God bless the U.S.A.
Submitted by
Michael Barnabas
Inspirations for Manufactured Housing Professionals
Coming to America
post submitted by
Michael F B Barnabas
Examples Versus Words
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.“
Oliver Goldsmith
1730-1774, Writer and Poet
Submitted by Robin Crow, author.
Lessons of Hate and Love applied for Manufactured Housing Growth
Have you ever known a former smoker? Ever notice that the one who once ‘loved’ smoking, may now hate it passionately?
A similar dynamic can happen in relationships, business, religion and politics. The one who was once strongly in favor of this or that belief, if they ‘leave’ or separate from that fold, may now become its most bitter opponent. The one who loved someone strongly, may suddenly hate that person with a passion, if the relationship comes to an unhappy end.
At this point, we are merely observing. The above is not praise or blame, merely the recognition of a fact we have all seen, or experienced ourselves.
Now let’s apply this to manufactured housing growth.
There are those out there in the public who vilify what they do not know, or do not understand. Our job is to get them ‘to see the light.’ Because those who once ‘opposed’ manufactured housing, if we win them over, can become our greatest ally!
No one person will accomplish this, we all must take a part in one way or another.
To learn more about a practical process that we can use to change those who are indifferent to our industry or those who oppose us into our strongest allies, please see the latest Cutting Edge in Marketing and Sales Blog.
We can make misunderstanding, old myths and even hate yield to love.
We have a great product, in manufactured and modular homes! Community living can be a very fine way of life for millions. One person at a time, we can win millions over. Let’s just take the daily steps to do it. # #
Blog post submitted
by L. A. Tony Kovach
Connect with me on LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Pride and the Rose Less Traveled
To oversimplify, one can speak of two types of pride. Healthy pride and unhealthy pride.
An example of healthy pride is to feel good about one’s work and accomplishments. An example of unhealthy pride may seem similar at first: to feel good about one’s work, accomplishments and self, but to do so to the point that one looks down upon others.
The antidote to the second sort of pride is humility.
Humility comes from the word humus, of the earth. When one realizes that we are ‘of the earth,’ made of the same chemicals found in the natural world around us, this can bring us back to reality.
One may realize that none of us is an island. None of us is a truly “self made” man or woman, we all have had – and still have – need of others. From parents and family, to friends and colleagues, we need others to become our best.
Rich soil – dirt – humus – this is where nature properly cultivated can flower.
Humility is not to think of oneself as dirt. True humility is nothing more or less than a recognition of the objective truth.
So there is a healthy balance needed between self respect and respect for others.
In younger days (not that I’m old, mind you! ; -) it is easy to recall how one once thought that one ‘knew it all.’
Then slowly, over time, the reality of the importance of others comes into play.
In strolling through the glory of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s this evening with my wife and son, it was easy to get carried away in the beauty of the place. To see the wonder of nature. To realize that nature’s wonder has been cultivated by people in a fashion that makes the natural, super natural!
Team work is a little like cultivating nature.
Establishing team work is to take what is already good in others. To be open to and receptive oneself, to be willing to share in a fashion that allows another to flower. This type of process makes the good ever more beautiful.
Such a process makes what is good even better.
Team work can be misunderstood, just as pride and humility can be misunderstood. Not everyone ‘gets it.’ But once a team comes together, works and stays together, the results can be amazing, truly humbling, and beautiful to behold.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
# #
Post written by
L. A. “Tony” Kovach
http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
“So long, farewell…”
We have shared a portion of our life journeys and professional paths for over a year now.
When I joined the MHMSM.com team as associate editor in June 2010, it was more like a rocket launch into an Industry entirely unknown to me. Through Tony Kovach’s visionary passion and skills as a teacher, I became immersed in the manufactured housing industry, meeting you men and women of extraordinary talent and commitment in the fields of design, production, finance, communities, law, management, marketing and sales, state and national associations, industry shows, inspiration, etc. – not in person as I would have liked, but through your writing of feature articles, Industry Voices Guest Blog posts and other mutual endeavors. Thank you for entrusting your word, your thought, vision and passion to our online journal, soon to be rebranded as MHProNews.com.
And now personal circumstances compel me to leave this team.
Fare well in your work together to bring quality, affordable factory-built homes to more and more people. I wish you what Holiday Homes in Milford, Ohio, states as their Business Philosophy: “To show through our many varied projects, that manufactured housing is not a product, but a process for providing new homes.”
YOU are INspirations to me and to countless others who depend on you. May you be joyfully and abundantly blessed.
Warm regards, Catherine
P.S. Please continue to submit articles and news tips to tony@mhmsm.com, and he will be introducing a new associate editor as soon as possible.
What Is Selling?
“Selling is a noble, high paying profession when it’s done with people, to help, serve and do what’s best for them.
It’s a job when a salesperson’s intention is to make a sale.”
Contributed by Mike Moore
You won’t believe your eyes!
This 3D Printer is phenomenal!
Check out the futuristic technology that is available now and be amazed!
Source: lifefornothing on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboxMsSz5Aw“>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboxMsSz5Aw
Wikipedia has this to say about 3D printers:
3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology where a three dimensional object is created by laying down successive layers of material.[1] 3D printers are generally faster, more affordable and easier to use than other additive manufacturing technologies. 3D printers offer product developers the ability to print parts and assemblies made of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties in a single build process. Advanced 3D printing technologies yield models that can serve as product prototypes.
A 3D printer works by taking a 3D computer file and constructing from it a series of cross-sectional slices. Each slice is then printed one on top of the other to create the 3D object.
Since 2003 there has been large growth in the sale of 3D printers. Additionally, the cost of 3D printers has declined.[2] The technology also finds use in the jewellery, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
Thanks to George F. Allen for the link to the video.
Fun Facts for the Fourth of July 2011
ON THIS DAY IN 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, setting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.
2.5 million
In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation.
Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
311.7 million
The nation’s estimated population on this July Fourth.
Source: Population clock
FLAGS
$3.2 million
In 2010, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($2.8 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
$486,026
Dollar value of U.S. flags exported in 2010. Mexico was the leading customer, purchasing $256,407 worth.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
$302.7 million
Annual dollar value of shipments of fabricated flags, banners and similar emblems by the nation’s manufacturers, according to the latest published economic census data.
Source: 2007 Economic Census, Series EC0731SP1, Products and Services Code 3149998231
FIREWORKS
$190.7 million
The value of fireworks imported from China in 2010, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($197.3 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $37.0 million in 2010, with Japan purchasing more than any other country ($6.3 million).
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
$231.8 million
The value of U.S. manufacturers’ shipments of fireworks and pyrotechnics (including flares, igniters, etc.) in 2007.
Source: 2007 Economic Census, Series EC0731SP1, Products and Services Code 325998J108
PATRIOTIC-SOUNDING PLACE NAMES
Thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous one as of April 1, 2010, is Liberty, Mo. (29,149) Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
Thirty-five places have “eagle” in their names. The most populous one is Eagle Pass, Texas (26,248).
Eleven places have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo. (116,830).
Nine places have “freedom” in their names. The most populous one is New Freedom, Pa. (4,464).
One place with “patriot” in the name. Patriot, Ind. (209).
Five places have “America” in their names. The most populous is American Fork, Utah (26,263).
Source: American FactFinder
EARLY PRESIDENTIAL LAST NAMES
138
Ranking of the frequency of the surname of our first president, George Washington, among all last names tabulated in the 2000 Census. Other early presidential names that appear on the list, along with their ranking, were Adams (39), Jefferson (594), Madison (1,209) and Monroe (567).
Source: Census 2000 Genealogy
THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
$98.3 billion
Dollar value of trade last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the British, our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.
Source: Foreign Trade Statistics
FOURTH OF JULY COOKOUTS
More than 1 in 4
The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 19.0 million hogs and pigs on March 1, 2011. This estimate represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s estimated total. North Carolina (8.6 million) and Minnesota (7.6 million) were also homes to large numbers of pigs.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
6.8 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2010. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.6 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.1 billion pounds).
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
6
Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was $1 billion or greater between December 2009 and November 2010. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Over 1 in 3
The odds that your side dish of baked beans originated from North Dakota, which produced 36 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2010. Another popular Fourth of July side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia, Washington and New York together accounted for 68 percent of the fresh market sweet corn produced nationally in 2010.
Source: <http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProdSu/CropProdSu-01-12-2011_new_format.pdf>
Please Pass the Potato
Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. Approximately half of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2010.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
More than three-fourths
Amount of the nation’s head lettuce production in 2010 that came from California. This lettuce may end up in your salad or on your burger.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
7 in 10
The chances that the fresh tomatoes in your salad came from Florida or California, which combined accounted for 71 percent of U.S. fresh market tomato production last year.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Florida
The state that led the nation in watermelon production last year (750 million pounds). Other leading producers of this popular fruit included California, Georgia and Texas, each had an estimate of more than 600 million pounds.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
81 million
Number of Americans who said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.
Source: Mediamark Research & Intelligence, as cited in the Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011, Table 1239 # #
Provided by the U.S. Census Bureau News | Facts for Features | May 12, 2011 | http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff13.html
What makes an operation first class?
“It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class. “
– John Willard Marriott
1900-1985, Entrepreneur and Founder of Marriott Corporation
Submitted by Robin Crow