs that benefit the entire building supply channel.
CSA's President, Jim Moody, serves as vice president for BPRA.
Registration Now Open for CSA/FBMA Joint Winter Education Conference
The CSA/FBMA Joint Winter Education Conference will be held February 24-26, 2010 at One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Registration is now available online with Visa, MasterCard or American Express.
Craig Webb, Editor of ProSales Magazine will be leading a industry panel discussion with experts titled What's Next? This discussion will explore the movement towards building "green"; the construction of homes in the future; whether mandates for energy savings will decrease glazing; and will builders back away from panelization? Questions and comments from the audience will be addressed and this special program will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2010. CSA members Tom Hall and Kevin Hamblin will participate on the panel.
Jim Mathis, CSP, will be presenting a program titled Reaching Beyond Endurance, Re-Inventing Yourself for the New World of Work. This program will be offered Thursday, February 25 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will resume Friday, February 26 from 9:00 am. to noon.
CSA/FBMA registration fees include seminar programs, breakfasts, networking cocktail receptions on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, a luncheon and dinner. Rates are $250 for CSA/FBMA members; $350 for non-members; $500 for non-sponsoring associates and $125 for spouse/companions.
Should you need overnight accommodations, CSA/FBMA has secured a $145 per night rate with One Ocean Resort & Spa. To register for the CSA/FBMA Joint Winter Education Conference, download a registration form or reserve your room at One Ocean Resort & Spa, click here.
CSA thanks Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company and Plycem USA, Inc. for sponsoring this year's conference.
Craig Webb, Editor of ProSales Magazine will be leading a industry panel discussion with experts titled What's Next? This discussion will explore the movement towards building "green"; the construction of homes in the future; whether mandates for energy savings will decrease glazing; and will builders back away from panelization? Questions and comments from the audience will be addressed and this special program will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2010. CSA members Tom Hall and Kevin Hamblin will participate on the panel.
Jim Mathis, CSP, will be presenting a program titled Reaching Beyond Endurance, Re-Inventing Yourself for the New World of Work. This program will be offered Thursday, February 25 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will resume Friday, February 26 from 9:00 am. to noon.
CSA/FBMA registration fees include seminar programs, breakfasts, networking cocktail receptions on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, a luncheon and dinner. Rates are $250 for CSA/FBMA members; $350 for non-members; $500 for non-sponsoring associates and $125 for spouse/companions.
Should you need overnight accommodations, CSA/FBMA has secured a $145 per night rate with One Ocean Resort & Spa. To register for the CSA/FBMA Joint Winter Education Conference, download a registration form or reserve your room at One Ocean Resort & Spa, click here.
CSA thanks Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company and Plycem USA, Inc. for sponsoring this year's conference.
Analyze Your Expenses and Salaries
A couple of years ago, CSA created a state-of-the art program for analyzing business costs for our roundtable members. We know that not everyone is comfortable in the roundtable setting, so now we've adapted that program for use by individual companies. We've also enhanced it to include a salary survey.
The program is web-based and meets or exceeds all industry standards for security. Your confidential numbers remain confidential -- no one else sees your numbers or even knows you've entered numbers into the system. Once you enter your data, you can compare yourself to our regional average and the national average through nearly 90 charts and graphs for just about any ratio you can imagine for our industry.
Our counterpart associations across the country have agreed to participate in this program, so our national averages should be quite valid. This program has replaced the Cost of Doing Business Survey which previously was used in our industry.
Cost is $200 per company. For more information, contact Diane Rountree at dianerountree@gocsa.com or (678) 674-1860.
The program is web-based and meets or exceeds all industry standards for security. Your confidential numbers remain confidential -- no one else sees your numbers or even knows you've entered numbers into the system. Once you enter your data, you can compare yourself to our regional average and the national average through nearly 90 charts and graphs for just about any ratio you can imagine for our industry.
Our counterpart associations across the country have agreed to participate in this program, so our national averages should be quite valid. This program has replaced the Cost of Doing Business Survey which previously was used in our industry.
Cost is $200 per company. For more information, contact Diane Rountree at dianerountree@gocsa.com or (678) 674-1860.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
OSHA Back on the Prowl
Jim Moody, CAE
President
We’re starting to hear a lot about OSHA ramping up inspections and rule-making. I suppose this was to be expected given the change in power in Washington.
Here are some facts we know:
• OSHA is adding 130 new inspectors nationwide in the coming year.
• Already, 31 new enforcement agents have been put on duty in the Southeast.
• A new rule on crane operation will be published soon. We’ve been working through the NLBMDA to make sure that our industry isn’t saddled with crazy new regulations, but we won’t know for sure whether we were successful until later in the year.
• OSHA is particularly tuned into combustible dust (like sawdust) and silica (which could be emitted as particles when crushing stone or cutting things like cement fiber board).
• Clear definitions of what levels of noise are dangerous have been withdrawn, leaving more latitude to OSHA inspectors to make a subjective determination.
If you don’t have your safety ducks in a row, now is a good time to make changes. While there is no guarantee you will be inspected, it is reasonable to assume that the chances have gone up. There are a variety of resources available to assist with safety. The cheapest first step is to seek a mock OSHA audit from CSA. Contact Larry Marler (larrymarler@gocsa.com or 770-331-7026) if you’d like to schedule a visit.
CSA also developed a safety manual in 2007, which is still relevant today. All CSA Self-Insured Fund members were provided a copy; for non-Fund members, it’s available for a small fee. The manual is provided on disc so that you can select the chapters pertinent to you, insert your business name, and create a customized safety manual for your own business. To order, contact Diane Rountree (dianerountree@gocsa.com or 678-674-1860).
Keep in mind that if you are inspected and violations are found, you are not off the hook once you pay the fine. The rate of re-inspections is going up. If they come back to find that you have not fixed what they found the first time, you will find yourself paying through the nose.
Random Thoughts
Yesterday was the start of winter. I don’t care for the cold at all. I long for the spring even though it means the yard and my nasal passages will be coated with pollen. At times I wonder if I have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is a condition that some people get (or think they get) in winter. I learned about this when I worked as a copy editor for a newspaper right out of college. We had a medical reporter who believed he had this, and he wrote about it a lot. Apparently the short days and lack of sunlight have a dramatic depressive effect on some people.
I don’t seriously believe I have a medical condition, but winter is truly my least favorite time of year. While I’m not depressed, I have found myself recently dwelling on the negative while forgetting the many positives that still exist in my life, the association and our industry. In years past, when I’ve been down, I’ve wrapped myself around the fact that even though it’s cold outside, the days are already getting longer and better times are ahead. Yesterday was the shortest day of the year. While we still have a brutal winter ahead (both in terms of weather and business), the mechanisms to make life better are already working.
As we celebrate Christmas and move into the New Year, all of us at CSA want to wish you the best. Thank you for allowing us to serve you. Good riddance to 2009, and here’s to a better 2010.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Decline in Industry Makes us Ripe for Innovation
By: Jim Moody, CAE
President
Ruth Kellick Grubbs, an industry consultant and a good friend of CSA’s, recently sent out a newsletter to clients with some harsh insights. Contrary to what I’m hearing from some economists and from other industry gurus, Ruth says there’s no recovery on the horizon for home building.
She cites several reasons to support her analysis:
• Statistics indicating home price increases may be misleading.
• The current low interest rates are not sustainable.
• The homebuyer tax credit will not last forever.
• FHA loans now makeup a significant portion of the market, and they are risky.
• Foreclosures are going to spike again, and so are subprime resets.
Different people can look at the same statistics and come to very different conclusions. Certainly Greg Brooks, another industry consultant, has a different perspective. We provide you with his insightful newsletter each month, and he has a much more positive view of the future than Ruth does.
But whether you think brighter days are just around the corner or not, Ruth makes another point that is interesting.
She says we are at a critical point in the life cycle of our industry. People who study these things have determined that industries typically go through birth, growth and then a decline. The length of the cycle may be different from industry to industry, but the pattern is generally the same. Once an industry hits a decline, there has to be an innovation or the industry eventually dies.
We know that our country will continue to need housing in the long run, so the industry is not likely to die. Instead, someone will find a better, cheaper or faster way to get the job done, and the rest of the industry will fall in line. What’s not known at this point is whether the innovation will keep independent dealers in the mix (although with a much changed business model) or cut us out entirely.
Ruth asserts that technology will have a much larger role in the industry going forward. She also sees major changes in the distribution model, since ours is the most expensive model in existence. She also notes that our existence depends on our customer’s ability to sell our products and services for us, and that’s probably not going to be true in the future.
I’ve seen a lot of information about how homes going forward will be smaller and less customized because cheaper will be better for consumers. If that’s true, then I wonder whether the future is in more manufacturing. Will wall panels be the next big thing? Will the dealers and the home builders essentially be the same company? I don’t have answers to those questions, but it is good food for thought. What do you think the innovation in our industry is going to be? Use our blog feature to post comments.
Meanwhile, one of our members brought a ProSales article on credit to my attention. The article talks about how dealers who aren’t diligent in credit are as guilty of sub-prime lending as the mortgage companies. Clearly credit issues have been significant for our members over the past two years. How you extend credit and manage collections will be critical in the recovery of business going forward. We’ve had a task force developing a guide to best practices in credit and collections this year, and it’s now if final production. Hopefully it will be a useful tool for you; we’ll let you know when it’s available. Here’s the link to the ProSales article
President
Ruth Kellick Grubbs, an industry consultant and a good friend of CSA’s, recently sent out a newsletter to clients with some harsh insights. Contrary to what I’m hearing from some economists and from other industry gurus, Ruth says there’s no recovery on the horizon for home building.
She cites several reasons to support her analysis:
• Statistics indicating home price increases may be misleading.
• The current low interest rates are not sustainable.
• The homebuyer tax credit will not last forever.
• FHA loans now makeup a significant portion of the market, and they are risky.
• Foreclosures are going to spike again, and so are subprime resets.
Different people can look at the same statistics and come to very different conclusions. Certainly Greg Brooks, another industry consultant, has a different perspective. We provide you with his insightful newsletter each month, and he has a much more positive view of the future than Ruth does.
But whether you think brighter days are just around the corner or not, Ruth makes another point that is interesting.
She says we are at a critical point in the life cycle of our industry. People who study these things have determined that industries typically go through birth, growth and then a decline. The length of the cycle may be different from industry to industry, but the pattern is generally the same. Once an industry hits a decline, there has to be an innovation or the industry eventually dies.
We know that our country will continue to need housing in the long run, so the industry is not likely to die. Instead, someone will find a better, cheaper or faster way to get the job done, and the rest of the industry will fall in line. What’s not known at this point is whether the innovation will keep independent dealers in the mix (although with a much changed business model) or cut us out entirely.
Ruth asserts that technology will have a much larger role in the industry going forward. She also sees major changes in the distribution model, since ours is the most expensive model in existence. She also notes that our existence depends on our customer’s ability to sell our products and services for us, and that’s probably not going to be true in the future.
I’ve seen a lot of information about how homes going forward will be smaller and less customized because cheaper will be better for consumers. If that’s true, then I wonder whether the future is in more manufacturing. Will wall panels be the next big thing? Will the dealers and the home builders essentially be the same company? I don’t have answers to those questions, but it is good food for thought. What do you think the innovation in our industry is going to be? Use our blog feature to post comments.
Meanwhile, one of our members brought a ProSales article on credit to my attention. The article talks about how dealers who aren’t diligent in credit are as guilty of sub-prime lending as the mortgage companies. Clearly credit issues have been significant for our members over the past two years. How you extend credit and manage collections will be critical in the recovery of business going forward. We’ve had a task force developing a guide to best practices in credit and collections this year, and it’s now if final production. Hopefully it will be a useful tool for you; we’ll let you know when it’s available. Here’s the link to the ProSales article
NLBMDA News
House to Vote on Estate Tax This Week. Take Action Now.
House leadership has announced plans to vote this week, possibly as early as Wednesday on legislation (H.R.4154) sponsored by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) to permanently extend the 2009 $3.5 million exemption and 45% tax rate on estates passed onto the next generation. Read more.
IRS Issues New Guidance on NOL Expansion
The IRS has issued new guidance on the expansion of the Net Operating Loss Carryback provision enacted lat month by Congress. The expansion allows taxpayers to elect a 3, 4, or 5-year net operating loss (NOL) carryback instead of a normally 2-year carryback. Read more.
NLBMDA Joins Institute for Legal Reform to Oppose Lawsuit Changes
This Thursday, Dec. 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) that would change pleading rules and potentially overwhelm federal courts with frivolous lawsuits. Read more.
House leadership has announced plans to vote this week, possibly as early as Wednesday on legislation (H.R.4154) sponsored by Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) to permanently extend the 2009 $3.5 million exemption and 45% tax rate on estates passed onto the next generation. Read more.
IRS Issues New Guidance on NOL Expansion
The IRS has issued new guidance on the expansion of the Net Operating Loss Carryback provision enacted lat month by Congress. The expansion allows taxpayers to elect a 3, 4, or 5-year net operating loss (NOL) carryback instead of a normally 2-year carryback. Read more.
NLBMDA Joins Institute for Legal Reform to Oppose Lawsuit Changes
This Thursday, Dec. 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider legislation by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) that would change pleading rules and potentially overwhelm federal courts with frivolous lawsuits. Read more.
Monday, November 30, 2009
News You Can Use - Special Feature
Rader's Edge: How To Pick Vendors
Sometimes the biggest successes in LBM come from something as simple as a vendor and dealer teaming up for mutual benefit
By Chris Rader
In today's LBM business, the relationship between the vendor and supplier can't be taken for granted. A strong vendor-supplier relationship can not only outflank the competition but also ensure profits. Below you will find my account of a partnership between a vendor and a dealer that has existed for more than 10 years. You will also find nine ideas regarding how to find the best vendors. This is the story of how two guys have built their business by supporting each other. To protect their identities against competitors, I will call them Victor the vendor and Larry the LBM dealer.
Victor started his career working at an airline ticket counter for a number of years. He began to understand people and how to take care of them. He had to make last-minute decisions to board or not board passengers and to turn every plane, always shooting for on-time performance. Victor then moved to a sales job at window manufacturing plant. Read more.
Sometimes the biggest successes in LBM come from something as simple as a vendor and dealer teaming up for mutual benefit
By Chris Rader
In today's LBM business, the relationship between the vendor and supplier can't be taken for granted. A strong vendor-supplier relationship can not only outflank the competition but also ensure profits. Below you will find my account of a partnership between a vendor and a dealer that has existed for more than 10 years. You will also find nine ideas regarding how to find the best vendors. This is the story of how two guys have built their business by supporting each other. To protect their identities against competitors, I will call them Victor the vendor and Larry the LBM dealer.
Victor started his career working at an airline ticket counter for a number of years. He began to understand people and how to take care of them. He had to make last-minute decisions to board or not board passengers and to turn every plane, always shooting for on-time performance. Victor then moved to a sales job at window manufacturing plant. Read more.
News You Can Use - Product Information
Chinese Drywall Caused Homes' Woes, CPSC Finds
With "strong association" made, government now will try to figure out extent of problem, possible remedies
By Craig Webb
A "strong association" exists between homes where Chinese drywall was installed and where occupants reported smells and corroded metals, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported today. The finding clears the way for a federal task force to figure out how many houses have this problem and what to do about it.
The report released today (see executive summary) lends government-funded scientific support to the notion that Chinese drywall used in homes in recent years is behind complaints of rotten-egg smells, corroded metal connections, tarnished jewelry, and equipment breakdowns in homes across the United States. CPSC says it has received 2,000 reports from 32 states, the District ofColumbia, and Puerto Rico regarding problem drywall in their homes, and some liability lawsuits already have been filed.
How many homes could be affected remains uncertain, says the CPSC, which recently reached out to the governors of every state and U.S. tereritory seeking data. The agency does know that roughly 7 million sheets of Chinese drywall were imported between 2000 and 2009. What it doesn't know is how many of those sheets went into homes and what percentage of them have problems. Read more.
With "strong association" made, government now will try to figure out extent of problem, possible remedies
By Craig Webb
A "strong association" exists between homes where Chinese drywall was installed and where occupants reported smells and corroded metals, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported today. The finding clears the way for a federal task force to figure out how many houses have this problem and what to do about it.
The report released today (see executive summary) lends government-funded scientific support to the notion that Chinese drywall used in homes in recent years is behind complaints of rotten-egg smells, corroded metal connections, tarnished jewelry, and equipment breakdowns in homes across the United States. CPSC says it has received 2,000 reports from 32 states, the District ofColumbia, and Puerto Rico regarding problem drywall in their homes, and some liability lawsuits already have been filed.
How many homes could be affected remains uncertain, says the CPSC, which recently reached out to the governors of every state and U.S. tereritory seeking data. The agency does know that roughly 7 million sheets of Chinese drywall were imported between 2000 and 2009. What it doesn't know is how many of those sheets went into homes and what percentage of them have problems. Read more.
News You Can Use - Trends and Numbers
New US home sales rise 6.2 percent
By ALAN ZIBEL (Associated Press)
Sales of new homes rose more than expected last month to the highest level in more than a year as the housing market shows stability after its historic collapse.
The Commerce Department says sales rose 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 410,000. Read more.
Existing-Home Sales Jump 10.1%
By Big Builder Staff
The soon-to-expire $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers sent sales of existing homes soaring in October, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
Sales of existing single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops surged 10.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September, up 23.5% from the same month last year. The NAR has not seen numbers like this since February 2007, when the annual pace was 6.55 million. Read more.
Building Material Reuse Can Pay Off
By Teresa Burney
It's happened to every builder--the windows you ordered are the wrong size and unreturnable so they sit in the warehouse for years.
And most every remodeler has shaken his head while hauling a perfectly nice set of cabinets to the landfill because the homeowner wants something different and he has no place to store them. Read more.
Builders in Atlanta Struggle to Survive
By Michelle E. Shaw, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When the housing market was white-hot, McCar Homes was one of the nation's leading builders.
In 2006, the Alpharetta-based company built and sold more than 2,200 homes and boasted revenues upward of $500 million. But now that the market temperature is in the Arctic region, McCar's chief executive isn't sure the company will make it into 2010. Read more.
Touched By Lumber: The World’s Most Famous Lumberyard OwnerA newly restored and remastered version of Gone With the Wind is out in Blu-Ray DVD format this Holiday season, reminding us all that Scarlett O’Hara exceeds even 84 Lumber’s Joe Hardy as the world’s most famous lumberyard owner. Scarlett, who built her busines
s up from the ashes of a fire-ravaged, post-Civil War Atlanta, offers both good and bad management lessons for these hard times. She knew how to be tough--“The War Is Over: Don’t Ask for Credit,” one sign in her store reads. But hiring her unrequited love, the milquetoast Ashley Wilkes, to run the yard shows a serious fault in judgment. Oh well: at least when we watch the two clench in the lumberyard office, thanks to the new restoration we now can admire the moulding display in the background.
By ALAN ZIBEL (Associated Press)
Sales of new homes rose more than expected last month to the highest level in more than a year as the housing market shows stability after its historic collapse.
The Commerce Department says sales rose 6.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 410,000. Read more.
Existing-Home Sales Jump 10.1%
By Big Builder Staff
The soon-to-expire $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers sent sales of existing homes soaring in October, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.
Sales of existing single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops surged 10.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September, up 23.5% from the same month last year. The NAR has not seen numbers like this since February 2007, when the annual pace was 6.55 million. Read more.
Building Material Reuse Can Pay Off
By Teresa Burney
It's happened to every builder--the windows you ordered are the wrong size and unreturnable so they sit in the warehouse for years.
And most every remodeler has shaken his head while hauling a perfectly nice set of cabinets to the landfill because the homeowner wants something different and he has no place to store them. Read more.
Builders in Atlanta Struggle to Survive
By Michelle E. Shaw, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When the housing market was white-hot, McCar Homes was one of the nation's leading builders.
In 2006, the Alpharetta-based company built and sold more than 2,200 homes and boasted revenues upward of $500 million. But now that the market temperature is in the Arctic region, McCar's chief executive isn't sure the company will make it into 2010. Read more.
Touched By Lumber: The World’s Most Famous Lumberyard OwnerA newly restored and remastered version of Gone With the Wind is out in Blu-Ray DVD format this Holiday season, reminding us all that Scarlett O’Hara exceeds even 84 Lumber’s Joe Hardy as the world’s most famous lumberyard owner. Scarlett, who built her busines
s up from the ashes of a fire-ravaged, post-Civil War Atlanta, offers both good and bad management lessons for these hard times. She knew how to be tough--“The War Is Over: Don’t Ask for Credit,” one sign in her store reads. But hiring her unrequited love, the milquetoast Ashley Wilkes, to run the yard shows a serious fault in judgment. Oh well: at least when we watch the two clench in the lumberyard office, thanks to the new restoration we now can admire the moulding display in the background.Photo courtesy of Warner Home Video.
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