Sheet Metal Apprenticeships In New York State

This Comes from the New York State Department Of Labor. Below is an example of what is available. There are other cities in the state looking for apprentices.

Berkshire buys Burlington Northern - MarketWatch

Berkshire buys Burlington Northern - MarketWatch

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Hoping For A Cold Winter

A/C season was a joke for us. Upstate New York had one of the coolest summers that I can remember. I only turned my air conditioning on, maybe two times this summer. That doesn't help anyone in the A/C business. Luckily we also have the fabrication shop to keep us productive. Things have stayed rather steady for us fabrication wise. Some of our old customers have returned and things are going well.

A cold winter is what we need to get the ball rolling again. Furnace change-outs are one of our main sources of business. Because we have the fab shop, there is a short turn around time for custom metal. The company can get 3-4 change-outs done a week. You have to remember, we are a small company. My father and myself, that's a good week for us.

It's tough to grow a company without consistent business, obviously. A cold winter, with some consistent orders and jobs would get us back on track to complete these goals. For now, we'll do what needs to be done. If the housing market has finally bottomed, there's hope for some work trickling our way spring of next year. Today, I cross my fingers for a chilly winter.

Now Accepting Credit Cards

As a small company. Who am I kidding, micro company. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and pay for things that you didn't need to in the past. i.e. credit card fees to get your money.

In recessionary times, people have a tendency to not pay their bills. It happens to the best of us, sometimes you have to put that money elsewhere. However, it becomes a problem for the people who are expecting that money. So naturally, you have to find ways to get that cash. We have called, written letters etc. Nothing ever works. The bottom line is. These customers don't have any steady business at the moment, cash is tight. So we have decided to try the next best thing. Credit. If you can't get payed with money, why not get payed with fake money or no money. You know what I mean.

As much as the fees can be another money problem. I hope that they will make it easier for customers to pay their bills. It's a no-brainer, really. Many companies and home owners use the card to pay for everything. This has been going on for long time. Finally, we jump on the bandwagon.

We hope this will be a good thing for the business and help our cash flow down the road. One thing you need when times are tough is cash flow from anywhere you can find it. Even if you have to pay 1.7% to get it.

Things Are Looking Up

The last few months have been extremely slow for us as a company. Big surprise. Who isn't in this same situation? However, this week has shown some signs of improvement. Considering 95% of our business is residential duct work, I would say things are getting back to a more normal pattern. This by no means shows that things are going great or that people are spending like drunken sailors again. It's still a daily struggle.