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By Contractors For Contractors!
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| October 2002 Newsletter | |
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Can you believe that October is here already?? Almost time for little ghosts and goblins to come trick r treating... Enjoy your newsletter, it's all treats and absolutely no tricks!! Diane |
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1. Our advertisers help to make our website possible... 2. Check out how eReports can help keep your project on schedule... 3. Catch those jobsite vandals in the act! 4. Finally! English to Spanish construction terms, with phonetics! 5. A few bills signed by Davis that affect contractors 6. Whoops, did you get caught by my mistake? 7. Halloween and Harvest Festivals are right around the corner!! 1. Our advertisers support us and you! Southern California Insurance Brokerage, Inc. (aka SCIB) SCIB is not only our advertiser, they are also our insurance provider. Should you need liability insurance or bonding, or even just have questions, Gary and Gabriel will be happy to help you out. If you don't have need for an insurance agent right now, then why not print their business card and hang on to it until you're ready! Levy - Von Beck & Associates, Inc. As is the case with SCIB, not only is Levy our advertiser, they also process all of our preliminary notices for us. They perfect and protect our mechanic's lien rights better than we can and for less money than it costs us to do it ourselves! They cover all 50 states and DC!! Print their business card 2. The easiest and quickest way to keep your job(s) on track Fill in the blanks in the pre-formatted eReport worksheet, then...Upload any photographs and documents with a simple mouse click and...*BAM* you have instant reports available, online, for you and your customer to access!Ever have a customer whose schedule was so totally opposite yours, it was like pulling teeth to get together with him/her? How about the customer who can't always make it to the jobsite to see how things are coming along?With eReports, you (or your super) just fill in the blanks, upload any pictures and/or documents you'd like to include, hit the "publish" button and you're done!Anyone you've given an authorized password to will be able to access your eReport and download the files you've posted, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your customer can jump online to check out how things are progressing, instead of jumping on the phone and engaging you in an hour long, or even longer, conversation.For the big corporations that do projects in other states, you can have your superintendent on the job publish the eReport. Then you can jump online to see how things are going, from the comfort of your office and/or home and/or laptop, whenever and however you want to.What about revisions to drawings? You can include this info in the eReport, for access by all the subcontractors on your project. Maybe the floor plan has been changed, affecting many different trades...Wouldn't it be great for your subs to be able to check out the revisions the instant you've published them? Imagine the delays you would avoid!The info you (or your superintendent) publish is instantly available to your subcontractors, for viewing and printing. Quite a bit better than paying those outrageous overnight fees to get just one copy to the jobsite, not to mention the delays involved in having to get your subs to the jobsite to look at the new drawing(s).Sean and Pascal, the brains behind the eReports, are offering a very special deal for readers of our newsletter and website...You get an exclusive waiver of the $100 setup fee, plus 30 days free to try it out! For this special offer, all you have to do is use the special promotional code "TCG" when filling in the form. This means no money up front to try it out! To fill in the form and start your free trial, please click hereTo read more about the eReports, please click hereTo see a demo of the eReports, please click hereYou're also welcome to call them, 818. 550. 8670, but no matter how you contact them, don't forget to mention your promotional code "TCG". :) 3. Stop those punks
from vandalizing your jobsites! Imagine this scenario: Bright and early, at the jobsite, ready to pick up from where you left off yesterday. You take a nice long swig of your morning caffeine as you stroll into the building, glad that you did the hard part yesterday and saved the easy part for today.When what to your wondering eyes should appear... Your jobsite has been vandalized from there to here...Unfortunately, this is an all too common scenario. Of course, you won't be able to find the person(s) who did this, which oftentimes is more frustrating than the fact that you have to do that work all over again. Wouldn't you just love to be able to nail the guy that did this to you and your jobsite?Have you heard of X10? They've got this cool little camera that can make all the difference in the world when a vandal hits your jobsite.All you do is place it at the site, and leave it. It just kinda hangs around while it waits...This little camera, the XCam2 is motion activated... You can sleep while your camera lays in wait. Little does the punk know that his every move is being video recorded!Any time you want, 24 hours a day, you can jump online and take a look. LOL, imagine if you actually caught the vandals in the act? Finally, justice! Call the cops and get those guys red-handed! Too cool!!You can access this camera from your home next door to the jobsite, from your office across the country from the jobsite, and anywhere else you've got a computer with Internet access.When the project is done, grab your camera and take it with you to your next project, it's really that simple!The Xcam2 is only $79, with a bushel of freebies included, and for a short while they're offering free shipping! You get a 30-day money back guarantee, giving you plenty of time to try it out. Click here now to check it out! 4. English
to Spanish construction terms, with phonetics, pocket-size That's right, this little book that fits in your back pocket will have your spanish speaking workers understanding what you want in no time! Each phrase includes phonetic spelling so that you can pronounce those words correctly! Look at this partial list of topics covered:Common greetings and phrases
It really is a cool little book, and the prices are very reasonable!
Click here to read more and/or to place your order!You don't even have to pay upfront, they send you an invoice with your delivery! Check 'em out as soon as you get a chance!5. Bills passed by Calif. Gov. Gray Davis that affect contractors SB1661 Employers are now required to provide paid family leave to employees. Most employers can already see this as not good for business. Most employees will see this as a benefit to them but, is it really?From a sample opposition letter posted on the WWW:
And, if you're a large self-insured employer, you'll pay a new 14% "administrative" fee.You know what I'm wondering... ?What happens to the money paid in by and for employees who don't ever take paid family leave?AB2816Temporary agencies are now required to pay worker comp premiums for workers they provide to licensed contractors. Expect temporary agency fees to rise...AB2065Employers may be required to withhold a different amount of California Personal Income Tax (PIT) on bonuses and stock options that they give to their employees. This only applies to stock options that are considered wages subject to PIT withholding.If employers give their employees bonuses or stock options, they should begin withholding at the increased rate no later than January 1, 2003. The Employment Development Department (EDD) will not impose penalties for failure to withhold at the higher rate on bonuses and stock options paid in calendar year 2002.There is a LOT more to this bill than what I've written here, to learn more, please do visit the EDD Web site or call the Employment Tax Call Center at (888) 745-3886.6. Whoops, I made a mistake... (lol, what's new... ;) A short while ago I sent an email out to everyone about Steve Schuetz and the BASE. I wrote a longer email for those who wanted to read more about it, if you missed that and you'd like a copy, please follow this link. Anyhow, as part of all that, I set up a form at my website where you could enter some basic info and Steve would get back to you with a quote. Well, that was the way it was supposed to work but... I made some mistakes while putting the form together, which made the submit button not work properly. So... if you filled out that form and have since been wondering why Steve hasn't contacted you, it's because he didn't get your submission because the submit button wasn't doing what it was supposed to be doing..... submitting. :( I'm sorry for the inconvenience but, if you filled out the form and didn't hear back from Steve, could I maybe talk you into filling out the form again? :) If you didn't fill out the form the first time I mentioned it, why not do it now? It's super quick and, it works now... lol :) I guarantee you'll be stunned at how much money you'll save. Buy your candy in bulk and save money! Join up with your friends, co-workers, fellow teachers, harvest festivals, etc. CandyWarehouse No costume is impossible when you have the Internet! Check it out!!Spencer Gifts - costumes, wigs, props, lots of stuff... Well, that's about it for now. Have an outstanding Friday and an
even better weekend!! TheContractorsGroup was created to support construction professionals
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