The Impact of the Manufacturing Decline on Local Labour Markets in Canada

This study quantifies the impact of the manufacturing decline on the wages and employment rates of Canadian workers in their local labour markets. The estimates, drawn from census data from 2000 to 2015, indicate that the decline in manufacturing employment had a sizable adverse effect on the wages and full-year, full-time employment rates of men — especially less educated men. In contrast, relatively few groups of women appear to have been negatively affected by the decline in manufacturing employment. 

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5 Ways to Make Price Less Relevant

By Jeff Mowatt

“It drives me crazy when my salespeople complain our prices aren’t competitive.” This was a manager who brought me in to work with his team. He continued, “How do I get my team members to stop selling on price?” After years of training numerous sales and service teams (whose prices weren’t the lowest), I’ve discovered five simple strategies for making price less relevant.

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Investment in Building Construction Dipped 2% in November

Total investment in building construction decreased 2.0% from October to $13.7 billion in November. Both the residential (-2.2% to $9.4 billion) and non-residential (-1.6% to $4.3 billion) sectors declined. On a constant dollar basis (2012=100), investment in building construction decreased 2.1% to $11.6 billion.

In the residential sector, investment in single dwelling construction was down 2.0% to $4.9 billion, while investment in multiple dwelling construction (which includes doubles, row homes and apartments) declined 2.5% to $4.5 billion.

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AD Member-Owners Elect 2020 Board of Directors

As part of its 2020 LLC board of directors’ election, AD is announcing a new director and two reelected directors among its complement of 12 board members and committee chairs. Member-owned AD, the contractor and industrial products wholesale buying and marketing group, has more than 120 of its 800 member companies providing leadership on corporate and divisional boards.   

President of Border States Electric David White is AD’s newest director. White served on the board previously while he was president of Shealy Electrical Wholesalers, which joined in 2016 with Border States. -Along with his election, White has been appointed by the board to its organizational development committee. 

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Turning Branch Manager into Business Manager Seminar

Branch management is one of the most vital roles in a multi-location distribution company.  Unfortunately, they are often thrown to the wolves when it comes to training and management directions.  We want to change all that.  The goal of this seminar is to help new, and experienced, branch managers learn how to operate a profitable location from the ground up.  We have been offering this course privately through sponsoring trade associations for the past 5 years. Now, it’s open to everyone.  

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HPS Opens New Warehouse in Reno, NV

Hammond Power Solutions (HPS) will be opening a new warehouse in Reno, NV in early 2020. The new facility will replace the existing warehouse in Compton, CA, with plant operations in Compton being unaffected.

The new warehouse will better accommodate HPS’ growing product sales and provide improved shipping leadtime in select regions. The Reno warehouse is triple the size of the Compton facility at 36,000 square feet, and it will house an expanded number of product SKUs.

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