FenceTech Presentation - Government Contracting

It was great to see so many of you out at FenceTech. This was the first year that I was asked to give a presentation. John J. Feerick, CFP from Premier Fence and I gave a presentation on government contracting. Several people asked for a copy of the presentation.  I'm sorry we didn't video tape, as there were lots of good questions and answers.  You can download it below.

Contract With America - Sounds Good, Here's How You Get One

Steel Prices and the Fence Contractor

I went to the Northeast Chapter Dinner of the AFA last week.  Mike Saliba from Hastie Fence, gave a talk on steel prices. Why they're going up and what to expect in the future.  Most importantly he gave some advice on what to do now, knowing what's coming.

There is also a handout that goes with this Steel Pricing Overview

Video below:  (about 13 minutes)

When Fence Contracts, You, and “60 Minutes” Intersect

At Fencetech this year I’ll be moderating a session on government contracting, “Contract with America”, on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 7:30am.  The session will cover areas such as how to find and bid on government contracts. We’ll also have a representative from the Small Business Administration and the State of Nevada to discuss what the procurement side is looking for.  It should be a good session.

You may be asking, “What does this have to do with me and the popular Sunday night television show, “60 Minutes”?

Well, last night after the Jets/Steelers game, “60 Minutes” covered the impact of the financial crisis on States and municipalities. (Video below).  The segment outlined all the States’ problems. It  specifically told how far behind the state of Illinois is in paying their vendors. That got me to wondering what your experience has been getting paid by the States.

I’d like to cover your experiences in this area during the session I’m moderating at Fencetech.  I need your input.  So please let me know:

·        Are you still looking for government work?  

·        Are you still waiting to be paid by any State or city for work you’ve done?

·        Are there any stories you would like to share?

Please let me know at gene@fenceweek.com

FenceWeek - Twitter and Email Marketing

Two things with this blog.  First of all we have entered the world of Tweeting.  To be honest I never really understood what Twitter was all about.  Nevertheless, we have a new Twitter page where we will do our best to publish industry press releases as they occur.  So take a look and follow us if you're so inclined.  Also, be sure to send us your news.  Here's the page

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The second thing has to do with keeping in touch with your customers.  There was an article in Professional Door Dealer about Raynor; they are a Garage Door Manufacturer.   The article mentions how Raynor has launched their Raynor Insider.  It got me thinking -- There is a lot of work in getting new customers and, once you have them, it also takes a lot to keep in touch with them. E-Newsletters are a quick and inexpensive way to do just that.  Take, for example, referrals, add on sales, repair work, and promotions.   An email newsletter is a great tool to help keep track of the things that interest your customers AND stay in touch with them all at the same time.  At FenceWeek we’ve been using  a company called Icontact to help us keep in touch with our customers. We think it’s one of the best e-newsletter companies out there.  

Here's a link if you want to take a look:   www.IContact.com.  They're very user friendly and best of all let try it for free.

Economic Stimulus Package - and the Fence Industry

Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“Act”). President Obama signed the Act into law on February 17, 2009. The Act provides a series of direct spending and tax incentives for individuals and businesses to jump start the U.S. economy. This $787 billion Economic Stimulus Package includes provisions related to the construction industry.

Here is a good outline of what the Stimulus package can mean to contractors from a CPA firm. http://www.rubinbrown.com/content/view/1298/101/

How does this affect the fence industry? In this weeks FenceBids, we found three bids dealing with the Fence Industry (FenceBids - March 6, 2009). All the jobs were in South Carolina. So the money is beginning to flow.

The government has also launched a new site http://www.recovery.gov/ on this site you can see the breakdown by state where the money will be spent.

What are your thoughts on the stimulus bill? Will it help? Let us know what you're thinking

FenceTech 2009 - Impressions

Fencetech has come and gone for another year. I was curious to see what the people were seeing out there with the economy the way it is.

First things first -- the show. The show itself was certainly less crowded then in the past. However, talking to many vendors it seems many of the contractors left the family and crews at home and came by themselves. So most of the vendors, originally apprehensive, seemed pleased at the end. The vendors were talking to the decision makers, with fewer distractions .

There were certainly some down times, but all in all I was pleased with what I saw. There were obvious changes, a lot less and smaller hospitality suites, certainly new products were released, but it seemed to be fewer than normal. I will have more on the new products in the coming weeks.



Conversations -- The people I talked to were generally more upbeat then I would have expected. As one person said, "We're not quite recession proof, but we're close. When the economy is good we're keeping the dogs in; when the economy is bad we're keeping the crooks out." A lot of the contractors who have been doing commercial work all along, say they are seeing a lot more residential contractors competing for commercial work.


As I said there were exciting new products introduced that I will give you more infomation later.



But right now,

What did you think of the show? Let us know.

Blogging from FenceTech 2009

I'm heading down to New Orleans on Tuesday to FenceTech. No doubt a lot of the people reading this will be there too.

To say it's been an eventful year, both in the country and specifically the fence industry is an understatement. I'm looking forward to hearing the speakers, seeing the new products, talking with old friends, and generally find out what you're seeing out there.

I already know that a few familiar faces won't be there due to the economy.
Anyway, I'll be down there blogging away, I'll have my video camera, if you want your 15 minutes of fame.

So if you have a new product, or a story or an opinion that you would like to share, let me know. I'll be at booth #775.

- Gene