Editor’s Note: After a short hiatus, Lift Leader is back! Milo Media is proud to announce the reinstatement of our monthly electronic newsletter, featuring the most up-to-date industry news and views, for you, our readers, in one concise package. We’ve stuck to our guns, and kept some of our old favorites: the People, Places, Projects section, Trendlines, and Calendar, but have added a new segment to our roster: Safety. The safety section will cover anything under the safety umbrella — from industry trade show announcements, to innovative equipment releases. We hope you enjoy receiving this little gem in your e-mail boxes again as much as we enjoy reporting it for you. So, sit back with that morning cup of coffee, browse our newsletter, and hey, while you’re at it, check out our new Web site: www.milomediapub.com.

Best regards,
Lindsey K. Anderson
Associate Editor

By: Madeline Kelty

SAFETY
Construction Accidents Could Impact Florida Real Estate
Florida construction accidents, 14 in Miami alone, could have a large influence on future construction issues. Many of the accidents are leading to investigations by police or OSHA, which tremendously slow down construction on a project. Included in the lawsuits are accidents in which three workers were buried alive, and also a historic building hit by a bulldozer. The accidents will also impact regulations used to decrease the number of accidents as construction is increasing in Florida.

Minnesota Workplace Injuries Reach All-Time Low
Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) revealed a workplace injury and illness rate of only 5.3 cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers in 2004. This is down from 5.5 cases in 2003 and 6.0 cases in 2002. This information was collected by DLI in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, and additionally the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

U-Teck Increases Emphasis on Safety
U-Teck recently added a new feature to their Web site, the U-Teck Information Board. The board will highlight safety tips for everyday construction situations, as well as Teck Tips—safety information for U-Teck products. A new article is added every month, and all past articles can be found on the Web site’s archive.

AGC Sponsors Advanced Safety Management Training Course
AGC will hold their advanced safety management training course Aug. 8-10 in Waukesha, Wis. Discussions will be held on: professional development, record keeping, managing a safety program, supervisory safety training, legal aspects of safety in construction, safety relationships on multi-employer projects, risk management and insurance, and crisis management. For more information, visit www.agc.org/asmtc.

For more on industry safety, be sure to check this year’s annual safety issues in both July/August’s CraneWorks, as well as July’s Lift Applications & Equipment.

PEOPLE, PLACES, PROJECTS KCI Konecranes Acquires Morris Material Handling After nearly a month of acquiring small shares of Morris Materials Handling, Inc., HMM Acquisition Corp, a wholly owned Konecranes Inc., subsidiary, purchased the final 9 percent of MMH on June 7, and sealed the acquisition for $64.6 million. With the total acquisition price, and net debt that amounts to about $5 million, the total value of the enterprise is approximately $70 million. For more on this story, see June’s issue of CraneWorks. Maine Sees Decrease in Women in Bridge, Road Construction The percentage of women in bridge and road construction declined in Maine from 8 percent to 4.7 percent. The executive director, Elizabeth Jamison, of Women Unlimited, a group that conducts the job-training program for Maine, blames the decline on the government’s grant process. The grant has not been officially recognized, and thus Jamison does not have the money to fund the training for Maine. Congress is taking a closer look at contracts because of the number of budgets that have been exceeded. Hirschmann Automation and Control (PAT) Conference Honors Dealers Hirschmann’s annual dealer conference was held April 19 and 20 in Pennsylvania. About 30 dealers from the United States and Canada attended. Hirschmann used the conference to honor the dealers with plaques, and also presented achievement plaques to Basil Equipment, Crane Warning Systems, SkyAzul, and Stephenson Equipment. In addition, issues and trends in the market were discussed.

Interlake Material Handling Bought by United Fixtures Company United Fixtures Company bought Interlake Material Handling for $44.1 million on May 16. Interlake, a producer of industrial racking for distribution, retail, and warehouse applications, recently introduced the Interlock system, a system that uses bolts instead of welded connection points. Under the agreement, United Fixtures will have the additional responsibility to take on the company’s pension liability. International Union of Operating Engineers Uses Simulator Vortex Training Simulators’ delivery of a Vortex mobile crane simulator to the International Union of Operating Engineers was announced May 1. The simulator will be used at the Operating Engineers Training School in an effort to provide more skilled operators to the industry. Vortex Training Simulations is a division of CMLabs Simulations, Inc. California Rental Association’s Executive Director Retires Chuck Maltese, California Rental Association’s executive Director will retire June 30, 2006 after 18 years of service. “(Chuck) has made numerous contributions to the association and the rental industry,“ said Paul Arbon, president of CRA, in a written statement. “He…will be missed, but Chuck felt it was time to retire.“

TRENDLINES
The Federal Reserve, headed by new chairman Ben Bernanke, has forecasted that core inflation will rise by 2 percent this year and 1.75 to 2 percent next year. The agency also calls for unemployment to hold steady between 4.75 and 5 percent. They also call for the gross domestic product to rise 3.5 percent this year and 3 to 3.5 percent next year.
- CNN.com

ENR's list of the Top 400 Contractors of 2006 describes that large general contractors are riding the wave of a strong economy and more than enough work to go around. The combined revenue of the top 400 contractors was $235.56 billion in 2005, 12.3 percent higher than 2004's $209.74 billion.
- Construction.com

The value of construction starts, excluding residential projects, increased to $87.9 billion between January and April 2006, according to Reed Construction Data. Starts in April rose 8.9 percent above the previous month, and were up 32.9 percent, compared to April of 2005.
- Buildingteam.com

Cost increases at the commodity level caused the price index for materials delivered at construction sites to rise 1.5 percent in April over March. The largest increases were for materials including non-ferrous pipe and tube, diesel fuel and pre-stressed concrete.
- Buildingteam.com

CALENDAR July 8 Construction Collector Expo 2006 Portland Airport Holiday Inn Portland, OR July 11 AEM AgExecutive Forum Renaissance Chicago O’Hare Rosemont, IL August 8-10 AGC Advanced Safety Management Training Course The Country Springs Hotel Waukesha, WI August 14 – 16 2006 Operations Management Conference Holiday Inn Capital Plaza Sacramento, CA Sep. 26 – 29 American Road and Transportation Builders Association Annual Convention Hotel del Coronado San Diego, CA Sep. 28 – Oct. 1 2006 AGC Midyear Meeting San Francisco Marriott San Francisco, CA For more news, trendlines, calendar items, and features, look for the May/June issue of Lift Applications & Equipment to be hitting your mailbox soon, as well as June’s issue of CraneWorks right behind. For more information on Milo Media, or any of our publications, visit www.milomediapub.com. And if you, or your company, have news releases you would like to send us for consideration in our magazines, do not hesitate to contact Lindsey K. Anderson, Associate Editor, at lindsey@milomediapub.com or by calling (847) 852-4387 ext. 106.
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