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The Reality Is We Are a MICRO Sheet Metal Shop/Business

I stumbled on this video today and it reinforced the fact that we are a MICRO shop. The amount of duct that some companies can produce in such a short time is mind boggling. A straight section of trunk duct form beginning to end takes me roughly 8 to 10 minutes. I have heard that companies, like the one in the video, can produce that same section in under 10 seconds. It has become tougher and tougher to keep a shop like ours going because of this gap in production time and more importantly cost of production. Another problem is, most of the work available is commercial in nature and far too involved for a company like mine. Therefore, we are left to pick up the scraps of much smaller commercial work and of course, residential (our bread and butter). But residential and home owner projects seem to be fading more and more even though the housing market has "bottomed". 

Walking this line of keeping the shop smaller in size or taking out loans and making it bigger is a scary proposition. The lack of motivated workers and young people in the field is also something that can be worrisome. Shops like ours will always be needed, but if work can't at least sustain the owner and his family, then smaller shops will continue to fall and go out of business.

Getting Back into The Social Swing

As the summer continues to heat up, so does business and little time for keeping up on social media. However, I have come to realize that more and more businesses and people are migrating to many platforms and ways of communicating. K & E has had a twitter account and blog for a short time and keeping them up to date can be a challenge. So, that's why I have created a posterous account to try and get the word out over multiple platforms in one swing. I hope to post more pictures and musings, trying to get a quality foothold on social media in the business world, help us create more business and help customer relations. Below are the social media outlets we are currently using. Follow us!

• kemetal.blogspot.com
• twitter.com/KE_Metal
• kesheetmetal.tumblr.com
• kemetal.posterous.com

Some links: Design Mistakes, Business Footprints and False Hopes

A few business related articles I read and bookmarked over the last couple of days...

• Top 5 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Make ( Mashable )
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• Beyond Business Cards: Marketing Tools You Need ( Intuit Blog )
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• The Four Os: a Four-Step Guide to Successful Blogging ( ProBlogger.net )
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• How To Spread Your Business Footprint Around The Web ( Open Forum )
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• Hiring Up, But Optimism Down in March (NFIB )
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• The False Hope of Higher Prices (The Reformed Broker )

2011 Federal Tax Credits for HVAC Consumer Energy Efficiency

Many customers ask about tax credits and rebates that may be available on air conditioning units and furnaces. So I thought I would post the 2011 tax credits that are available from Energy Star for HVAC applications. A few include $300 for a new central air conditioning system, $150 for a new natural gas, propane or oil furnace and $150 for a new gas, propane or oil hot water boiler. Below are screenshots of the current tax credits available. Just click on any and it will take you to the Energy Star website for more details and how to apply.

From www.energystar.gov

If you live in the Glens Falls, NY area and are looking for a quote on a new gas furnace or central air conditioning system, go to www.kesheetmetal.com to call or send us an email.

Related articles

• 7 Tips for Saving Energy (And Money) This Summer (cnprojectgreen.wordpress.com)
• Tax credits are not Government Spending? (businessinsider.com)
• Tax Credits, Deductions, and Deferrals (education.com)
• Carrier's Performance Series AC (cousinsair.wordpress.com)

Photos of Some Recent Custom HVAC Fabrication

Here are a few photos of some recent fabrication that has left the shop. Business has been slower but not totally dead.

The first photo was an order for two 25 x 16 to 25 x 10 cold air boots (aka buffalo boots). These are as common as plenums and trunk duct when it comes to installing a forced air furnace. These are for a retro-fit change out in town.

The next photo is a basic plenum, customized with a flat top instead of a normal plenum style cap that would recess 1/2" down inside the top of the box. The customer needed a flattened top for this particular installation.

The last photo is a small order of trunk duct and some small fittings.

Nothing fancy, just a few photos showing the kind of work we do on a daily basis. All of these items are custom made and are what keeps the shop moving along. We concentrate on the residential market consisting of smaller HVAC companies and homeowners with some work coming from very small commercial clients.

Check us out at : www.kesheetmetal.com

Related articles

• When My Air Ducts Smell how do I Make Them Smell Better (brighthub.com)

Oil Hits $110/Barrel, Our Input Costs Continue to Rise

Seeing that Crude Oil hit $110 today, I thought I would post a few charts showing the performance of oil, gas prices and steel over a one year period. As you can see, all three have been moving consistently to the upside over the course of the last year to date. This is troublesome for a number of reasons both personally and from a business standpoint.