Serving credit professionals ...since 1899
Monthly news & updates
FOR CREDIT AND FINANCE PROFESSIONALS
Welcome to the March.
Opening comments from our President & CEO
Association News
We were saddened to learn of the unexpected passing of our good friend, Board member and mentor on February 26th. Doug was an active NACM member locally and nationally, a great leader for our Board, and a friend to many. With support from his wife, Lisa, and their family, we are pleased to establish a scholarship in his honor. For more information about the program and to make a gift to the fund, please click on the following link: Doug Jacobson Scholarship
Douglas Leroy Jacobson was born on July 27, 1961 in Springfield, Oregon and passed away at his Happy Valley, Oregon home on February 26, 2021 at the age of 59. He was the Regional Credit Manager for Beacon Building Products. Doug served as Chair of the NACM Business Credit Services Board of Directors from 2018-2020.

A public Celebration of Doug's life will be announced after the restrictions on public gatherings have been lifted.
New Address
Our address will be changing effective May 15th. Please make a note and change your data bases, mailing lists, Rolodexes and other contact tools.

NACM Business Credit Services
2201 SW 152nd Street
Burien, WA 98166

Phone numbers and emails will remain the same. Thank you for your help.
Upcoming Events
See what's happening this month...and beyond
Industry Groups

NOTE: All Group meetings are being conducted online until the Coronavirus subsides - unless otherwise noted.

Hawaii Hospitality is on hiatus throughout COVID-19.


Puget Sound

Thursday, 4/8
11:30 Floor

Thursday, 4/15
11:00 Eastside Construction
1:00 Wiring

Tuesday, 4/20
11:30 HVAC

Wednesday, 4/21
11:00 Tacoma Construction
1:00 Food

Alaska

Wednesday, 4/21
1:00 (AKDT) Alaska Suppliers


Hawaii

Friday, 4/23
11:00 (HST) Hawaii Building
Pearl Country Club & Online

Conferences - Save the dates

CreditScape - Virtual
April 28-30, 2010
Online

Southwest Business & Construction Credit Conference - Virtual
May 10-13, 2021
Online

NACM National Credit Congress

Kansas City
October 10-13. 2021

Virtual Plus
June 8-10, 2021
PARTNERS IN CREDIT REPORTING
Board Elections completed
Our annual Board elections concluded last month and we thank our members for participating.

We welcome two new directors:

Erin Austin, CPA
CFO, Anchorage Daily News

Shawna Arneson
Global Director of Credit
Precor

Additionally, Board leadership for the coming year will be:

Krystal Daughterty - Chair
Market Credit Manager
Wolseley Industrial Group

Josh Nolan - Interim Immediate Past Chair

Education
Presented by:
 
UnitedTranzActions
Michael Williams, Vice President
United TranzActions

UTA provides check and payment processing to many of our members and coordinates credit card processing with WorldPay. They also share in our commitment to education by keeping us up to date on issues like check fraud
Special Webinar

CHECK FRAUD & CHECK WASHING
A BIG problem for Banks and Businesses

Tuesday, April 6
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. (PDT)
According to the Association of Financial Professionals, US businesses still pay over half of their bills with a paper check. Check fraud is on the rise again in a big way despite anti scam efforts. Paper check fraud makes up a full 47% of all successful bank fraud, says the American Bankers Association.
 
In this session, we will learn about check washing and how it is accomplished. You will learn how to protect your company from being a victim of check washing and check fraud, be able to identify a washed or fraudulent check, and receive an outline to create an internal check acceptance policy for your company. 
 
On a personal note, we will also learn about scams targeting your family, who the prime targets are in a family, and how the scammers gain the confidence of family members.
Special Webinar from D & B

INTRODUCING D&B FINANCE ANALYTICS: CREATING THE BRIDGE FROM CREDIT-TO-CASH
Thursday, April 15, 2021
12PM ET | 9AM PT
Duration: 60 Minutes
Join our partners from Dunn & Bradstreet on April 15th, 2021 to learn how streamlining your credit and receivables management processes can help transform the efficiency of your finance operations. The overview will be followed by an introduction to Dun & Bradstreet's new complete credit-to-cash solution, D&B Finance Analytics. See how this global, AI-driven platform can help your business thrive through insight, automation, and enhanced customer experience.
Don't miss your chance to:
  • Understand the operational inefficiencies and challenges driving the need for change
  • Learn about Dun & Bradstreet’s credit-to-cash journey and product vision
  • Unlock the benefits of streamlined credit and receivables management with D&B Finance Analytics

Register now to reserve your spot!

SAVE THE DATE!

Managing Credit with a Disbursed Work Place

April 21 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PDT
More details to come!

REGISTER TODAY
Did you miss the most recent Monthly Webinar? Or our podcasts?
If you have missed previous presentations, here's your chance for a re-do. Just click on the link below and you can watch or listen to several recent presentations. Best of all, they're all FREE! Just click below.

The 21st Annual
Southwest Business & Construction Credit Conference

Presented virtually by Southwest Business Credit Service
May 10-13, 2021

  • 31 Sessions-Attend them all if you wish.
  • Lien Law for 10 Western States.
  • On-Demand replay at your command.
  • Thousands of dollars of legal advice.
  • Downloadable forms and documents.
  • Best conference value anywhere !

In this virtual format, you can actually attend every session if you wish! No more needing to choose between 2 or more sessions when you want to see them all!

$99 full registration per person (use discount code swbcs99)
All others $199

Ways To Register


Register today for one of the best conferences of the Spring!
National Supply Chain Integrity Month
April is Supply Chain Integrity Month. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Department of Defense (DOD) are partnering to promote the importance of supply chain security and risk management. Breaches in the supply chain provide an opportunity for malicious software or hardware to be installed on equipment. Lack of awareness or validation of the legitimacy of hardware and software presents a serious risk to users’ information and the overall integrity of a network environment.

For more information on Supply Chain Risk Management, please click below:

Combat employee isolation with remote team building. Here’s how.
With multiple studies, including recent research conducted by IBM, revealing that one out of every four employees plans to quit their current job in 2021, many employers seek ways to bond their employees to their companies. Several local employers have considered virtual team-building as a method for engaging disconnected employees but wonder: “How do we achieve a Team or Zoom event that’s worth the time and effort?”

COVID Side Effects
COVID impact on septic systems
COVID has disrupted everything including septic systems. With people spending more time at home, there's more toilet flushing, laundry, and cleaning that is overloading home septic systems. It can be a very expensive problem (as our association President can attest). We found this article from a New Hampshire newspaper that offers some wisdom about caring for your septic system. The photo is one of the more pleasant images we could find that's associated with the subject.

Business News
Mortgage firms warned to prepare for a ‘tidal wave’ of distress
Mortgage companies could face penalties if they don’t take steps to prevent a deluge of foreclosures that threatens to hit the housing market later this year, a U.S. regulator said Thursday.

“There is a tidal wave of distressed homeowners who will need help,” per the CFPB.

March hiring accelerated to 916K, yet many jobs remain lost
America’s employers unleashed a burst of hiring in March, adding 916,000 jobs in a sign that a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks flow through the economy and businesses increasingly reopen.

Alaska halibut season starts slowly but with higher prices
Halibut prices for Alaska fishermen in 2021 started out significantly higher than last year, despite sluggish demand and transportation logjams in some regions.

The Pacific halibut fishery opened March 6, and two weeks later only 80 deliveries were made, 46 at Southeast ports and 34 from the Central Gulf totaling 355,524 pounds. Most landings appeared to be small lots that were purchased on consignment.

We collected from this fellow.
Our client was very happy.
If you are challenged by a troublesome account - even a customer in the national spotlight that owes you in the very high six figures - NACM BCS Collections can help get your money. Usually every dime owed.

Bring your problem accounts to us today. Drop an email with the details and we will talk with you about how we can help. Click below:

Legislative Activity and Politics
The state legislatures are in session and actively considering a number of bills with potential impact on the business community. As always NACM BCS is monitoring several of them and is prepared to engage through our lobbyists on those bills relevant to our member companies. See below for more information on the bills we are following as well as other matters of concern.
WASHINGTON
Washington's House Democrats release $58 billion two-year budget proposal they say ‘makes investments in people’
After a year of uncertainty, state lawmakers have released their plans to fund the state’s COVID-19 fight and economic recovery for the next two years, using state money, federal stimulus funds, the rainy day fund and a new capital gains tax.

A day after Senate Democrats announced a similar plan, House Democrats released their two-year budget proposals on Friday. The House proposal will spend slightly less in state money, slightly more in federal money and move rainy day funds into a new account for COVID-19 recovery.

ALASKA
Alaska considers sinking laid-up ferry to save money for ailing Marine Highway
Officials with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities are considering whether to scuttle the ferry Malaspina, one of the oldest of the state’s eight ferries, as an artificial reef. The Malaspina has been tied up in Ketchikan since 2019 because of a lack of maintenance funding but still costs the state about $450,000 in upkeep per year.

HAWAII
Bill that would provide rent relief to businesses advances in state Legislature
As more businesses bite the dust and fall victim to the economic impact of the pandemic, the state passed a bill to help businesses recover from back rent.
If House Bill 1324 is passed, it would create a grant program for landowners to provide relief to their commercial tenants.

Best Practices to Follow
Get on top of delinquencies
In addition to regular use of credit reports, history tells us that the sooner you deal with A/R issues, the better off your company will be.

Just as we've noted about trends in credit report use, we are also seeing a trend of letting delinquencies linger. The longer those past due bills are allowed to languish, the harder it will be to get paid.

There's as easy solution. Turn your A/R over to NACM BCS for Collections and we can help get you paid soon. Call us today!

800-423-5710
Try our Lien Services
In response to several requests, we have established a new subsidiary to handle your lien needs. BCS Lien Services is here to bring you help when it's proving to be a struggle to get paid. Our rates are reasonable and having it come from our association gives you comfort in knowing NACM BCS is behind it. For more information, please contact Paul Krause at 206-728-6324 or drop an email at:

Careers and Employment
jobs_and_careers.jpg
Are you trying to fill a position? Use our Job Center!
Take advantage of the Job Center at nacmbcs.org. If you're having trouble filling a position in your company, use this opportunity to reach a lot of people!

It's easy to post an opening. Just fill out the form. After that, the most viewed part of our website will get attention to your needs.

Best of all, it's a free service that comes with membership in NACM BCS.