Electric League News

Electric League Sponsors Successful Trade Show In 2002

Anything and everything in the electrical and communications/data fields was shown at the recent Electric League Trade Show - held March 20 at the Overland Park International Trade Center.

According to booth representatives, show floor activity was brisk for both the VIP preview Tuesday night and throughout the Show hours on Wednesday. Contractors, specifiers, architects, engineers, architects, and lighting designers attended the VIP night and the Show on Wednesday. Invited guests in the electrical and communications industry were treated to drinks and hors d'oeuvres during the VIP preview night. In addition to the variety of electrical and communications products on display, the show featured hourly drawings for 27 inch color televisions and a miniature NASCAR race track. Eight lucky attendees brought home new televisions from the Show. One talented mini NASCAR driver drove into victory lane and was awarded a Richard Petty driving experience at the Kansas Motor Speedway! Photo below was taken at the show. Other photos are found on page three of this newsletter.

President's Corner

Spring, happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. Your neighbors come out of hibernation to get reacquainted. The first round of golf on a 70 degree day. Fertilizing and seeding your lawn. Cutting the grass for the first time. Planting shrubs and flowers. Feeling the warm sun on your face as you sit back sipping a cold drink. Hearing the rain at night, daylight savings time and evening baseball games.

However, spring can be work. Cleaning out the garage, washing windows, painting, running kids back and forth to games.

The important thing is that you spend time with your family.

Right now you are saying where is he going with this. Well, I will tell you. The Electric League is somewhat like spring. Without fertilizing, seeding and planting (getting involved in some way) flowers and grass ( Electric League) won't grow and without grass there will be no more games. But, with work like what Bob Lagerstrom and his committee did for the Trade Show, and what the vendors, contractors, engineers, utilities, and distributors did to promote it, sell it, and work it we all got to spend time with our family - the Electric League! See you April 19th at the next monthly luncheon.

Happy Spring!

Peter Kurtz,
President

Ownership Team Addition

C&O Electric Sales Company has announced an addition to its ownership team. Doug McGough, an outside salesman for seven years in Kansas City and western Kansas territory, has become a principal in the agency. Doug joins Doug Carlson, Kevin O'Neill and Jim Stanker. Doug brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the industry to the agency.

Time to Update FLSA "Exempt" Status Classification

Electric League members are urged to support legislation that updates FLSA Regulations to remove inside sales personnel from non-exempt status. Currently inside sales personnel are considered non-exempt and outside sales personnel are exempt employees. Under current regulations, inside sales personnel (non-exempt) are compensated for extra hours with overtime pay only. Outside sales personnel (exempt) are not compensated with overtime pay, however they are eligible for other types of compensation. These other types of compensation fit today's business climate better than overtime pay.

At the time when FLSA Regulations were put into place the idea of inside sales personnel being eligible for overtime pay as extra compensation made sense. However, in today's business world inside and outside sales personnel do nearly the same job. Outside sales personnel see customers face-to-face. Inside sales personnel also see some customers face-to-face when they enter the facility (especially at the parts counter). They also talk with customers over the phone and communicate with them via electronic methods. Therefore, in today's business world there isn't a clear distinction in job functions between inside and outside sales personnel.

The FLSA Regulations should reflect this new business world and they should move inside sales personnel to exempt status.

The Electric League asks members to contact federal legislators in support of FLSA Reform legislation. In the 2001 session of Congress, the Sales Compensation Act, HR 2070, was introduced to the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Members are asked to support this legislation.

Sponsoring Distributors

The Electric League thanks the following distributors for their support of the 2002 Electric League Trade Show:

BA Electric Supply
Bernie Electric Wholesale
Electrical Materials Co.
French Gerleman
Graybar Electric Co.
Independent Electric
Kornis Electric Supply
Missouri Valley Electric Co.
Rensenhouse Electric Supply
Rexel Glasco
Shaw Electric Supply Co.
Western Extralite Co.

How to Reach State Legislators

Mail: Legislator's name, State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Jefferson City, MO 65101.
Telephone: Call House Information at (573) 751-3659.
On the Senate side, call toll-free (800) 877-5982.
E-mail: Go to www.senate.state.mo.us/senalpha.htm for senators and www.house.state.mo.us/bills01/member01/ memmail.htm for House members.

Internet: You can track legislation several ways.

The official Missouri Web site is www.state.mo.us.
The house site is www.house.state.mo.us and
the Senate site is www.senate.state.mo.us.

Here's how to reach Kansas legislators or find out the status of legislation during the Kansas session:

Mail: Legislator's name, State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612.
Telephone: Call toll-free 800-432-3924 to leave a message for your legislator or to get copies of legislation sent to you. Call (785) 296-2391 to get your legislator's phone number.
To reach a Johnson County legislator, call locally (913) 715-5000, and you will be put through free of charge.
E-mail: Go to www.kslegislature.org and click on House roster or Senate roster. From there, find your lawmaker and click on the name.
Internet: To track legislation go to: www.kslegislature.org or www.accesskansas.org, the state's official Web site.

The People Column

It was nice to see so many of you at the Trade Show last month. Congratulations to Kate Isenberg, daughter of Tom (Western Extralite Co.) who is on the 4.0 Honor Roll at Shawnee Mission East High School. Great Job!

Happy April Birthdays to Peter Kurtz (MWE), and Harold Barber (Rains Electric Sales, Inc.).

See you next time - keep your news items coming. You can e-mail your news to: peoplecolumn@electricleague.org

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