WELCOME TO THE FIRST ISSUE OF WE-CONNECT eSOURCE...
the guide to excelling in the challenging world of home building — designed especially for Women’s Council members! You'll find management guidelines, tips for enhancing your professionalism, interesting ideas and projects from local women's councils across the country, and hot-off-the-presses updates on NAHB legislation, programs, and activities.

We-Connect comes straight to your desktop, in a quick and easy-to-read format, and is available only to members of the Women’s Council. We'd love to have your feedback on We-Connect and hear about the kind of topics you'd like to see covered in future issues. Let us know what you think by sending an e-mail to cnayman@nahb.com. [return to top]

STRONG MARCH HOUSING STARTS BODE WELL FOR 2003
“In an economy that continues to display overall weakness, housing remains a remarkable source of strength,” said NAHB President Kent Conine, “and we are confident that the industry will experience a very good year in 2003.”

NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders said that the Commerce Department report “provides good news that the industry remained resilient through major weather gyrations as well as uncertainties related to the war in Iraq and a potential terrorist backlash. It’s now clear that, in this year’s first quarter, housing once again provided a solid contribution to growth in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.”

Single-family starts in March climbed 7.7% to an annual rate of 1.41 million and the rate of multifamily construction quickened to 366,000, a 10.6% gain.

The March resurgence in home starts, said Seiders, indicates “it was indeed harsh winter weather that was largely to blame for the big decline in February,” and not an erosion of consumer confidence in housing or deteriorating market fundamentals.

“The strength of March’s housing numbers suggests that very low interest rates have really helped and that we have excellent momentum going into the second quarter,” he said. Noting that “falling mortgage interest rates have been holding the housing affordability equation together,” Seiders said he expects “a long-term interest rate rise only gradually over the balance of the year, by about half a percentage point, as the economy improves in the wake of success in the war effort. The Federal Reserve is likely to hold monetary policy steady until late in the year before gradually raising short-term rates.” [return to top]

DON’T “DARE” MISS WC LUNCHEON AT SPRING BOARD MEETING
A real treat awaits Women’s Council members at the upcoming Spring Board Meeting — the opportunity to hear first-hand advice from the authors of “Dare to Repair: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Fixing (Almost) Anything in the Home.” Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet both had busy husbands who were never home to fix things — Sussman is the wife of a CIA employee, Glakas-Tenet the wife of the CIA Director — so they learned their way around the toolbox and taught themselves. In their introduction to the book, the women explained their motivation: “We cooked up 'Dare to Repair' out of sheer frustration...We wanted to do the home repairs ourselves, but the do-it-yourself books on the market were written for tool-belted men, not for female repair rookies like us.”

Sussman and Glakas-Tenet will share what they’ve learned during the Women’s Council luncheon on Friday, May 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., at the Marriott Wardman Park, Balcony C&D Mezzanine Level. The program is free to all members of the Women’s Council, and $40 for others. Please RSVP no later than May 1, 2003, by contacting Petra Beane-Moore at 800-368-5242 x8433. [return to top]

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY (IT’S FOR A GOOD CAUSE!)
You’re already coming to DC for the Spring Board Meeting. Why not participate in the Habitat for Humanity and NAHB Family Build, May 5-9, and help a low-income family have a home of their own? The event will take place in Forest Glen, MD, a Washington, DC–area suburb. If you have never built with Habitat, be assured that no building experience is required! There will be jobs for all levels, building skills, and abilities. Volunteers still are being sought for 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. shifts and 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. shifts. Lunch will be served, and transportation is provided to and from the job site. Please RSVP by May 1 to Shari Smith in NAHB's Executive Office, at 800-368-5242 x8308. [return to top]

PYGMY OWLS — AT LAST, VICTORY
After a number of legal victories, national media coverage and more than four years of intense efforts by NAHB and the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally is telling builders where endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owls are located in the state. Home builders received detailed geographical data on 161 sightings of the bird that have occurred across portions of southern Arizona.

The release of this data is a valuable precedent for landowners who need to determine if, and to what extent, their properties are inhabited by an endangered species that could lead to land use restrictions under the Endangered Species Act. This is a successful close to a drawn-out battle in which NAHB legal counsel, citing the Freedom of Information Act, argued that the government was required to provide data on pygmy owl locations so the public could appropriately evaluate proposed plans for protecting their habitat. A federal court agreed, and the legal strategy played a major role in forcing the Service to release important data on the owl.

For more information, contact Christopher Galik at 800-368-5242 x8663.
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“BUILDING GREEN” KEYNOTER URGES BUILDER-CONSERVATIONIST COOPERATION
Based on the just-concluded NAHB 2003 National Green Building Conference, the “green building” movement is continuing to gain momentum. The event, which was held in Baltimore, attracted more than 600 builders, developers, energy efficiency experts, product manufacturers, public officials, and HBA staffers. NAHB Research Center organized the conference with support from the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing.

Highlighting the best and brightest ideas on energy efficiency, low-impact development, recycled materials, and other environmentally friendly home building trends, the event also paid tribute to the green building movement's leading visionaries and practitioners. Among the recipients of this year's National Green Building Awards are Bio-Based Systems, Built Green Colorado, and Master Builders of King and Snohomish Counties' Built Green Program.

Keynote speaker William Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, urged home builders to do themselves and the environment some good by working voluntarily with conservation groups to reduce water and air pollution before federal regulators step in and require them to do it.

Bakers’ organization, whose membership over the past couple of decades has grown from a couple of hundred to more than 110,000, is fighting to save the embattled Chesapeake Bay. He noted that the six watershed states need “to take bold action” to reduce by half the 300 million pounds of nitrogen going into the bay each year. Otherwise, they will see federal transportation dollars withheld and find themselves facing federal growth restrictions.

Groups such as builders and environmentalists fail when they establish positions that are difficult to back out of rather than communicating their needs, from which they can identify a common agenda, he said. One successful example cited by Baker of how the two sides can work together is the Smart Growth Alliance, which includes his group, Washington area home builders, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Urban Land Institute, and the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The alliance bestows its seal of approval on proposed developments that meet its smart growth criteria, giving those projects an advantage as they go through the approval process.

For more information on the just-concluded 2003 conference, as well as next year’s event in Austin, TX, contact Anne Holtz at 301-430-6211. [return to top]

SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH LEGISLATION PROGRESSES
An important bill that would enable small businesses to pool together to reduce their spiraling employee health insurance costs continues to move forward in the Congress — despite hard core opposition from large insurers. The House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations marked up the “The Small Business Health Fairness Act,” H.R. 660, on April 8. It will now be considered by the full House Education and Workforce Committee, probably during the last week of April. The Senate has not yet taken any action on the bill.

The legislation would allow home builders, who are faced with soaring health care costs for their employees, to join associations to obtain the same economies of scale, purchasing power and administrative efficiencies that large corporations and unions have. This could reduce their health insurance costs by an estimated 15% – 30%.  For more information, contact Jenna Morgan at 800-368-5242 x8407. [return to top]

MAKE AN IMPACT WITH CONGRESSIONAL CONTACT PROGRAM
Think about the influence of more than 205,000 members lobbying Congress. With a grassroots effort of this magnitude, we could have an extraordinary impact on the laws that are passed — laws that directly affect each of our businesses on a daily basis. Yet NAHB’s Congressional Contact Grassroots Program currently has only 15,000 building industry members signed up. To make a major impact on Capitol Hill, those numbers must be higher — and that’s why the Women’s Council has become an advocate for increasing the number of Congressional contacts. All councils should have received a packet of information about the program, which includes a sign-up form, talking points, suggested ways to implement the program at the local level, and a sample letter to members of Congress. If you haven’t already registered to participate in the Congressional Contact Program, do so now — but don’t stop there! Urge everyone in your council and your local HBA, as well as employees of HBA member companies, to join in this important program today. For more information, contact Carmel Nayman at 800-368-5242 x8410. [return to top]

REACH OUT TO NEXT GENERATION WITH BUILDING HOMES OF OUR OWN CD-ROM
Like many members who have experienced NAHB’s Building Homes of Our Own CD-ROM simulation game, Home Builders Association of Kentucky’s Women’s Council is excited about this popular new educational tool. Designed for middle-school teachers, the program supplements classroom lessons and engages students in a virtual experience that reinforces skills such as math, science, social studies, and language arts, while presenting problem-solving and decision-making challenges.

In a recent presentation to all Women’s Councils in the state, Roxanne Buttorf called Building Homes of Our Own an effective tool for experiencing the home building process. “This software allows the user to conduct research and make informative decisions by accessing the experts and soliciting their opinions and advice.” For instance, she noted, “The user may have to resolve civic issues by visiting the virtual planning and zoning commission — much like our real-life encounters with local commissioners.”

The program is part of the ongoing educational outreach initiative of NAHB, which initiated development of the CD-ROM game in response to the impact computers are having on classroom instruction and the way children learn. The software challenges students to work against a schedule and with a budget to design and build a 3D home, starting with selecting a site and ending with selling the home.

Numerous HBAs and Women’s Councils have introduced the program to local and statewide school administrators. Since its release last year, Building Homes of Our Own has been a tremendous success and, thanks to NAHB and Women’s Council members, is now in the hands of 13,000 teachers — which translates to 455,000 students. Supported by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the program was developed by Media Options and is partially funded by NAHB National Housing Endowment and Freddie Mac. To get your complimentary copy, go to www.HomesOfOurOwn.org, or contact Kym Kilbourne at 800-368-5242 x8447. [return to top]

STRESSED WORKERS CREATE A HUGE DRAIN ON BUSINESSES
More than 1 million workers are absent every day due to problems caused by stress. That equates to 550 million workdays lost every year, just from stress-related absenteeism — and that doesn’t include actual stress-related illnesses! A USA Today survey reported that the top four causes of stress include: demands of the job (54%); co-workers (20%); boss (10%); and layoff fears (8%).

In fact, 40% of employee turnover is due to job stress, which costs businesses an estimated $200 billion annually. In a 2000 poll conducted by the American Psychological Association, two thirds of both men and women say work has had a significant impact on their stress level, and one in four has called in sick or taken a “mental health day” as a result of work stress.

To learn more about how employee stress impacts your bottom line — and what you can do about it — visit Ira Wolfe’s Web site at www.super-solutions.com, and click on “Free Articles.” Wolfe is the founder of Success Performance Solutions, a firm specializing in employee selection and performance management. [return to top]

GOAL SETTING MADE EASY
Linda Talley, a change and growth expert and business coach, helps business people succeed in both their business and personal lives. Here are some suggestions she offers to help set, achieve, and track goals.

10 steps to setting and achieving your goals:

1. Develop and feel a deep desire to achieve a goal.
2. Write the goal down.
3. Set a deadline for your goal.
4. Identify any obstacles or help you need to achieve this goal.
5. List the activities necessary to achieve the goal.
6. Visualize yourself achieving the goal.
7. Be persistent.
8. Review your plan regularly.
9. Analyze your result.
10. Set the next goal.

Six things to keep you on track:

1. Make sure your goal is your goal and not someone else’s.
2. Your goal must be reality based.
3. Develop goals in several areas of your life (family, community, business, career, spiritual, health, and personal).
4. Write what you want instead of what you don't want. Focus precedes success.
5. Set your goal just out or reach, yet attainable.
6. Replace and rephrase negative thoughts/talk with positive talk.

Talley is a consultant and presenter in the areas of customer service, culture change, team relationships, and communication. In addition, she is author of “The Daily Win, Business Finesse: Dealing With Sticky Situations in the Workplace for Managers” and “Business Finesse: How to Say the Right Thing at the Right Time.”

For more information, call Frog Pond — an online knowledge and information provider — at 800-704-3764 or e-mail susie@frogpond.com. Copyright© 2003, Linda Talley. All rights reserved.