Shining a Light on BMSA
Did you know that as a BMSA member, you can tap into the knowledge and experience of over 160 fellow lumber dealers?
That’s right, if you have a burning question that you wish you could ask your peers, just let us know. Our President Lynn Schwarz will send the question to members via email and request feedback from other members. She tallies all the responses, de-identifies the information and sends out a summary of the replies she’s received during a designated period of time.
The most recent Dealer Helping Dealer (DHD) is out for replies right now and is a question about the best way to safely dispose of Methylene Chloride. Some of the topics we’ve addressed in the past are: Cell phone policies, employee benefits, best forklifts, salary ranges, best door manufacturers.
With upcoming improvements to our website ( mybmsa.org ), be on the lookout for a DHD archive where you can see all the questions that have been asked and answered over the years.
It’s a great way to share best practices with anonymity. Just one more way BMSA supports the growth of your business.
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OSHA Increases Maximum Penalties
The U.S. Department of Labor recently published its increases to the maximum civil penalties that can be assessed against employers by federal agencies. The maximum amount for the citations and penalties issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations have increased as a result, effective for all penalties assessed after Jan. 15. The penalty for failure to abate has risen from $13,260 for each day beyond the abatement date in 2019 to $13,494 for each day beyond the abatement date. For willful or repeat violations, the penalty was increased from $132,598 per violation to $134,937 per violation.
(Source: NLBMDA's E-Update, Feb. 2020)
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FMCSA Gives Troubleshooting Advice for
Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said in new troubleshooting advice that carriers getting hung up trying to verify background checks in the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse may have to resubmit their requests but will not be charged against their query plan balance. The clearinghouse initially experienced a system overload and other technical issues. Employers hiring new drivers were required beginning Jan. 6 to conduct pre-employment queries into the clearinghouse, at a flat rate of $1.25 per query, with customized bundle plans available. Before conducting a pre-employment query, however, employers must obtain the driver's electronic consent. FMCSA did acknowledge that some queries are not getting verified based on the driver's commercial drivers license (CDL) information transmitted by an employer. In other cases, while employers are able to submit a consent request, the driver who is the subject of that request may not be able to see it in their registration dashboard. In those cases, FMCSA said employers should first make sure the driver has a verified CDL in their clearinghouse profile. If employers continue to encounter these or others, FMCSA advises that employers contact the agency.
(Source: NLBMDA E-Update, Feb. 2020)
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2020 Tax Changes
There are a number of inflation adjustments and changes to the tax law for 2020.
Here are a select few:
- The standard deduction goes up to $24,800 married/$12,400 single (previously $24,400/$12,200)
- Tax tables are adjusted slightly for inflation. Essentially, tax brackets were increased about 1-2%
- 401k contributions increase to $19,500 from $19,000 (50 and older can contribute another $6,500)
- Simple IRA contributions increase to $13,500 from $13,000
- HSA contributions go up $100/$50 to $8,100 family/$3,550 single
- The social security wage base is $137,700, an increase of $4,800
- The AGI threshold for deducting medical expenses as an itemized deduction stays at 7.5% (it was supposed to go up to 10%, but a late change kept it the same)
- The lifetime estate exemption rises to $11.6 million from $11.4 million
(Source: Davies, Goldstein & Associates, CPA's Newsletter, Feb. 2020)
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Palmer-Donavin, Columbus, OH, a leading building materials distributor and door fabricator in the Midwest, is changing the name of its Seal-Rite Door Division and rebranding its corporate identity. For nearly 40 years, Seal-Rite Door has been professionally fabricating and distributing custom Therma-Tru Doors in the Midwest. In 2013, the company was acquired by Palmer-Donavin, but the companies have continued to run as independent businesses until now. Effective Jan. 1 2020, Seal-Rite Door began operating as Palmer-Donavin.
"Moving forward, we will operate as two divisions: Palmer-Donavin Building Materials division and Palmer-Donavin Door Division. With both divisions under one name, we can more effectively drive efficiencies and innovation with the goal of making it easier to do business," said Matt Kaufman, VP of the door division.
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ProSales magazine has announced the 2020 Four Under 40 awards with 3 of the 4 being BMSA members!
Congratulations to each of you!
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Boise Cascade CEO Tom Corrick is retiring after nearly 37 years with the company. Corrick will be replaced by Nate Jorgensen in the role of CEO, effective March 6th. The company also promoted Rob Johnson to Vice President of engineered wood products sales and marketing, Chris Seymour to Vice President of manufacturing operations of wood products, and Jeff Strom to Vice President and general manger, eastern region, building materials distribution.
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East Hardwood Company, Inc. is excited to announce the acquisition of Community Lumber in Swansboro, NC. East Hardwood is an 87 year-old company, founded on family values, with strong roots in the Carteret and Onslow County communities and currently encompasses:
- Safrit’s Building Supply - Beaufort, NC
- Jacksonville Builder’s Supply - Jacksonville, NC
- EHI Cedar Point - Cedar Point, NC
- Coastal Lighting Gallery - Morehead City, NC
- Community Lumber - Swansboro, NC
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BMSA ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
BMSA encourages our Dealer members to look first to your Associate members when purchasing products and services. Support those who support your Association and the industry!
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-A-
Aeratis Porch Products
Amelia Lumber Company, Inc.
Appalachian Hardwood Lumber
Atlantic Forklift Services
Averitt Express
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-B-
Barricade Building Products
Basys Processing
Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC
BlueLinx Corporation
BlueTarp Financial, Inc.
Boise Cascade Corp.
Brackett Brothers Corp.
Building 9 Corp.
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-C-
Cameron Ashley Building Products
CardConnect
CareWorks Comp.
Carolina Atlantic
Carter Millwork, Inc.
Center-Line Trailers
Charles F. Shiels & Company
Clem Lumber & Distributing Company
Crumpler Plastic Pipe
Culpeper Wood Preservers
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-D-
Dairyman's Supply Co., Inc.
Dealers Supply & Lumber Co.
Diamond Hill Plywood Company
DMSi Software
DSA Doors
Dyke Industries
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-E-
Eastern Engineered Wood Products
E-Cubed Consulting
ECi Spruce Computers
ECMD
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-F-
Facemyer Lumber Co,. Inc.
Federated Insurance
Forest Products
Fortress Wood Products
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-G-
Garden State Lumber
Georgia-Pacific
Go-For Delivers
Great Southern Wood Preserving
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-H-
Henry Company
Hood Distribution
House of Forgings
Huttig Building Products
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-I-
Intex Millwork Solutions
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-K-
Kerridge Commercial Systems
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-L-
Larson Manufacturing Co.
LBM Advantage
Legacy Pre-Finishing Inc.
LJS Solutions
Lumbermans Merchandising Corporation
LP Building Solutions
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-M-
Madison Wood Preservers
The Marwin Company
Melcap Partners, LLC
Member Insurance
Metal Sales Manufacturing
Metrie
Metwood Building Solutions
Mirage Promotions
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-P-
Packard Forest Products, Inc.
Palmer-Donavin Manufacturing
Palmetto Paper Tube
Paradigm (formerly ResiCAD)
Parksite
Patwin Plastics
Peak Auctioneering
Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance
Ponderosa Software
PrimeSource Building Products
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-R-
Rader Solutions
Reeb Millwork
Reserve Lumber Co.
Rick Johnson Insurance, Inc.
Robbins Wood Preserving
Rocco Building Supplies, LLC
Roseburg Forest Products
Royal Building
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-S-
Schaffer Association
Screeneze
Simpson Strong-Tie, Inc.
Smith Millwork, Inc.
Snavely Forest Products
Southeast Insurance Group
South-East Lumber
Style Crest, Inc.
Sun Windows, Inc.
Sunbelt Rack/CT Darnell Construction
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-T-
TAH Benefits
TAMKO Building Products, Inc.
Tampa International Forest Products
The Empire Company
Trebnick Systems, Inc.
Tri-State Forest Products
True Value Corp.
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-V-
Vann Attorneys, L.L.P
Viance
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-W-
Welco Enteprises, Inc.
Weyerhaeuser Distribution
Wholesale Millwork, Inc.
WM Coffman Resources
Woodford Plywood, Inc.
Woodgrain Distrubution
WorkSafeWorkSmart.com
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