Money Saving Trick: Save on Credit Card Processing

Are you part of the many small business owners that do not know much about compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)?  Unfortunately if you said yes, you are not alone.   Many merchants have a lot of questions, but do not know who to turn to or where to look.  The PCI Compliance Guide provides you with detailed information on PCI Compliance. Electronic Data Payments systems is providing a Q&A on PCI.

Electronic Data Payment Systems provides bankcard processing services to both NGA and WDDA members, and they are working to ensure that their customers are prepared for PCI compliance.  If you currently accept credit cards, or have thought about implementing a credit card program, the Electronic Data Payment Systems can provide you with tremendous savings.  There are no enrollment fees, no monthly minimums and a variety of low priced equipment solutions.  In addition to cost effective processing, you also have access to toll-free customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Additional services are also available to NGA and WDDA Members, including Check Guarantee and Conversion, American Express, and Discover/Novus.

For more information about PCI, email pci@edpaymentsystems.com.

Call 866/578-9740 or fax your statement to 866/528-3854 for your complimentary Statement Analysis to find out how much you can save. Visit the NGA or WDDA pages for more information today!

Learn the Value of Membership at GlassBuild America

GlassBuild America is less than 3 weeks away – it’s time for you to start planning what you’ll do once you arrive. With meetings, networking, and educational offerings, you have a lot to choose from.  Make sure you schedule in some time to stop by the Interactive Theater (Booth #1751) to learn about the value of NGA or WDDA membership.

The theater will include discussions about member services and recent developments in education and training, including presentations and Q&A about ContactPoint (Booth #528), UPS, Electronic Data Payment Systems (Booth #1312), Consulting Collaborative, MyGlassClass.com, and AAMA’s new FenestrationMasters program. View the NGA Interactive Theater Schedule. 

If you haven’t registered to attend GlassBuild America: The Glass, Window & Door expo, there is still time. Visit the GlassBuild site to register or view a complete schedule of events: http://www.glassbuildamerica.com/regpackages.htm.

Stop by Booth #1751 and enter the Creative Solutions Group sponsored prize drawing for a chance to win educational materials or a stay at an all inclusive resort.

I look forward to seeing all of you in Vegas!

Alyssa Kirkman
Sr. Manager, Association Services
NGA  WDDA

Do Your Employees Care?

On a recent business trip to Florida, I had an experience that will never be forgotten. My colleague and I had finished a week of intense training for one of our clients, and on the drive back to the hotel we decided it was time for a quick bite to eat.

Upon arriving at the restaurant establishment, we found that the front doors were locked. The sign indicated that they were open for another 30 minutes. I was in the car and ready to move on, but my colleague stood at the door with a confused look on his face, and made a gesture through the glass door to an unseen employee. The gesture was that he was pointing at his watch and shaking his head as if to ask the question “you should be open, why are the doors locked?”

The doors were soon opened, and the door opening employee scolded another for locking the door 30 minutes early. We stood in front of the counter and waited a lengthy time before a sloppily dressed individual with a disturbed look on his face approached. Having just completed customer service training, I realized that he was frustrated that we were there, and I asked a question like: “is it ok if we are here? You don’t look like you are enjoying this situation very much.” He said “I don’t care…”

We obviously felt that, and walked out of the building. The question is this: Do your employees care? What are you doing to ensure that each customer has a world-class experience with your company? Establish a training program, either internally or externally to teach them correct principles. As a part of the training, establish a way to hold each employee accountable for skills learned and taught in training. The final piece involves management as coaches to ensure the use of skills. In our situation, if this business would have done these simple steps, they would have had our business!

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

Make - Don't Buy - Your Labor

There’s an interesting and distressing article in Monday’s Wall Street Journal about how, even with today’s high unemployment, there are still pockets of the market where firms can’t find the labor they need. Guess what one of the biggest sectors in this situation is. If you said “manufacturing”, ding ding ding!!! You’re right! Remember how for years critics of our educational system said that while we were educating students at a record rate, we’re actually producing fewer workers with the skills that drive our economy? There will be a day of reckoning, they said. It looks like they were right and that day is here.

It’s not that there’s a shortage of applicants; recruiters say they get hundreds per opening. It’s just that few of them have the requisite skills. As one recruiter said, “We’ve always been looking for a needle in a haystack. There’s still only one needle, but the haystack has gotten a lot bigger than it was before.”

One company mentioned in the article tried a unique approach. Since they couldn’t find qualified workers in their market, they set up a 10-week training program to create their own. Out of 24 trainee candidates, 16 made it through and began work full-time. Not great, but better than nothing.

This reminds me of a conversation I had a few years ago with Bob Trainor, CEO of Trainor Glass. Bob told me that for years, he heard glass companies lamenting that they couldn’t find qualified workers. He decided to have his company make glaziers, not find them. Today, his company requires all their employees to complete 40 hours of training each year. They have all their new employees take classes on MyGlassClass.com, which lessens the learning curve and gets them up to productivity faster. I could easily see a firm taking Trainor’s approach with a group of new starts much like the machinery company in the article.

On the auto glass side, GlassPro takes a similar approach. Each of their trainees has to complete a set number of courses on MyGlassClass.com and partner that with experience in the field. As they complete their coursework, they become eligible for certification and higher paying jobs. Again, they “make”— they don’t “buy” — their labor.

For glass and window and door companies, this article has resonance. You’re not going to just post an ad and get a rush of qualified candidates. You’ll likely need to take who you can find and turn them into the skilled workers you need. MyGlassClass.com and MyWindowClass.com can be a solution here. Contact me if you’d like more information.

Matt Rumbaugh
Sr. Manager of Education, Training, and Certification
National Glass Association, Window & Door Dealers Alliance

Home Star and the Industry

The WDDA and NGA have several concerns with Home Star Retrofit Rebate Program now before the Senate, including its potential to discriminate against small businesses, limit consumer choices, and, ultimately dilute the job-creation and energy-efficiency goals it seeks to address. The NGA and WDDA's positions include the following:

• A provision in the proposed program will force contractors to give homeowners a discount and wait for reimbursement. At a time when small businesses are struggling with cash flow, smaller contractors will be able to carry a limited number of project rebates, if any.  Larger companies with stronger financial footing will hold a competitive advantage.
• The WDDA and NGA support the House passed version of the Home Star legislation which required rebates to be sent directly to the homeowner. A homeowner rebate would allow for better job creation while still granting the homeowners a substantial incentive for higher efficiency improvements.
• The WDDA and NGA are also concerned that qualified contractors and those who are accredited by the Building Performance Institute may offer homeowners the more valuable Gold Star rebates. The accreditation requirement has the potential to limit the choices of those who want to take advantage of the Gold Star rebates. Twenty-seven states do not currently have any contractors who could offer the Gold Star rebates.

Please contact your Senators to reinforce the concerns addressed above, in the WDDA letter, and any other concerns you may have.  Be sure to voice your support for the Home Star program's basic intent and state the NGA's solution:  use the rebate language contained in the companion House bill (H.R. 5019) and remove the BPI provision.

You can either look up your senator's contact information or call the main switchboard number 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator.

David Walker
VP Window & Door Dealers Alliance
VP National Glass Association

GlassBuild America is almost upon us

GlassBuild America is fast approaching. Everyone at the NGA and WDDA is working hard to make sure that everything is perfect - and that you will learn something while you are in Vegas!

GlassBuild takes place September 14-16, 2010 in Las Vegas. Stop by booth #1751, the Interactive Theater, to learn all about the NGA and WDDA member services and to meet and ask questions of the company representatives. You can view the theater schedule online.

Also make sure you check out GlassBuild's educational format - it promises something for everyone. Highlights include:

• Glazing Executives Forum, Sept. 14 -A full day of interactive breakout sessions, expert speakers, peer-to-peer sharing and networking. A must-attend event for every glazing professional.
• Window & Door Dealers Forum, Sept. 15 - This event features breakout sessions, best practice sharing, top speakers and an informal networking reception. Content is being created by window and door dealers.
• Solar Energy and Energy Efficiency Seminar, Sept. 16 - This seminar on Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) will be led by Richard Voreis, CEO of Consulting Collaborative. Panelists include a leading architect, a photovoltaics consultant, a university spokesperson, a glass and glazing subcontractor, and a thin-film photovoltaic module manufacturer.
• Decorative Glass Seminar, Sept 16-Leading experts in decorative glass will debate one of the most pressing industry questions: Is it the product or the design process that matters most? This panel presentation will explore how specialty glass is selected and perceived by each segment of the industry. Presenters include Richard Riveire (Rottet Design, Los Angeles), Ed Trainor (Trainor Glass, Chicago) and Reza Safavi (Taslimi Construction, L.A.). The panel will be moderated by Pulp Studio CEO Bernard Lax, who will also offer a brief presentation on specialty glass trends affecting the industry.

Register to attend GlassBuild America today!  We'll see YOU in Vegas.