NEWS - November, 2004
Titles:
I can’t believe it’s time for another message – time is sure flying. I can’t believe the Royals and Chiefs are this bad, but I can’t wait till our Oct. 29th Membership Recruitment Luncheon at Arrowhead. The guest speaker is Kevin Gray, Executive Director of the Kansas City Sports Commission and it should be very informative and entertaining. Come find out what is happening with the new arena and with the issues regarding the upgrades for the current sports complex. And because this meeting is always well attended you can be sure to meet many old and new friends. Please bring a prospective member(s) to this meeting - they will thank you many times over. Don’t assume these people don’t want to join or that they aren’t joiners. It is very probable that they may never have been asked. Now is the time to join - especially with the Trade Show next year.
Also, I want to remind you to get out and vote for both national and local offices and issues. We can’t sit back and let others choose our representation.
Finally 2005 dues statements are being sent shortly. Please respond quickly with your payment. Also list your e-mail address so we can send the newsletter and other announcements to your e-mail address where it will be easier for you to forward to other interested individuals.
Take care and I will see you on Oct. 29th.
John Kelble,
President
Reserve Nov. 1 to Attend Annual Lighting Awards Banquet
The Electric League’s longest running event, the Lighting Awards Competition, has set Nov. 1 as the date for the Lighting Awards Banquet. This year the banquet will be held at the Overland Park Convention Center, Overland Park, Kan. The banquet is priced at $50 per person with a cash bar at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. A narrated slide presentation highlights the winning projects.
The Electric League is looking for sponsors for this long-running event. Contact Laura Simmons at the League office, 816-561-5323, for more information about becoming a sponsor for this year’s Lighting Awards Banquet.
Birthday greetings to: October, part deux: Ida Edmisten (Crescent), Bob Lagerstrom (Rains Electrical Sales), Kelly Hoss (Wesco), and Joel Hartman (Wesco). November birthdays include Doug Rehfield (C&O Electric Sales) and John Guerdan (Square D Company).
This column just received the following note to share with all of you:
“I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the E.L. 2nd Annual Road Show for their hard work. Thanks go to Kevin O’Neill and Doug Carlson for the cookout - which was great and to Jane Male and Laura Simmons for all of their time and creative work. The weather was perfect (again)! Great food, great conversation, and a beautiful setting all contributed to a wonderful time for all who attended. Again, Thanks to Everyone!” - Brenda Danner, Program Chairman.
We are going to add a new feature to this column and we need your input. A little birdie told us that there are a lot of people in our industry who have extra curricular talents of note and we’d like to feature these. So, starting next month we’ll be doing that. If you know of anyone you’d like to see bragged about, send us your info.
That’s all for this time, keep those e-mails coming in. This is your column, send us your news!
peoplecolumn@electricleague.org or phone them in to Kim Swank at the League office (816-561-5323).
New Arena For Kansas City
October Luncheon Topic
Friday, October 29, 2004
Arrowhead Club, Arrowhead Stadium
11:30 a.m. - Registration
12:15 p.m. - Luncheon and Program
By promoting Kansas City sports locally and nationally, and by working behind the scenes to attract, retain and support sports events and organizations here, the nonprofit Kansas City Sports Commission is helping our bi-state region realize the economic, social and community-building benefits of sports.
Kevin Gray, president of the Kansas City Sports Commission, was a very important part of the process in building a new arena in Kansas City. Kevin oversees all programs, administration/management, services and initiatives of the Sports Commission. A Kansas City native, Kevin attended Rockhurst High School and played basketball earning a degree in Communications and Journalism at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Kevin’s sports career began in 1982 when he worked as a sportscaster and Sports Director for KFRU Radio in Columbia, Missouri. Following that, Kevin joined Learfield Communications, Inc., in Jefferson City, Missouri, as Director of Marketing and Programming, where he helped coordinate sports radio programming and advertising for Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Iowa State. Kevin later joined the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club in 1986 as the Assistant Director of Marketing and Broadcasting and then became the first paid associate of the Kansas City Sports Commission Foundation. In 1989, Kevin became Executive Director and was promoted to President in 1997. Kevin led the efforts to form the Women’s Intersport Network (WIN for KC) in 1994.
This is the annual “bring a prospective member” luncheon. Be sure to bring a potential Electric League member with you to this important luncheon.
Come to the ever-popular Membership Luncheon and listen as Kevin gives us his insight into the Sprint Center and what it means to Kansas City.
A luncheon registration was included with the newsletternewsletter.
The fall 3Rs seminar is set for November 9 at the Electric League offices. The 3Rs stand for roles, responsibilities and relationships. Plan to attend this half-day seminar to broaden your understanding of the electrical industry. Whether you are new to the industry, moving to a different sector within the industry or just want to learn the function of each sector – this seminar is for you!
This seminar will help you gain an understanding of how the industry at large interacts. As the industry grows together it fulfills the needs of the other sectors Come and hear from the vital segments of the electrical industry.
A 3Rs registration form is included with this newsletter. Contact Jane Male at the League office for more information - 816-561-5323.
Check 21 Brings Changes and Opportunities for Business Owners
Big companies or small companies, start-up or long-term player, Check 21 will have an effect on how you do business. Are you prepared to handle the increased opportunity for fraud and changes to your cash flow after Check 21 is implemented?
What is Check 21?
Check 21, which takes effect October 28th, has been under consideration
for some time by The Federal Reserve Bank. When planes were grounded after
September 11, 2001, the physical transportation network, which the system
relied on, proved to be inadequate. So, Check 21 was designed to increase the
efficiency of the check processing system and make it less susceptible to
delays. Under the new law, Check 21 will allow any bank or party involved in
processing a check to convert it into an electronic image, or a “substitute
check.” This eliminates physical handling of paper checks as that image is
then electronically shuttled from one location to another.
Beginning in November, you may see “substitute checks” in your bank statement. Substitute checks are a legal copy of the original check and may be used the same way you would use an original check. Banks, businesses and individuals must all accept substitute checks. No one can opt out of accepting them.
Since Check 21 will not change everything overnight, these substitute checks will appear along with original checks in your bank statements or just like other check images in an image statement. The checks will have a variety of new codes designating that it is a substitute check and showing its route through the clearing process.
This process where the original check is imaged and removed from the payment stream is called truncation. It is the truncation process itself that will streamline the payment system allowing checks to be presented for settlement much sooner than they are now. Eventually same day settlement may be common practice.
What Check 21 means for your business
While many industry innovations must occur before Check 21 reaches its
full potential, there are several things a business owner should consider with
the implementation date less than a month away.
If you have relied on check stock as your primary source of fraud prevention, you may be leaving yourself open to harm. Many of the fraud control mechanisms currently in use today may not survive conversion to image and then re-conversion to a substitute check. Others may survive, but will not be as effective.
As these security features disappear, account reconcilement and Positive Pay will become even more valuable tools to deter fraud and avoid the inadvertent errors caused during check conversion. These services can help you detect fraud and inaccuracies earlier to minimize the impact on your business.
Using float as a cash management strategy has never been a good idea, but now it is even more important to manage your account like the check will be drawn on the day it is written. If you have been relying on float, you should speak to your commercial or small business banker about how a line of credit can help you manage cash flow when money gets tight.
Depending on how you write checks, your funds availability may or may not change. If you receive a high percentage of checks drawn on non-local banks or you deposit a high number of checks, Check 21 will likely have a favorable impact on your cash flow. But if you write a high percentage of checks to non-local payees, or if you issue a large number of checks, the impact will likely be unfavorable.
What’s next?
Many new technologies are in development or initial testing phases. The
ATM machine you use will eventually be designed to image deposits, and bank
tellers will be able to image checks when they are presented at the counter.
Plus, businesses large and small may have a terminal at their register, which
will allow checks to be converted at the point of purchase.
Many of the changes coming may not have an impact on your business in the near future, but you must take steps now to be prepared. Check 21 provides many opportunities for banks to invest in and share technology to improve their customer’s cash management. And the passage of Check 21 itself insures the payment system will function even when terrorists or Mother Nature do their best to bring commerce to a halt.
By: Andrew Kaplan, Senior Vice President, Commerce Bank. Commerce Bank is a Missouri-based bank with $14.5 billion in assets operating in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois.
Plan now to attend the annual Electric League Holiday Luncheon set for December 9 at the Overland Park Convention Center. The event will begin with networking
from 11 a.m. - Noon. The Luncheon will follow with seating at Noon.
As in the past, the Luncheon will include year-end League business as well as the election of members to the Board of Directors and the presentation of the Industry Achievement Award. In addition to the year-end business, an exciting part of the Luncheon is the prize raffle to benefit the Electric League Foundation. The proceeds from the raffle are donated to the Foundation whose two-fold purpose is 1) to provide scholarships to members, their children and grandchildren and 2) to provide a donation annually to a deserving local charity.
The League is asking members to be a part of this year’s event by donating raffle gifts. The donation of company promotional items is discouraged. If you are able to donate a gift, please contact Jane or Kim at the Electric League office.
You may remember an article that was printed in last month’s newsletter regarding our elected officials, their benefits and social security. There is updated and corrected information about this story that can be found at www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/pensions.asp.
The Electric League encourages the membership to get out and vote on Nov. 2 and educate yourself on the issues that are on the ballot – let your voice be heard.
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For comments or questions regarding this page, contact: kswank@swassn.com
This page revised 01/02/08