Spring Meeting

We're having fun planning MHISC's Spring Meeting April 18 - 19 in Columbia. Wednesday night there's a Pub Crawl through the Vista, the cool part of Columbia's downtown. Next morning, the Industry Breakfast followed by our Annual Meeting and Industry Golf Tournament.

New Leaders for Grand Strand Chapter

The Grand Strand Chapter elected some excellent leaders last night. Joe Esposito will serve as President, Bill King as VP and John Howard, Jr., as Secretary-Treasurer.

They have a great mix of experience in the industry. Joe is region manager for Jensen's Communities a major national company offering first-class properties for 55+ residents.

Bill King is GM for Clayton Homes' Conway display center. John Howard runs Howard Homes in Georgetown. Together they bring the perspectives of the state's largest retail chain and a second-generation independent dealer.

It's also helpful to have a chapter officer from both of the two counties, Horry and Georgetown, that make up the Grand Stand Chapter.

Grand Strand is the newest of MHISC's six chapters.

Governor Haley

MHISC met with the Governor's Chief of Staff. Number #1 Topic: Preserving out Sales Formula.....

Allen and I showed up this morning with the exact same color shirt; same thing happened last week. I think we've been working together too long.......

Where Do Your Advertising Dollars Really Go?

A question for manufacturers, suppliers and professional service providers
When you advertise to promote your business to other companies in the MH industry, where do those dollars ultimately go?

If you advertise through your state association, your money goes directly back to fund the association's Statehouse lobbying efforts, keeping state agency regulations reasonable, fighting restrictive zoning, and keeping you informed.

When you advertise in MHISC's Update magazine or MODern Times newsletter......or

When you place an add on www.MHISC.com or SCmodularhome.com.....or

When you buy space in UpdatE, our electronic newsletter, or ManuFax, which hits every location by fax.....

.....You're fighting the bad laws, dumb regulations and zoning restrictions that would take money right out of your pocket.

Nobody would suggest that you advertise with MHISC just to support the association's good deeds. But what if I could show you that the association offers you the absolutely best way to target the audience you want?

Read on:

Update
Update is the magazine you’ll see on owners’ and managers’ desks across the state. This is not your typical dull association newsletter. It’s colorful, interesting and full of news. Everybody in the industry reads and talks about Update.

MODern Times
Want to target retailers, residential builders and everyone in the modular end of our business? MODern Times is the only magazine dedicated to the modular market in South Carolina.

MHISC.com
Looking for repeat exposure for your company day after day? Want to make it super-easy for potential customers to contact you? These days it’s just about impossible for retailers and others to do business in our state without turning to www.MHISC.com. That’s where they find the association’s detailed, exclusive directory of people and companies plus all the essential facts, form, laws and info companies need to do business.

E-NEWSLETTER and MANUFAX Looking for a strong, immediate impact? Deliver your message to the in-box or fax machine of hundreds of owners, GM and Office Managers in a matter of seconds. And your message won’t be treated as spam—because it’s distributed with up-to-the minute news that members want and need to read. Learn more.

MEETING SPONSORSHIP
MHISC’s meetings are well-known for turn-out by retailers and other members. Multiply the power of your networking by being a meeting sponsor. You’ll get great exposure before, during and after the meeting.

Interested in more info?

Write us at mdillard@mhisc.com

Or go to: www.mhisc.com

Then click on "Promote Your Company"

Jim Martin's Son

The industry joins together in sympathy and support for Jim Martin in the untimely passing of his son, Michael Martin, at the age of 38. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jim and Glenda and all the Martin family.

I really hated to hear this tragic news. Jim is such a great guy, one of the nicest in the industry. He's been with Kent-Gault Homes since 1983, a loyal and successful member of Mitch Gault's team. I got to know Jim and Glenda well when Jim was elected president of the Upstate Chapter and took a seat on the state association board.

They say there is nothing tougher than losing a child. Jim and Glenda will be in my prayers tonight and in all our thoughts in the weeks ahead.

Condolences can be sent to:
Jim and Glenda Martin
106 Bunker Hill Road
Greer, SC 29650

Beware of Misleading Fire Safety Report

Alert: New report from the National Fire Protection
Associations is misleading. It lumps in statistics for pre-1976 homes that were built prior to the implemention of today's stringent national code for manufactured homes. Let me know if you get questions from the media or customers; we'll shoot the facts to you.

Modern-day manufactured homes have an excellent fire safety record.

Old Friends

Lamar Sprinkle and Kevin Brady dropped by the office yesterday and Kevin McLamb sent a really nice note from his new home, Dallas. It reminds me of how many super people and excellent businessmen and women I've met in this industry over the years.

New Charleston Chapter Officers

Congratulations and thanks to our 2011 - 2012 Charleston Chapter Officers: Melissa Petersen, President, Joanne Polston, VP and Sherran Wingler, Secretary - Treasurer!

The Charleston Chapter is going great guns. They had 40+ people for this month's meeting.

Have you noticed that some phrases people say look goofy when you put them in print? "Going great guns" is a pretty good example.

Song Honors Al Randall

I Was Born A Randall Man
By The Toters

I was born a Randall man
Just trying to make a living and doing the best I can.
But when it's time for fishing, I hope you'll understand,
That I was born a Randall man.

My bossman is a banker down in Charleston.
We call on dealers in our big Crown Vics.
But today I'm calling on a lake, down near 95,
A little north of Highway 26.

I'm headed down to Santee this mornin'
Rolling out of Effingham SC.
You can buy an Effingham sandwich, hot dog or steak
But I'd rather pull my dinner from a lake.

Cause I was born a Randall man
Just trying to make a living and doing the best I can.
But when it's time for fishing, I hope you'll understand
That I was born a Randall man.







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Al Randall: The Man Behind the Myth

You'll be hearing a lot of funny and nasty things about Al Randall leading up to and during MHISC's Fall Meeting in Charleston. That's because one of the highlights will be the much-anticipated Al Randall Roast. We've already lined up three cards, Ronnie Cudd, Ronnie Boyce and Clarence "Ronnie" Stickland, to be roasters and we'll be picking two others.

Of course everybody knows that people are chosen as roastees because: 1. they are good sports; 2. everybody likes them and 3. they have strong, interesting personalities.

Somebody who is very literal minded (Germans, engineers) wouldn't quite get it. At a roast, people heap abuse on someone they admire a lot.

That Sappy Moment
There's always that sappy moment at roasts when people get all sincere and talk about what a great American and true humanitarian the roastee really is.

That part of the roasts usually sucks so I'd like to get all the nice stuff about Al out of the way early:

The first time I met Al was at an MHISC Chapter meeting. Like everybody, I liked him right off the bat. He quickly got involved,becoming a chapter officer. We recognized his leadership ability and Al rose through the ranks, ultimately being elected president of the state MHISC. He did a great job, building consensus on the board and being a great ambassador to the general membership.

But two of the things I appreciate about Al Randall are less widely known. We'll joke at the roast about Al being a carouser. But did you know that Al is known as the guy who gets the people who've massively over-indulged safely back to the hotel?

And you really have to appreciate Al's willingness to do the tough jobs for the association. For example, thankless assignments such as delivering bad news. He's always been the guy you ask to tell an eager member "you aren't being nominated to the board this year, maybe next year." Or, "you didn't make the Hall of Fame this time, but your day will come."

Al always got those challening jobs because we knew he'd deliver the news with skill and empathy.

Ok: enough appreciation and sappiness. Let's get back to trashing Al Randall!

Controversy Rages in Association

Some members like the name of MHISC's new band; others hate it.

"The Tie-Downs" will debut at the association's Fall Meeting in Charleston on October 20. This group of talented and semi-talented MHISC members will provide the entertainment for the Fall Meeting. Highlights include the SC Retail Center, Salesperson and Community of the Year. Plus we'll roast Al Randall.

Votes at MHISC's Midlands and Upstate Chapter meetings showed that an almost equal number of members prefer the "The Toters" with "The Ups" coming in third.

One thing that virtually all members seem to agree on is the choice for this year's roast. We surveyed the membership and found that more people would enjoy insulting Al Randall than any other member.

MHISC's band will deput at Fall Convention October 20 in Charleston.

Sacrificial Lambs Sniffing Sour Milk

One of MHISC's roles is to represent the views of the industry to the news media.

WFAV, the public radio station in Charlotte did a 25 minute interview about wind safety.

The reporter seemed like a nice guy but I think he went into the interview with some pretty negative, and common, assumptions. You get the feeling that after your comments are chopped and edited, the result isn't going to be pretty.

Apparently some other people in the industry turned down the opportunity to be interviewed. I felt like the sacrificial lamb, but somebody's got to do these interviews.

Being interviewed and listening to how your comments get translated into a news story is sometimes a bit like finding an old milk carton in the back of the refrigerator. You KNOW it's going to be sour but you open it up and take a sniff anyway.

They plan to send it to NPR, so if hear happen to hear the piece, please let me know how it went. There's always that small hope that maybe the reporter will say, "I get it; modern-day manufactured homes are well-built and they have a great safety record. That Dillard guy is right. There's no disputing his logic and command of the facts."

It could happen that way, right? Let's take a wiff of that milk

It's a Major Award!

One of my favorite movie scenes. Remember when Dad won A Major Award in the movie "A Christmas Story"?

MHISC also has won A Major Award. Our website, www.MHISC.com was voted Best Association Website in SC. The awards are issued annually by the SC Society of Association Executives, an umbrella organization for all the state's major association. We won in the small association category for groups with an annual budget of under $1,000,000.

One major factor in the honor is our Member's Only Library section. And the fact that the on-line membership directory is updated weekly and new releases, factsheets and other News to Use is added to the website every week.

If you don't know your password for the Members Only section, just email me at mdillard@mhisc.com

Jamie Hammond

I was sorry to see that my friend and counterpart in Georgia is leaving the association. He's taking a job with the Trucking Association there. Jamie is an energetic and enthusiastic personality and all of the state execs enjoyed working with him.

Energy Star TV Spot

A new television spot promoting the energy efficiency of modern-day manufactured homes will run this month in four South Carolina TV markets. The spots are running on WIS-TV, to be followed in the Charleston, Florence - Myrtle Beach, and Greenville - Spartanburg markets.

The spots will run for two weeks with an 800-number at the end. I've been getting those calls. We've put together a list of SC retailers that currently have Energy Star homes on display to send to interested potential buyers.

Paul Laurent to be Inducted into SC Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame

Paul Laurent plays a key role in the manufactured home industry. He represents the retailer salespersons on the SC Manufactured Housing Board. That's the state agency that regulates our manufacturers, retailers, salespersons, contractors and installers.

He's been conscientiously doing the job for a while; Paul was appointed to the board by Governor Campbell in 1993.

Mr. Laurent has been elected to the SC Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at MHISC's Annual Meeting in Columbia April 5th.

Mr. Laurent's government role followed several years of service as an association leader. He served as MHISC Charleston Chapter President, Dealer representative on the state board and on the Executive Committee as Treasurer.

MHISC is the business association that represents the manufactured home industry. SC Manufactured Housing Board is the state agency board that regulates the industry.

Paul comes from a tradition of service to the industry, of giving back to the profession. He worked with Wayne Collier and Larry Emanuelson, both early inductees into the Hall of Fame, at Dixie-George Jones Homes.

That collaboration has twice earned South Carolina Retail Center of the Year Recognition as George Jones Homes, Dixie Homes and Dixie-George Jones Homes. Paul has also been elected as SC Salesperson of the Year. All of these honors are voted on by the MHISC membership.

If you sat in on every meeting of the SC Manufactured Housing Board as I do, one of Paul's greatest contributions would be obvious to you. He is the voice of experience and reality on the licensing board.

Occasionally a smooth talker comes before the board who clearly deserves to be sanctioned for a violation of the laws that all dealers and salespersons must follow. Some of the smoothies can explain away their violations in a way that sounds pretty good. But Paul, with his decades of experience and full understanding of the rules and ethics of the business, is the person can pick out the false notes in a violator’s story. Paul is a person who can explain to the SCMHB members who aren't in our industry how things really work at a retail center--what's proper and legal and what isn't.

A native of Michigan, Paul came to SC after college via the Charleston Air Force Base in 1970. He married Sheila in '72 and went to work with his father-in-law, Harvey Jones at George Jones Homes in North Charleston, SC. He worked with the company for 34 years variously as a salesperson, manager or owner.

In 1994, Mr. Jones sold George Jones Homes to Wayne Collier, owner of Dixie Homes. Paul agreed to stay on and run the business. In 2005 the company merged its Dixie Homes store in Summerville with George Jones and the whole operation, including GM Larry Emanuelson, moved to Moncks Corner and became Dixie-George Jones Homes.

Laurent cites those three friends and mentors as positive influences in his career.

"I was brought up in a household where you were taught to respect others and treat others as you would want to be treated; be fair and honest," he says.

"Working with and for Harvey Jones, Wayne and Larry allowed me to put to practice those same values in a business setting."

Paul and Sheila are the proud father of Amy Laurent who is attending graduate school at Duke University.

Things You Wont Hear at the Hall of Fame Induction: Part Two

The First Convention was the Worst Convention

I didn't know that nobody ever listens on Friday night at the MHISC convention.

I started work at MHISC two weeks before the 1992 convention. 300 people there and I knew about four of them.

The Friday night reception: a great opportunity to make a good first impression on a lot of members. I got up and said some positive things and worked a couple of jokes in.

Nobody laughed. They didn't even listen. They just kept talking.

I didn't realize that it's an MHISC tradition that nobody ever listens on Friday night at the convention. It's a party, people have just arrived and they want to catch up with each other. President Roosevelt could have shown up and nobody would listen.

"These people hate me," I thought, "They just plain hate me."

Right there at the reception, I decided I'd just quietly resign when I got back to the office on Monday.

Now, of course, I've been voted into the industry's Hall of Fame, a honor that means a lot to me. I feel like Sally Field when she won an Oscar and told the members of the Academy in Hollywood in happy surprise, "You like me, you really like me!"

Thanks to this honor, I'm over the trauma of that first MHISC convention. And it only took 19 years.

Things You Won't Hear at the Hall of Fame Induction

Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is really an honor and something to be excited about.

This year we are inducting three people into the SC Manufactured Hall of Fame including Leonard Sanford and Paul Laurent. It'll be a great evening: April 5 in Columbia, part of MHISC's annual meeting.

Since this will be a triple-header I'll have to be pretty concise. In contrast to certain unnamed previous inductees whose names are not necessarily Clarence Strickland and Larry Parker.

I know people will be disappointed that there won't be time for 20 years worth of entertaining anecdotes that night. Thank goodness you won't have to miss them. Read on:

Changing Jobs: The Move to MHISC

My first job in association management was as an Associate Director of another association here in Columbia. I worked under a boss who was the Executive Director. I quickly learned that the difference between being Associate Director and Executive Director was a wide one.

The Executive Director goes on trips.
The Associate Director stays at the office and writes the reports.

The Executor Director gets the credit.
The Associate Director does the work.

The Executive Director receives a Pretty Decent Salary.
The Associate Director get about 45% of a Pretty Decent Salary.

I made a career decision: "I think I'd like to be an Executive Director."

The interview with the MHISC Search Committee was interesting. One of the committee members was pushing a family friend for the job and tried to knock me out of the box.

"Do you really think you'd fit in with us? We're baseball cap people. Have you ever even been in a manufactured home?"

I explained that I was an ol boy from the hills of Tennessee. Actually it was the suburbs near Vanderbilt University in Nashville, but hey it was pretty hilly up there.

The committee voted to hire me on a 7 to 5 vote. My mandate to lead.

Honoring Leonard Sanford

MHISC will induct three people into the SC Manufactured Hall of Fame this year. The Hall of Fame Class of 2011 will include Leonard Sanford, Paul Laurent and Mark Dillard. I'll be writing about Mr. Laurent in the next blog.

The induction ceremony will be April 5 in Columbia, a part of MHISC's Annual Meeting. You really ought to come and hear what people say about these individuals and what they have to say about our industry.

Leonard Sanford has been a leading retail dealer for over four decades in our industry. He is the classic self-made businessman and entrepreneur who started a business at the age of nine, selling boiled peanuts. His interests and properties and friends combine to make him one of the cornerstones of the business community in Orangeburg.

Leonard gave several manufactured housing dealers a start in our business, including Gerald Herring and Tom Ulmer, who worked with Mr. Sanford at Mid-State Homes and ultimately bought the business. Dot Tatum started at Mid-State in the sixties and still works with Mr. Sanford.

Mid-State has a spotless record; the type of business that enhances the reputation of our industry with local leaders and the public as well.

A friend of many governors and Congressmen, Leonard has been generous in using his political clout to benefit the manufactured home industry. Early in Jim Hodges'successful race for Governor, Mr. Sanford invited me to come down to Orangeburg to get to know his pick for Governor. That was the start of a great relationship between MHISC and the Guv.

Mr. Sanford has been helpful to MHISC in lots of different ways, typically in a low-key, modest way. For example he served on the panel that wrote the test that applicants now take to earn a dealer's license. He served on an MHISC fund-raising committee and on the MHISC Dealer Roundtable.

Leonard is the senior member of the state's premier manufactured home family. Two other members of the Hall of Fame are nephews, Jeff Sanford and Larry Parker and great-nephew Larry Parker, Jr. Industry pioneer Ray Sanford was his brother.

Leonard bought Mid-State Homes from Ray in the mid-sixties from his brother. He then added two additional locations, Southern Homes and Carolina Homes.

Innovations at Mid-State included a furniture operation on-site at Mid-State. Mr. Sanford also rents out properties and homes and is a major commercial developer in the area.

Mr. Sanford is much appreciated by community leaders in Orangeburg for a lot of reasons. Just one is the way he bought and revitalized Orangeburg Mall and brought Ace Hardware back to the area. He owns a really nice meeting facility in the Mall.

Leonard enjoys several friendships that span more than a half century. Loyalty is the key.

Mr. Sanford and David Bennett, the Director of the SC Manufactured Housing Board, enjoyed each other's company. Of course you could say that being tight with regulators is a smart thing to do.

But I remember when David was very ill and it was obvious that he wouldn't be running the licensing board much longer. Leonard took David and his wife Dee out on the town in a beautiful limousine. It was a great time and really boosted David's spirits.


I hope you'll come on April 5 and join in honoring Leonard for the type of man he is and what he's contributed to our industry.

Recruiting More Lenders for the MH Industry

MHISC presented a seminar to members of the SC Credit Union League about the advantages of making loans for manufactured home loans.

An impressive list of credit unions actively interested in exploring the manufactured home market attended, including Safe Federal Credit Union, SC Telco Federal Credit Union, Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union, May Plan Credit Union, Neighbors United Credit Union and Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union.

Allen gave them an overview--including lots of photos--of the quality, durability and attractiveness of modern-day manufactured homes. Credit union officials reported that they get lots of calls from their members seeking manufactured home loans and that the seminar was an eye-open for them. Now in the works, a special presentation at the SC Credit Union League's annual meeting.

Don't be so 2010

I keep MHISC's on-line membership directory up on my computer all day. It's the only source for current phone numbers and emails for people in the modular and manufactured home industries.

I used to open up http://www.mhisc.com/ several times a day, virtually every time I called or emailed a member. But that's so 2010. It's a lot quicker and easier just to open the directory and minimize it while you're working on something else. Then you can reopen it at a click.

All MHISC member companies that have renewed for 2011 have received this year's new password to the Member's Only page where you find the directory. If you haven't received the password, let me know at mdillard@mhisc.com

New Chapter Meeting Schedule

MHISC's six chapters meet in February. The chapters have adopted a new quarterly meeting schedule. The 2011 chapter schedule includes meetings for: February, May, August, and November. Many chapters will hold a special December Christmas event.

The association's six chapters are: Beaufort, Charleston, Grand Strand, Midlands, Pee Dee and Upstate.

Gov Appoints Henry Drury

We’re pleased to let you know that Henry Drury has been appointed by Governor Mark Sanford to serve on the SC Building Codes Council. This is a key agency for our industry, regulating modular and building code issues for our state.

Henry was appointed upon recommendation of MHISC. He has previously served the industry as a Board Member, Chapter officer and on the SC Modular Steering Committee. Henry will join the Council in February, a crucial meeting when the agency takes up another round of debate on the future SC version of the International Residential Code for modular and site-built homes