Florida building still on down slide

[Cavie]

This morings headline is "Charlotte County to begin 81 position ellimination". Lee and Charlotte are neighboring Countys. There is no industry here. Charlotte is a "retirement town" no manufacturing, Just service related jobs. We rely on Sarasota and Lee county for higher paying jobs but they are in the same boat. Restruants are closing for the summer. Signs say "See you in October" That has never happened here. It is the same story all over SW Florida. Wife works for social services. She is inendated with people looking for help.

 

[chris kennedy]

Cavie, have you thought about moving to the east coast?

 

[ItsHot]

Cavie I hope things turn for the better for you! We are in some uncertain times. But hopefully things will improve!! :smile:

 

[Cavie]

Cavie, have you thought about moving to the east coast?

See post #46

 

[Brady Electric]

Florida building still on down slide

Cavie,
My work has slacked of a bit also
I just posted on a yahoo group that I belong that I had a couple of week window to take on more work
I started getting calls where customers said thanks for letting us know, they new that in the past I stayed booked up and now I started getting calls again
Work is not still as good as it was but its keeping me in business after 34 years in business
I'm glad to see your 57 makes my 59 seem not so bad
Don't understand why so many comments took place about you moving and going where the work is
At my age I wouldn't move I'd just advertise and take on anything available
Marc usually gives good advice, he must have had a bad day
Sometimes if we could hear ourselves talk we would not say some things we do
Don't know what this form would do without Marc, Dennis, I-Wire and many others that spend allot of there time here
We just need to be patient and overlook somethings that are said time to time
Have a GREAT day and good luck
Always enjoy every-one's comments good or bad, makes me think and look back on my own life
Semper Fi Buddy

 

[mdshunk]

I'd like to quote my associate, "The Carport King":

"I just cannot stand for someone to put this doom and gloom crap on this post. But wait let me explain?

I have talked to contractors all over the country and what I have found is the contractors that have been in business for 15 years or more are all crying the blues,not all but most.

Contractors that have been in business for 7 years or less are busy, again not all but most.

Why is this?

Simple! Contractors that have been around for a long time have been able to build a strong business without much marketing or none and we live in a total different culture now. They did what I call relationship marketing with builders,suppliers,associations,BBB, and the good ol buddy system.

You would be surprised how many of them have know clue on how to market there company. They have never done it.

Now look at contractors who have just started up in the last 7 years or so. They understood that right from the beginning they had to market their company to stay busy. And because of the internet clients are doing there homework and educating themselves.

Plus look at all the TV shows out there promoting do it yourself. Look at all the big box stores that thrive on do it yourself. Yes it is harder to get clients and then sell them on your products.

What does this mean to all of you? WAKE UP if you listen to the article above then hey close your doors now and find a job!

Everyone that has passion for there business will market there company and will thrive and keep a positive attitude and learn how to survive in this type of market.

So please do not give me the poor me doom and gloom sob story about how bad business is. Turn the key on the door and this will give all of us that will fight and we will be glad to take more market share from you.

My hat is off to all the hard working men and woman that continue to show up everyday and turn the key to there business and walk in and make there clients and there employees there priority. "

 

[iwire]

Marc as much as you will dispute this, that quote has nothing to do with the OP.

Here is the OP

I just received word that Lee County Fl, where I worked untill Feb 1st, just laied off 9 more building inspectors. 2 were electrical. They had 15 electricial When I started in '06. Now down to 6. I don't look for any improvment untill after the Presidental Elections. Then It will take 6 months to start moving.

So I guess your saying the dept Cavie worked for should have marketed itself better?

 

[mdshunk]

Marc as much as you will dispute this, that quote has nothing to do with the OP.

No, I don't dispute that at all, but it does play to other similar themes that cropped up.

So I guess your saying the dept Cavie worked for should have marketed itself better?

No. I'm not putting any responsibility on Cavie's employers in this case. Some blame, if there is any to be assigned, does belong to them, but I would simply encourage him to take personal responsibility for the position he's currently in, buck up, and do whatever it takes to find the job he needs. I just now remembered a "safety guy" from a south Florida EC who got laid off, so he moved to either North or South Carolina and now makes more money than he ever made in his life. He contacted me in the recent past about speaking at a company meeting at his new employers, as his budget at his new company is out of this world.

 

[iwire]

No, I don't dispute that at all, but it does play to other similar themes that cropped up.

Only the themes that you insisted in bringing into the thread.

I would simply encourage him to take personal responsibility for the position he's currently in, buck up, and do whatever it takes to find the job he needs.

Ah, hello Marc

I have options and I am working, Just not for a company I wish to be with. Just collecting a pay check and still looking.

 

[mdshunk]

Only the themes that you insisted in bringing into the thread.

Yes, that's true

Ah, hello Marc

Yes, I know he's working, but he seems unsatisfied. Satisfaction is out there to be found. I mean, seriously, he took at job at the tail end of boom times in a boom state. I say he pretty much got what he asked for.

I know my opinions in the areas of marketing and employment are unpopular, but I feel the need to express them anyhow. I really don't understand the general resistance to the ideas of personal industry and personal responsibility.

 

[peter d]

I know my opinions in the areas of marketing and employment are unpopular, but I feel the need to express them anyhow. I really don't understand the general resistance to the ideas of personal industry and personal responsibility.

Marc, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. You need to work on marketing your ideas and thoughts a little better.

 

[mdshunk]

Marc, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. You need to work on marketing your ideas and thoughts a little better.

If there was something to be gained for me, personally, I would have to improve that. For free, you get what you get.

 

[iwire]

For free, you get what you get.

Yeah no reason for being civil.

 

[peter d]

If there was something to be gained for me, personally, I would have to improve that. For free, you get what you get.

All I'm saying is there is a way to present your ideas without putting people on the defensive and sounding crass.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

If there was something to be gained for me, personally, I would have to improve that. For free, you get what you get.

Actually some of your ideas are quite profound but no one will listen with the way you present it. For free or not-- if you want to express yourself and have people really hear what you have to say then I would suggest toning done the tough guy crap.

 

[Brady Electric]

Florida building still on down slide

Wow Marc, #66 commit
I do agree with what you say
After being in business for 33 years I've never been out of work
Don't have to worry about someone under biding me or taking any of my work
I treat my customers well and do my work according to the NEC and enjoy my work and it shows
Thanks to all the do it yourself shows I sometimes get more work
People start projects and get in trouble and don't know how to finish
Many threads ago I-Wire told me if I didn't have something good to say don't say anything
Sometimes I sit hear like a loaded shot gun ready to fire over what someone posted
I have to remember that I'm not in the USMC anymore or in Viet Nam and chill out
Then I think about what I-Wire said to me and realize its not worth getting worked up over
Nobody totally agrees with us all the time and words don't always come out like we meant it, so we all need to sit back and just listen and learn
I do appreciate all your comments, although I do sympathize with others problems but at the same time instead of crying get off the couch and find work
Work is always there if you look hard enough
If you enjoy what you do others will see that and want you around not just for the job you do but just for talking to you
Semper Fi Buddy

 

[peter d]

Work is always there if you look hard enough

I don't think anyone in this thread or anyone in their right mind is disputing that fact.

 

[Brady Electric]

Florida building still on down slide

Sure is good to see a smiley face at the end of a statement
Semper Fi Buddy

 

[mdshunk]

All I'm saying is there is a way to present your ideas without putting people on the defensive and sounding crass.

There may well be, but I haven't figured that part out yet. Until then, feel free to hit "My Profile" and then "Buddy/Ignore List". The way my PM box lights up with attaboys makes me think I'm on the right track. Please put me on your "Ignore List" if you think I'm on the wrong track.

 

[paul]

A bit misleading

A bit misleading

Actually, you're not right. Starts rose 8.2% (just over a million units!) and permits rose 4.9% (almost a million units!). This was the single biggest jump since Jan of '06. You are right, however, that most of those were for multi-unit occupancies, but work is work. Nonetheless, permit increases occurred for both single-family and multi-unit homes.

I think June permits and starts are at 9% and 11%, if I'm not mistaken. I just know that the turnaround started in April.

As I was always told growing up, a half truth is the same as a lie. Now for the rest of the truth to those numbers.

The two indicators in April were at their highest level since February. Housing starts had fallen in March to a 17-year low.

However, on a 12-month basis, April housing starts were down 30.6 percent and permits fell 34.3 percent.

Although US builders broke ground on more homes than expected in April, all of the additional building took place on multi-family homes. Starts on single-family homes fell to their lowest level in 17 years, the Commerce Department said.

New construction of single-family homes, a better and more stable indicator of new home trends, fell 1.7 percent to a 692,000-unit rate, the lowest level since January 1991.

Starts of homes for five or more families skyrocketed 40.5 percent to an annual rate of 326,000 units.

By region, starts fell only in the Northeast, by 12.7 percent. The Midwest saw the largest jump in starts, by 24.4 percent, followed by the West at 18.5 percent and the South at 3.6 percent.

Single-family building permits rose 4.0 percent to 646,000 units. In the Northeast, permits for single-family homes maintained last month's record low of 60,000. Permits in the South fell to the lowest level since June 1993.

Sounds like more apartments than houses to me.

Edit: Adding a link http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_housing_starts_jump_8_2_in_April_05162008.html