The St George City Council and Mayor Candidates will be answering prepared questions at the October SUHBA Luncheon. The buffet line opens at 11:45 AM. This luncheon will be longer than usual dismissing at 1:30 PM. The Washington County Board of Realtors are co-sponsoring the forum with us. Please plan to join us at the Dixie State College Gardner Ballroom on Tuesday, October 6. You do not need to RSVP. The first lunch is free per member company. Each additional lunch will be $13.00. If you have a question, please call the SUHBA office at 435-674-1400 or email barbara@suhba.com. 

A Special Thanks to our Luncheon sponsor: 
Weather Master Products Inc. is a leader in providing value-added construction services and products to our customers, by creating a successful partnership with them throughout the construction process. Our pledge is to establish lasting relationships with our customers by exceeding their expectations and gaining their trust through exceptional performance by every member of the Weather Master team.

The St. George City Planning Commission has passed an amendment to the Subdivision Ordinance adding a requirement for Secondary Water Systems in all new developments. ...More

St. George Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, October 13 at 5:00 pm to consider approval of an amendment to the City Zoning Ordinance Title 10, Section 25.

It is proposed that a requirement of at least 50% of the front yard area shall be landscaped for dwellings in Single Family Residential zones. The code amendment would not be retroactive and would not require existing homes without landscaping to install such but would prohibit a conforming property to remove the landscaping and become non-conforming. ...More

NAHB
NAHB sent letters to the House and Senate this week thanking members for introducing legislation that would extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, which is due to expire on Dec. 1. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) recently introduced HR. 3590, the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009. The legislation would extend the credit for one year for qualifying service members. ...More

Find your bat and glove and bring your best game, your family, and your crew to compete in the 1st Annual Builders vs Associates "SUHBA SOFTBALL SHOWDOWN"!
Builders will take on the Associate members and the winning team will have bragging rights plus a trophy displayed at the SUHBA office for one year. Grab your registration form now.

Monday, October 19
First game at 6:00 pm
Gubler Park Complex at 2375 Rachel Drive, Santa Clara

Sponsored by: Legacy General Contracting
Team Sponsors: Workers Compensation Fund and Sapp Drilling and Blasting
Presented by the SUHBA Membership Committee

Would you like to be a Team Sponsor? We have 2 more Team Sponsorships available with 2 options:
1) You provide 10-15 baseball caps with your company logo plus pay $50 sponsor fee or,
2) Pay $100 sponsor fee and we order 10-15 caps with your company logo.
Contact kathy@suhba.com for more information or call 674-1400.

The Southern Utah Home Builders Association thanks all the exhibitors who participated in the 6th Annual Ultimate Home Expo at the Dixie Center held September 11-12. We especially thank The Spectrum for co-presenting the Expo and the following sponsors: MetLife Home Loans, Weather Master Products, Rainbow Sign & Banner, Canyon Media Broadcasting, and KCSG Television. Click "More" to see pictures of the event. ...More

Habitat for Humanity of Southwest Utah received over $1,350 from the dog houses featured during the Ultimate Expo at the Dixie Center. The four dog houses were built and donated by Plant World, S & S Homes, Sherwin Williams, and SunRiver Construction. Three of the dog houses were purchased through a silent bid and one was awarded through a drawing. Click "More" to see the dog house pictures. ...More

Brian Santos, “The Wall Wizard”, was a huge hit at this year's Ultimate Home Expo. If you missed any of his energetic and informative presentations, you will want to be sure to catch them at next year's expo, being held on September 10 & 11, 2010. Thanks to Jones Paint & Glass for sponsoring Brian and remember they will be offering a special 10% discount the remainder of the year on all paint products. Simply tell them "the wizard sent me."

Over 100 people attended the Southern Utah Building Industry Conference and gave very favorable reviews for the event. The presentation given by Attorney General Mark Shurtleff gave "valuable and interesting information" on the current state of the economy and stressed the "need to get back to the balance that helps to expand our economy". 

In addition to the receiving timely information on a variety of subjects, attendees were happy to earn a combined 400 continuing education credits for contractors, real estate, mortgage and title. A few people commented " they had attended conferences all over the country and throughout the world, and this conference is rated right up there with the best of them".

Thank you to our generous sponsors who helped make this conference possible:
Host Business Services and Wingate by Wyndham, and to our event partner Dixie Applied Technology College.

From a consumer perspective, Twitter and other social media sites like Facebook and YouTube offer opportunities to connect with friends and communicate with those who share similar interests.

Marketers see Twitter as a tool to connect and communicate — one  one that can achieve the goals of their marketing campaigns — whether they involve media outreach, building realtor relationships, attracting home buyers or all of the above. Click here to read more.

The first Home Run Grant Program, which ended in June 2009, provided a $6000 grant to eligible home buyers. Home Run 2 provides a $4000 grant. The first program required that homes be ready for occupancy upon closing. Home Run 2 buyers have two additional options. They can purchase a home that is contracted for construction or partially finished and contract for completion. Homes that have been previously occupied do not qualify. The grants will be distributed on a first-come-first-served basis. All requests must be received before December 1, 2009. For more information, click here. 

Midnight Madness is your last opportunity to satisfy all 6 hours of credit needed for contractors and trade contractors to renew their state license. Don't miss this event scheduled for November 12, 2009, from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm, at University Plaza 1071 E. 100 S., Bldg C, in St. George.  

Registration	Full Day	Half Day
Early Bird  (before Oct 15)	$75	$45
Regular  (Oct 16- Nov 5)	$100	$60
Late	$125	$75

A light breakfast and box lunch will be served. For more information about this event please click here or call Kathy Tolleson at 674-1400.
 
The deadline to complete the licensing renewal education requirements is November 30, 2009. This education has been approved by DOPL.       

This course will give attendees the proper tools for installing common engineered building products including: engineered wood floor systems (I-joists), wall systems, roof systems and hardware connections. It is being held on Thursday, October 8, 2009, from 8:00 am to 10:30 am, at the Jim Santy Auditorium in the Park City Library at 1255 Park Avenue, Park City 84060. The fee for the class is $60 for early registration and $75 for day-of registration. For more information or to sign up, please contact the Park City Area Home Builders Association at 435-645-9363 or mykal@pcahba.com.

If you're looking for money, or if you want to know how the hottest companies in the Intermountain West get their seed and growth funding, you'll want to attend the "Funding a Winner" class presented by the Dixie Business Alliance, USTAR, SEED Dixie, and Dixie Angels. It is being held on Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 12:00 pm, at the Dixie State College Taylor Health Sciences Building in Room 156. For more information or to register,please email dba@dixie.edu. ...More

A new publication from the NAHB Research Center — ”Advanced Framing: Its Practical Use in Residential Construction”  — tells why optimum value engineered (OVE) framing has never really caught on despite its ability to cut costs and reduce energy consumption. ...More

The City of St. George held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, September 24, 2009 for the new Firehouse Park located at 1800 N. Dixie Downs Road, St. George. This is a great park with amazing mountain views, play ground equipment, dog park areas, pavilion, restroom, and open areas to play in. A special thanks for the following SUHBA members who participated in the construction of this park: JP Excavating Inc., BA Robinson, Larsen Plumbing, and Western Rock.

The Spectrum in an unprecedented effort to help local businesses and our economy thrive. The Spectrum will be giving away over $250,000 in advertising to drive more traffic to your business and give the local economy a significant boost. ...More

The window film special includes a digital print on a perforated window film, whatever color you want to do. The print is for up to 8 square feet, most back windows are smaller than that. This special includes installation and simple design and will run through the end of September. Extra design is $60 an hour. Bring in vehicle for us to take pictures, measurements and we can lay it out on a picture to show what it will look like. For more information, please call Rainbow Sign & Banner at 435-628-5107.

Don't miss the Habitat for Humanity's Raisin' the Roof Benefit on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6:30 pm at the Barn at Cottontown Village, at 25 N 300 W, Washington, Utah. There will be a dutch oven dinner, auction, and live music by the Honky Tonky Heroes. For tickets, donations, or more information click here or call 674-7669.

See the BIG difference in our national association's "front door" on the Internet at NAHB.org!  Not only does it incorporate NAHB's new branding strategy and logo, but it also offers a plethora of usability enhancements. The new web site has a variety of features and tools to make the site work better for you, the visitor, including a personalized "Dashboard" right at the top that gives you instantaneous access to the most important information to you. Of course, it's worth noting that the development of this site is still fluid, and will continue to evolve over the next several months.

One specific focus of the summit was on some appraisers' use of foreclosed or other distressed properties as comparables without making proper adjustments for the run-down conditions of these homes. This concerning trend, explained in part by the fact that appraisers usually can't see the inside of a foreclosed home, has been driving down sales prices of homes and dampening the beginnings of a market recovery. ...More

SUHBA members are encouraged to submit company event announcements, open house announcements, job announcements, education announcements and press releases for inclusion in the next News You Can Use by Monday, October 12, 2009. Please email the information to news@suhba.com.