Issue 9 | June 2024

Northwestern Lumber Association and Mid-America Lumbermens Association are now BLD Connection. Read About Our Transformation! 

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BLD Connection News

State of Minnesota Set to Impose New “Delivery Fee” on All Transactions Over $100 on July 1, 2024

Effective July 1, 2024, all retailers will be required to charge and collect a $.50 per transaction “delivery fee” for goods delivered in the state. This fee will be imposed upon all personal property that is currently subject to Minnesota sales tax.

DOT Overtime Rule Raises the Salary Basis For Overtime Exemptions on July 1

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced its final overtime rule that completes the rulemaking process announced in August 2023 and raises the salary basis for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL’s final overtime rule increases the standard salary level requirement for executive, administrative, professional, and computer employees.

FTC's Noncompete Ban: A Compliance Guide for Businesses and Small Entities

NLBMDA

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently voted to ban non-compete agreements effective on September 4, 2024. To help businesses understand what this rule means for them and how to comply, the FTC has prepared a business and small entity compliance guide that contains step by step instructions for complying along with FAQs further explaining the rule. Additionally, the FTC recorded a compliance webinar for businesses on May 14 with a video and transcript.

Updated Home Energy Efficiency Standards Could Affect 1 in 4 Homes 

NLBMDA

Modernized energy efficiency requirements are coming to new affordable housing, including Housing and Urban Development (HUD) apartments and starter homes that qualify for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) low down payments. The update, which migrates from two model energy codes put in place more than 15 years ago to their 2021 versions, could reduce energy bills by a third.

Schoeneman’s Acquired by Builders FirstSource Inc.

SiouxFalls.Business

After 136 years of local ownership, Schoeneman’s Building Materials Center, one of Sioux Falls, South Dakota's oldest locally owned businesses, has been acquired by Builders FirstSource Inc.

R.P. Lumber Acquires Thorne Lumber Company

Illinois-based company expands its store count in Missouri to 20

R.P. Lumber

R.P. Lumber Co., Inc. has aquired Thorne Lumber Company, an independently owned retailer of hardware and building materials with three locations in northwestern Missouri.

Articles & Publications

When it comes to Cold Calls, Thorough Preparation is Key

Firing Line LBM Advisors

Nearly all salespeople hate cold calls. I don’t like the term “cold call.”

Why? There should be nothing cold about them. Any good salesperson does as much research as possible before ever making a first contact. If it were up to me, I’d call them “thoroughly-researched-but-first-time-face-to-face” calls. I don’t expect the term to catch on.

HR Question of the Month

Cleaning Bathrooms

From Federated Insurance

Question

We have a small office setting with a few bathrooms that are used only by employees. Can we require our employees to take turns cleaning the bathrooms, or are we required to hire a cleaning company to clean them?

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