4515 telephone (909) 477 alert - arca/mca · (909) 477-4515 telephone (909) 477-4516 fax...

Airconditioning, Refrigeration and Mechanical Contractors Association of Southern California, Inc. 3602 Inland Empire Boulevard, Suite B-206, Ontario, CA 91764

(909) 477-4515 Telephone (909) 477-4516 Fax [email protected]

Office Staff

ALERT

Second Quarter 2012

Peter Buongiorno, President Barr Engineering

David Miles, Vice-President

Weatherite Corporation

Gary Lumsden, Secretary Allison Mechanical

Dee Kennedy, Treasurer

Couts Heating & Cooling, Inc.

Robert Lake, Past-President EMCOR Service

Mesa Energy Systems, Inc.

Richard J. Sawhill Executive V.P. ARCA/MCA Southern California

Robert Carder, Board Member

Air-Ex Air Conditioning, Inc.

Casey Condron, Board Member Wittler-Young Service Company

Mike Gallagher, Board Member

Western Allied Corporation

Scott Limbacher, Board Member Stater Bros.

John Mueller, Board Member

Jackson & Blanc

Greg O’Neill, Board Member Air Conditioning Solutions, Inc.

Ken Westphal, Board Member

ACCO Engineered Systems

Rose Bayus, Office Manager

Debbie Sawhill, Special Projects

Board of Directors

Office Staff

Service Training Center Updates

The Joint Journeyman and Apprentice Training Center (JJATC) is

expanding the curriculum for its journeyman continuing education

program (CEP). The first year had forty-five journeyman enrolled in the

new CEP program, and saw this number increase to fifty-seven for the

second year. With respect to the other journeyman training programs,

the training center experienced an increased participation of 20% (205 to

246).

The non-conventional classes offered in the CEP program have proved

to be attractive to the journeyman. This increase in participation has

allowed the Journeyman Training Committee (JTC) to continue its

expansion to include three forms of training; the traditional journeyman

training program, the CEP programs, and Online Blackboard Courses.

The online training will have several diversified topics designed to

interest all journeymen.

The Mechanical Equipment Serviceman (MES) and Tradesman

training classes are currently under review by members of the MES/T

Training Committee. The daytime training was moved back to evening

classes this past September. The move was made too enable greater

flexibility for participation by MES and Tradesman employees working

in the service department.

On June 6, 2012, the Service Managers Roundtable will be held at the

Orange County Training Center. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m.

and conclude no later than 2:00 p.m., with lunch being provided. The

expansion of hours from a normal Service Managers Roundtable is to

allow a discussion with members of the training committees, who will

also attend the meeting. The purpose of this discussion is to explore the

training needs for the contractors who employee MES and Tradesmen. It

is the intent of these training committees to incorporate the ideas

generated at the June 6 meeting into the training programs beginning

September 2012.

Please plan on having a representative

of your company attend this June 6 meeting.

Second Quarter 2008 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Page 3 Second Quarter 2012 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT

Pete Buongiorno, president

The economic climate throughout Southern California continues to struggle even as

we hear of possible signs of recovery elsewhere in the country. Our ARCA/MCA

Southern California representatives are keenly aware of the difficultly in bidding and

securing jobs. The ARCA/MCA Southern California board of directors, as well as

each industry committee, has been attentive to the needs of Association member

companies by maximizing the value of the contributions paid to the various industry

programs. These industry programs (such as the training centers, the health and

welfare funds and the pension funds) provide the infrastructure that assists a company

to be successful.

The different training committees work with union representatives to ensure

valuable training programs to assist contractors and their employees to be the best

trained workforce in the industry. While the media is constantly covering issues related to problems in health

plans and pension plans around the country, we are fortunate that we have been successful in sustaining our

programs with minimal increased cost to the contractor. With medical costs continuing to soar and minimal

return on investments, sustaining our industry benefit plans will be an ongoing challenge. The board of

directors, committee members and the contract negotiation committee will make the decisions necessary with

an outlook to a better future.

Pre

siden

t’s

Mes

sage

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES

Eliminate the silos between construction and service Remember what make you successful when you first started Encourage imitative and accept failure without recrimination Support employee with appropriate levels of delegation Build a business, not a bureaucracy Create a structure that assigned employee’s responsibility for their own performance, then set performance goals and manage results, not task lists, methods or actions

BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICE

Create a profile of the types of customers that are good matches for your company Manage the business by focusing on services most important to continued success Fund for the future, especially technology Invest in development of high performers Have a succession plan in place for techs as well as key managers

MSCA Service Contractors Best Practices

Article

#5

Articles 1-4 may be

found in the 2011 Alert Newsletters

Welcome to the newest members of the ARCA/MCA Southern California board of directors

Mike Gallagher

Western Allied Corporation

Casey Condron

Wittler-Young Service Company

Fourth Quarter 2011 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Second Quarter 2012 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Page 3

Actions you can take if your credit card number is stolen…

Contact the bank or credit union that issued your card.

Close the compromised account and open a new one with a different account number.

Change related passwords or PIN numbers.

Notify companies that have automatic payments tied to the closed account so you do not miss a

payment.

Log all calls, letters, and emails you have with your card issuer about the fraud in case you need

to file a claim or police report.

Contact one of the three major credit bureaus and place an Initial Fraud Alert on your credit file

if you suspect you have been, or are about to be a victim of identity theft.

If you determine that you have suffered identity theft, you can file an Extended Fraud Alert.

Most card issuers provide “zero liability’ coverage if you are prompt in reporting card fraud.

The Federal Trade Commission’s “Defend: Recover From Identity Theft” website has instructions

for completing and filing identity theft reports with law-enforcement agencies.

www.ftc.gov/consumer

Other useful websites are:

www.StaySafeOnline.org www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/be_crime_smart

William J. (“Mac”) Lynch

Becomes MCAA President Massachusetts-based contractor sees education,

efficiency as keys to survival

ROCKVILLE, MD—William J. (“Mac”) Lynch became President of the Mechanical Contractors

Association of America (MCAA) at the close of the association’s annual convention on March 22.

The convention was held at the Walt Disney World® Resort, Florida.

Mr. Lynch is the president of the William F. Lynch Company, Inc., a fourth generation HVAC, service, plumbing and pipe

welding contractor that serves the Worcester, Massachusetts area. Appointed to the Board of Directors in 2003, Mr. Lynch is ac-

tive in the association on both the national and local levels. At the national level, he serves on the Executive Committee and the

Board of Directors. He is a past chairman of the Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI) Committee and a past member of the Safety

& Health Committee. And, he is a graduate of MCAA’s prestigious Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI).

At the local level, Mr. Lynch served as president of the New England Mechanical Contractors Association (NEMCA) and the

New England Mechanical Service Contractors Association (NEMSCA).

On the personal side, Mr. Lynch has the support of his wife, Debbie, and his two sons who are extending the family company’s

legacy into a new generation. For relaxation, Mac pursues kayaking and other outdoor activities and enjoys visiting with his very

first grandson.

The Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Inc. (MCAA) serves the unique needs of approximately 2,500 firms

involved in heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, plumbing, piping, and mechanical service. We do this by providing our

members with high-quality educational materials and programs to help them attain the highest level of managerial and technical

expertise. MCAA includes the Mechanical Service Contractors of America, the Plumbing Contractors of America, the

Manufacturer/Supplier Council, the Mechanical Contracting Education and Research Foundation and the National Certified Pipe

Welding Bureau.


Keep your identity and your data safe!

We’ve all become conditioned to the term “identity theft”. A couple of years ago it

struck some of us with fear but now most of us are convinced it will happen to someone

else. Unfortunately, it remains a real threat and it’s as important as ever to do the little

things to protect yourself. The old rules for your personal information still stand: keep your

social security number very private, don’t use debit cards, use strong passwords and

antivirus on computers and many others (you can use a reference to the list I emailed earlier

here). But with changes in technology come new threats.

Identity theft and business fraud used to be separate crimes but with the proliferation of

smart phones they have morphed together. Most phones now have a lot of personal

information on them but also business info. Some can even connect directly to corporate

servers, banking, employee records, etc. Not just smart phones but iPads and other tablets.

An iPad has as much or maybe more information than a laptop but is it as secure? The

problem is that most people still just think of these devices as phones. But they are much

more than that. A thief with access to your mobile device might as well take your work

computer and network server and plug it in at his home to violate at his leisure.

Contractors have even more problems. Is your proprietary bid data at risk from a smart

phone or tablet? Can someone get in and change, steal, or delete your electronic drawings?

We have so much information on our mobile devices we now need to make sure that the

information inside remains safe. The simplest way is to accomplish this is to make sure you

use a lock code on your device. Everyone should be doing this but most don’t due to the

inconvenience. And that is just the first step. Many phones that connect to corporate servers

can be wiped clean by the server if missing. Is this enabled on your device? The Apple

devices and some others even give you the option of more than a 4 number password. You

can even set it to wipe your device if you have 10 wrong password tries. This is not

recommended for most because we have trouble remembering so many passwords as it.

And this is another problem.

The average person has between 5 and 8 passwords to remember. And some of them

must be changed every six months. We just can’t remember that many when they change.

Some people just use one password but I would not recommend using the same password

for a web store that you use for banking. Many websites can get their password files hacked

easily. Then your banking password is open to all. And those password programs aren’t all

so great either. One developer was hacked recently. I don’t know if any passwords were

compromised but it certainly would be my target if I was a criminal. The best thing you can

do is find a program that encrypts your passwords. Then you only have to remember one

password. And if someone gets that file without your encryption keyword it is of no use to

them.

As always with identity theft don’t get worried. Just take time to do the little things that

keep your identity and your data safe.

First Quarter 2010 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Fourth Quarter 2011 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Page 5 Second Quarter 2012 ARCA/MCA Southern California ALERT Page 5

IRS issues new guidance on

W-2 reporting of health plan costs

Journal of Accountancy

By Sally P. Schreiber - January 4, 2012

The IRS released new guidance on the requirement that employers provide information to employees on the cost

of employer-provided group health plan coverage (Notice 2012-9). The guidance comes in the form of 39

questions and answers. It supersedes Notice 2011-28 and makes changes to requirements that were issued in

Notice 2011-28.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, requires employers to report the “aggregate

reportable cost” of “applicable employer-sponsored coverage” under an employer-sponsored group health plan on

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. To give employers more time to update their payroll systems, the IRS made

this requirement optional for all employers for 2011 Forms W-2 due in 2012 (Notice 2010-69). The first time that

employers need to report these amounts is on 2012 Forms W-2 furnished in January 2013. Last year, the IRS

provided further relief for small employers filing fewer than 250 Forms W-2 by making the reporting requirement

optional for them for 2012 Forms W-2 (Notice 2011-28).

Applicable employer-sponsored coverage means coverage under any group health plan that an employer makes

available to the employee and that is excludible from the employee’s gross income under Sec. 106, but it

excludes long-term-care coverage, any coverage under a separate dental or vision policy, or any coverage

described in Sec. 9832(c)(1) (for example, accident or disability income insurance, supplemental liability

insurance, etc.). It also excludes amounts contributed to an Archer medical savings account (MSA) or a health

savings account (HSA), or salary reduction contributions to a health flexible spending account (FSA), although

special rules apply in determining aggregate reportable cost where the employer offers a health FSA.

The aggregate reportable cost generally includes both the portion of the cost paid by the employer and the portion

paid by the employee, regardless of whether the employee paid through pretax or after-tax contributions. The

amounts contributed to Archer MSAs and HSAs are excluded. Salary reduction contributions to a health FSA are

also excluded, but to the extent the amount of a health FSA exceeds the employee’s salary reduction

contributions for the year, it is included in the aggregate reportable cost.

Notice 2012-9 includes the following changes:

Expands the statutory exemption from reporting for federally recognized Indian tribal governments to include

employers that are tribally chartered corporations wholly owned by federally recognized Indian tribal

governments, until further guidance is issued.

Clarifies that the exemption from reporting for employers who are required to file fewer than 250 Forms W-2

applies for 2012 Forms W-2 (and for Forms W-2 for later years unless and until further guidance is issued). An

employer who was required to file fewer than 250 Forms W-2 for 2011 will be exempt from the reporting

requirement for 2012. If an employer filed fewer than 250 Forms W-2 only because the employer used an agent

to file the forms, the exemption does not apply.

Modifies the requirement for related employers not using a common paymaster so that they are required to

report the aggregate reportable cost on one employer’s Form W-2 or allocate the cost among the employers using a

reasonable allocation method.

Clarifies that the cost of coverage does not include amounts includible in income under Sec. 105(h) (excess

reimbursements for highly compensated individuals) or under the requirement that 2% S corporation

shareholder-employees include their premiums in income.

Notice 2012-9 also provides guidance on a number of issues not addressed in Notice 2011-28. These include

how to treat costs of coverage under employee-assistance programs or wellness programs; how to treat costs of

coverage under health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs); and how to calculate the reportable amount for

coverage when only a portion of the coverage constitutes coverage under a group health plan.

2012 Calendar April

11 7:00 am SCPT Administrative & Delinquency Committees

12 10:00 am ARCA/MCA Southern California Board of Directors

24 9:00 am IRBT Board of Trustees

25 8:30 am SCPT Board of Trustees

26 8:00 am P.I.P.E. Board of Trustees

May

2-4 MCAA National Issues Conference

(Washington, DC)

7-8 International Foundation Legislative Conference

(Washington, DC)

8 8:00 am ACRT Board of Trustees

28 ARCA/MCA Southern California office closed

June

6 10:00 am Service Managers Roundtable

14 10:00 am ARCA/MCA Southern California Board of Directors

27 7:00 am SCPT Finance Committee


ACCO Engineered Systems

Glendale, CA

Air Conditioning Solutions, Inc.

Altadena, CA

Air-Ex Air Conditioning, Inc.

Pomona, CA

Barr Engineering

Santa Fe Springs, CA

Control Air Conditioning Service Corporation

Anaheim, CA

Couts Heating & Cooling, Inc.

Corona, CA

Graycon, Inc.

City of Industry, CA

Thermalair, Inc.

Anaheim, CA

Weatherite Corporation

Walnut, CA

Western Allied

Santa Fe Springs, CA

Wittler-Young Service Company

Los Angeles, CA

Allison Mechanical

Redlands, CA

Emcor Service/Mesa Energy Systems

Irvine, CA

Jackson & Blanc

San Diego, CA

The Mission of the Airconditioning, Refrigeration and Mechanical Contractors Association of Southern California, Inc. (ARCA/MCA

Southern California) is to exceed the expectations of the Association’s member companies. The Association will provide a link of

communication that will address, advance, and inform the Association membership of the latest updates on legislation, technology, and

issues pertinent to the Airconditioning, Refrigeration and Mechanical Contracting Industry. The success of the Association in achieving

this Mission is to be based on integrity and loyalty to its members. We will strive to be diligent and flexible by supplying services the

membership needs to be competitive in an ever-changing business environment.

ARCA/MCASouthern California Mission Statement

October 11, 2012 ARCA/MCA Southern California

Annual Membership Meeting Pacific Palms Resort

City of Industry, CA

www.arcamca.org

October 14-17 , 2012 MSCA Annual

Educational Conference Carlsbad, CA

Below are a few important

questions to ask your healthcare

provider upon your visit to further

your understanding and possible

treatment of your condition:

What is my problem?

What should I do about it?

Why is it important for me to

do this?

Is there a generic drug for this

prescription?

Important

questions to ask your

healthcare provider !

4515 telephone (909) 477 alert - arca/mca · (909) 477-4515 telephone (909) 477-4516 fax...

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