JULY 2021 NEWSLETTER To promote, educate and advocate for the Residential Building & Remodeling Industry; providing resources that benefit industry professionals and consumers in the communities we serve. Fulford Home Remodeling & Pella STL are the reining 2021 Champion Team with a score of 187! The competition was a bullseye away for many teams to take the lead and others were just there for the fun. Over 70 members competed throwing axes while having some food and drinks at the PWB annual event. Not to mention the abundance of smiles and fellowship shared by all…...we hope you enjoy the pictorial on the following pages. WHATS INSIDE Backfill, Waterproofing, Garage & Basement Floor, Plumbing roughin and Framing done July has a lot going on with trade partners and updates scheduled to have the mechanicals to exterior completion by month end PWB Scholarship Recipient Announcement John Snapat, Ken Heidbreder & Bobby Robinson with their awesome trophies. Brian Gaskill with Pella STL (not pictured) had left before the announcement. EVENT SPONSOR Upcoming Events July 16 - Herschel E. Johnson Golf Classic Sep 17 - All Aboard with the Board Feb 25, 26, 27 2022 Home Show Bury the Hatchet pictorial Remodeling Excellence Awards Application Membership Renewal Updates NAHB Eye on the Economy News: Most Popular Kitchen Features Study Sawmill Output update New Home Starts Drone Refueling Station in the Metro East Illinois Policy Institute: IL Unemployment Fund Page 1
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FRIDAY JULY 16, 2021 EVENT SPONSOR ___ $125 each Golfer ___ $ 20 p/team Mulligans ___ $ 20 p/team Skins ___ Cart Sponsor ___ Give-A-Way Sponsor ___ Stationary Beverage Sponsor ___ Course Contest Sponsor ___ $100 each Hole Sponsor Company name on course. PARTICIPATION LEVELS SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT SOLD OUT METHOD OF PAYMENT: ___ Check ___ Invoice (Members ONLY) ___ Charge to Visa/Mastercard* Total Amount Due $__________ Card# _______________________________________________ Exp Date ______ CVC# ________ Zip Code _______________ Signature_____________________________________________ •1st, 2nd & 3rd place Prizes for A & B flights •Appropriate attire required: Soft Spike facility. Men collared shirts, Ladies golf sleeveless shirts permitted. •Personal coolers are strictly prohibited! No refunds or credits will be given for cancellations or no-shows after 6/29/2020 Home Builders & Remodelers Metro East Association 6100 West Main St., Maryville, IL 62062 Page 3 Please complete & Return Registration no later than July 9 ____________________________________________________ Primary Contact ____________________________________________________ Company Name ____________________________________________________ Golfer Name(s) _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ 10am Registration · 11am Shotgun Start
NAHB Study Finds Double Sinks & Pantries the Most Popular Kitchen Features BY PAUL EMRATH In the recent NAHB study, What Home Buyers Really Want, 2021 Edition, side-by-side double sinks and walk-in pantries ranked as the most popular of 30 listed kitchen features. This result is based on a comprehensive, nationwide survey of 3,247 recent and prospective home buyers conducted in the summer of 2020. Among other things, the survey asked recent and prospective buyers to rate over 200 home and community features using the following, four-tier scale (which emphasizes how a particular feature influences the buyer’s purchase decision): Topping the list of kitchen features, the side-by-side double sink and walk-in pantry are rated essential or desirable by 81 percent of buyers. More than four of every 10 buyers think the double sink is so essential they would be unlikely to buy a home without it, the highest essential share of all kitchen features listed. After the top two, four features are wanted by more than 70 percent of buyers: table space for eating (78 percent), a central island (77 percent), drinking water filtration (76 percent), and granite or other natural stone countertop (73 percent). Not far behind, three features are essential/desirable to more than twothirds of all buyers: recessed lighting (69 percent), customized backsplash (69 percent), and pull-out shelves (68 percent). Overall, more than half of home buyers rated 20 of the 30 kitchen features either essential or desirable. Millennial (born 1980 to 1996) and Gen X (born 1965 to 1979) buyers are more likely to want certain kitchen features than their Boomer (born 1946 to 1964) counterparts, by a margin of 25 percentage points in some cases. For example, a steam oven is desirable or essential to 51 percent of Millennials and to 47 percent of Gen X buyers, but only to 19 percent of Boomers – a 32 point difference between the youngest and oldest buyers. Likewise, considerable shares (>50 percent) of the younger two generations would be positively influenced to purchase a home if the kitchen included a trash compactor, a wine cooler, a central island with range, and a double island. In contrast, the share of Boomers who want those features only ranges from 25 to 37 percent. All these generational differences are statistically significant, and remain significant after controlling for the income, race, geography and household composition of the buyer. To see home buyer preferences for other features (including all results broken down by Census division, age, generation, race/ethnicity, income, priced expected to pay for the home, household composition, and firsttime vs. repeat buyer) and a complete description of the survey design and sampling methodology, please consult the full study. Page 4
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Check out the latest videos as key trade partners share the process of Building the HBR Showcase Home FOUNDATION WATERPROOFING BACKFILL CONCRETE FLAT WORK Page 6
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Post-Winter Storm Uptick for Sawmill Output in March The historic climb for lumber prices, combined with delays and higher costs for other building materials, is a significant limiting factor for home building in 2021. Despite a historically diminished level of overall housing inventory and solid demand due to low mortgage interest rates and demographics, new construction has been limited in its ability to add needed supply to the market, resulting in unsustainable gains for home prices. Fortunately, real-time data indicate that lumber prices are now falling with an expectation that prices will decline below $1000 per thousand board feet in the coming weeks. Data indicate that domestic production did not kept pace with the gains for home construction during an extraordinary 2020. A cited reason for the lack of lumber production in the U.S. has been challenges with labor, a limiting factor for the overall economy in both the manufacturing and construction sectors. Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that, indeed, sawmill industry employment is lower than a year ago. As of March 2021, the most recent data available, sawmill employment was 88,900. This is an 0.8% decline from March 2020, or a net loss of 700 jobs. In contrast, residential construction employment was up 2.8% or 82,000 net jobs over the same period. Despite the decline in workers, sawmill output was flat over the course of 2020, albeit along a choppy trend. Revised data from the Federal Reserve demonstrate that the seasonally adjusted rate of sawmill output in March 2021 (the most recent available) was 4% higher than that recorded in March 2020, when the spring decline for production began last year. March 2021 saw a 4.4% gain over February 2021, due in part to a post-Winter Storm Uri rebound. Looking back, total 2020 sawmill output was up just 0.1% higher compared to 2019. This was due to an upswing in production in November and December, which followed a decline in the third quarter. Its worth noting that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the high point for U.S. sawmill output was May 2018. Output is down 8% since that time despite substantial price gains. The 2020 output levels were insufficient to keep up with the demand from residential construction. The preceding graph presents single-family starts and sawmill output indexed so that 2012 housing starts / 2017 sawmill output levels equal 100. The growing gap between the two measures, particularly in 2020 when single-family starts expanded by 12%, is a reason for the dramatic increase in lumber prices. This impact on price can be seen above by adding an indexed measure of the BLS Producer Price Index for softwood lumber. These data indicate that the rise in price was due, in part, to the inability of lumber production to keep pace with residential construction expansion. This gap, and the material cost impact, can only be closed via a significant increase in domestic production, more U.S. imports of lumber, or a significant substitution to other building materials. Fortunately, lumber prices are now expected to decline in the weeks ahead, as indicated by recent activity in future markets. Eye on Housing BY ROBERT DIETZ Page 8
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By: Megan Eckstein The Boeing MQ-25 T1 test asset transfers fuel to a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet on June 4, marking the first time in history that an unmanned aircraft has refueled another aircraft. The MQ-25 Stingray will assume the carrier-based tanking role currently performed by F/A18s, allowing for better use of the combat strike fighters and helping extend the range of the carrier air wing. (Boeing) WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy conducted its firstever aerial refueling between a manned aircraft and an unmanned tanker on June 4, with a Boeingowned MQ-25 Stingray test vehicle performing its first midair tanking mission with a Navy F/A-18E-F Super Hornet. The test mission out of MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, proved the unmanned tanker could successfully use the Navy’s standard probeand-drogue aerial refueling method. Once fielded, the MQ-25 will operate from aircraft carriers, refueling the air wing operating at sea and relieving the Super Hornet fleet of the tanking mission, which the Navy has said can at times account for more than one-third of Super Hornet flight hours during carrier air wing operations. The two F-18 aviators from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 were in radio contact with the MQ-25 operator, who was controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle from a ground control station. Once the operator deployed the hose and drogue from the UAV, the Super Hornet came in for an even closer look, Bujold said, before backing up and connecting for the first time with the UAV. The Super Hornet first did a “dry connect,” where all the aerial refueling gear between the two aircraft attached but no fuel was passed from the tanker to the fighter. On the second connection, 300 pounds of fuel was passed from the MQ-25′s Aerial Refueling Store pod to the Super Hornet. Bujold said this happened while the aircraft were flying at operationally relevant speeds at about 10,000 feet altitude. Another smaller refueling was made at 16,000 feet, passing 25 pounds of fuel to the Super Hornet. Several additional dry connects were made as well, ensuring that the procedures were good for connecting and disconnecting the gear during a flight. In total, Bujold said, the mission lasted about four and a half hours, and the two aircraft were connected for dry or wet connects for more than 10 minutes total of that time. A total of 325 pounds of fuel was passed from the MQ-25 to the Super Hornet. “Really the big deal on Friday was building this trust and confidence and understanding of how it’s going to be. But the really next step … is to get to the point where we are a trusted partner in the combat mission,” Bujold continued, saying that meant being able to handle any flight profile the receiving aircraft needed to fly, and ensuring the MQ-25 could operate with other aircraft in the carrier air wing, too, including the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye. HBR has been told that this news comes along with a large facility that will be built near Mid America Airport that will employee thousands! We will continue to share updates as they become available. Page 14
Feb 25, 26 & 27 Belle-Clair Fairgrounds $800 per booth HBR MEMBERS will be offered first look at the floor plan and to reserve booths space Page 15
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RENEWING MEMBERS 1st National Bank of Waterloo - 13 years Schmitt’s Troy Garage Door - 1 year REMODELERS COUNCIL RENEWALS AUTCO Home Appliances Srogus Construction NEW MEMBERS Chris Hackman 5938 Countryside Lane Freeburg, IL 62243 P: 618.410.4607 E: flawlessfoundation@att.net Tiffany Nimmons 1 Timberwood Drive Maryville, IL 62062 P: 618.530.6427 E: tiffanynimmons3@gmail.com Web: www.glorifyingdesignandstaging.com Brandi Oliver 636 N 4th Street Breese, IL 62230 P: 618.526.9393 E: preferredflooring618@gmail.com Web: www.preferred-flooring.com Page 17
ILLINOIS UNEMPLOYMENT FUND FACES POTENTIAL $8 BILLION Patrick Andriesen Jobs & Growth Historic unemployment payouts related to the COVID-19 shutdowns left Illinois’ fund billions in the hole. State leaders did nothing to fix it, meaning there could be reduced benefits for the unemployed or higher taxes on employers trying to recover. Illinois business leaders are worried after Springfield lawmakers twice passed a state budget, but neither time addresses the state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund that is as much as $8 billion underwater. Illinois’ unemployment insurance program, designed to offer partial wage relief to out-of-work Illinoisans, was $5.2 billion in the hole in mid-May, according to an analysis by the State Policy Network. But the deficit could now be as large as $8 billion, said Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of residents filing unemployment claims has soared to historic highs. Claims peaked in April 2020, when over 202,000 Illinoisans in a week filed for unemployment. That’s more 12 times the number of claims the Illinois Department of Employment Security received in same period during the Great Recession. The Illinois’ unemployment insurance program, which pays out claims through the state’s trust fund, spent $1 billion from the trust and borrowed an additional $4.2 billion from the federal government to address the surge in claims. The state continues to pay out those benefits. While Illinois’ unemployment rate remained at 7.1% in May, Karr says employers who pay into the fund through payroll taxes are concerned about how the state intends to fill a hole that is at least $5.2 billion deep. Illinois is federally mandated to assure the solvency of the trust fund. When the balance dips too low, the state must choose to either reduce unemployment benefits, increase premiums on employers, reappropriate funds from other state revenue sources or some combination of those fixes. State lawmakers have expressed similar concerns over how to maintain the solvency of the fund, including Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, who warned the unemployment fund “might be the most important social safety net program we have in this state.” Legislators pushed to reallocate a portion of state’s $8.1 billion share of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to fill the deficit in Illinois’ 2022 state budget. However, the budget was passed twice without adding any such appropriations. The fiscal year 2022 budget, which takes effect July 1, does include $100 million to provide unemployment funding for non-education employees in schools, such as janitors and cooks, through House Bill 2643. The bill also forgives payment made to people who did not qualify as long as it was no fault of their own. Karr said these additional costs are expected to eat up the increased funding from the legislature. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce and Illinois Manufacturers Association also criticized the state budget for failing to address the shortfall. Manufacturers President Mark Denzler questioned the priorities in the budget, such as using $1 billion in federal funds and spending “it on projects back in home districts instead of taking on critical issues like helping replenish the unemployment insurance trust fund that provided a lot of benefits for workers over the last year.” Karr said without an influx of money, lawmakers will be forced to cut benefits for unemployed Illinoisans or increase payroll taxes on employers trying to rehire displaced workers. Illinois lost 7,900 jobs in May. The dismal jobs report leaves Illinois’ unemployment rate unchanged at 7.1%, while the national unemployment rate declined to 5.8%. Unfortunately for the nearly 440,000 Illinoisans still out of work, the $42.3 billion budget Illinois lawmakers passed might not replenish the unemployment trust fund but it does contains a $655 million tax hike, while still remaining unbalanced. Those taxes specifically strike at job creation in a state already lagging the national recovery. Page 18
OFFICERS P L A T I N U M President, Ryan Butler Remington Properties 1st Vice President, Mike Lippert Liese Lumber 2nd Vice President, Mike Needles C.A. Jones, Inc. Associate Vice President, Mindy Shafer Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Treasurer, Scott Gruber First Mid Bank & Trust Secretary, Jerry Yaekel Yaekel & Associates, Inc. Immediate Past President, Aaron Klemme Klemme Construction DIRECTORS G O L D S I L V E R Allen Roofing & Siding B R O N Z Page 19 Jason Klein - Ameren Illinois Barry Buchman - Arrowhead Building Supply Matt Warren - Carrollton Bank Coy Mullenix - CMI Construction Michelle Rauk - Eagle Flooring Mark Fulford - Fulford Construction John Snapat - Fulford Home Remodeling Steve Macaluso - Halloran Construction Jon Edler - Henges Interiors Robert Dee, Jr. - Homes by Deesign, Inc. Scott Blumberg - Huntington Chase Ken Diel - Kerber, Eck & Braeckel Mike Lippert - Liese Lumber Josh McDermott - J.T. McDermott Remodeling Contractors Derek Brandmeyer - Light Brite Jason Huelsmann - New Tradition Homes David Padgett - Padgett Building & Remodeling Ron Padgett - Padgett Building & Remodeling Scot Lehr - Quality Installation & Home Improvement Jeff Schmidt - RLP Development Sue Schultz - Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard P.C. Mike Rathgeb - Spencer Homes Mark Vogt - Vogt Builders, Inc. Jim Vernier - Village of Shiloh
6100 West Main Street Maryville, IL 62062 Phone: 618-343-6331 E-mail: tbutler@hbrmea.org Web: www.hbrmea.org Page 20
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