Masonry Magazine December 2002 Page. 6
From the Editor
Whose Business is It?
Tom Inglesby, editor
tom@editor7.com
Laws are made and laws are carried out. Keeping track of those laws is a gargantuan task and interpreting them perhaps even more so.
Throughout our history, laws and regulations have been passed down by a multitude of government bodies-compiled, codified, classified, collected, and sometimes, although rarely, clarified. Usually, however, they are printed and published and passed around but not explained very well to those they impact the most.
We have, therefore, become dependent on experts to advise us when we run afoul of the laws, all too often in an after-the-fact situation. And while "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is a familiar cliché, and few business people can possibly know all the laws and regulations that they must obey, no matter, they still must be obeyed.
For this reason, businesses employ lawyers, tax consultants, financial advisors, accountants, insurance agents, and a host of others to turn to when things get sticky. We acknowledge their importance and hope, really hope, that the ones we pick to help us are knowledgeable in the areas where we need them. The last thing a small-or medium-sized business needs is advice from someone with less expertise in the subject than the business owner.
But as Enron, WorldCom and other recent scandals show, even the largest companies can pick the wrong advisors or worse, advisors who tell them what they want to hear, who fail in their mission of advising against deeds that are wrong, all for the sake of not upsetting the client.
It is not a good feeling to find out that we were wrong in our choice of options, not from our advisors but from the government agent who knocks on the door with a subpoena for our records, or from the OSHA inspector who calls to our attention the failings of our safety program when we didn't even know there were regulations against doing what we were doing.
No one can know all the laws, regulations, statues and rules that govern our lives. We pick and choose what we need to know and hope we don't overlook something that will get us into major trouble. Associations like MCAA help by publicizing the changes in rules and the additions to the laws that control our business actions. But these groups are, by their nature, focused on the aspects of the business that deal with the work we do, like masonry, and not necessarily on the work that goes on behind the walls of the office.
The end of the year is often a time for reflection on what we did or didn't do during the previous 12 months-while we frantically try to get ready for the next year. Personally, I look out over a vast collection of unfiled papers, unread books and journals, undone reports, and uncounted-and unaccounted for-receipts. I curse the failure to update my bookkeeping system so I could push a few buttons and generate my tax return. I know that somewhere on, under, or behind my desk is an expense report that wasn't filed properly, an airline ticket receipt that will not be deducted, an invoice that was overlooked and never mailed and never accounted for because I just simply forgot about it.
When the tax books come out, when the new software is loaded, when I start the tedious process of accounting for my lack of accounting, then will be when I find out about the changes in the rules, the new laws and new regulations that will impact me and my business.
And that will be when I wish I had been more interested in whose business it is to take care of business than just in the business of doing business. In your company, whose business is that? And are they taking care of business?
MASONRY
The Voice of the Mason Contracto
MASONRY Magazine
Official Publication of the
Mason Contractors Association of America and the
Canadian Masonry Contractors Association
MASON CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
President William McConnell
Vice President G. Alan Griffin
Secretary Frank Campitell
Treasurer Tom Daniel
Regional Vice Presidents
Rob Greer John Spencer
Edgar Boeticher III Mike Sutter
Mackie Bounds Bob Barkshire
Jim Hensley Mark Kemp
Roy Saindal
Executive Director Michael Adelizi
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Director of Marketing and Membership Jeff Buczkiewicz
Director of Engineering Rashod Johson
Director of Government Affairs Marian Marshall
Controller Liz Fidoruk
Administrative Assistant Linn Kane
Administrative Assistant Renee Stevens
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Robert L. Nelson (Robert L. Nelson & Associates Inc.), Jeff Greenwald (NCM
David Jollay (0.L. Jollay, Inc.), John Chrysler (MIA), John Melander (PCA), Da
Hill (Pettit Construction Co., Paul Odom (Pand S Masonry, John Seith (
1. Smith Masonry Co.), Brian Grant (Grant/Jack's Masonry, Jerry Painter (Pain
Masonry, Inc.), Doug Nichols (Doug Nichols Enterprises), G. Alen Griffin (G
Contracting, Inc.), Tom Daniel (GBC Concrete and Masonry Construction, Inc
Executive Office
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Phone: 847.301.0001 or 800.536.2225
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MASONRY is the official publication of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) and the Canadian Masonry Contractors Association (CMCA). The magazine acts as a sounding board without approving, disapproving or guaranteeing the validity or accuracy of any data claim opinion appearing under a byline or obtained or quoted from an acknowledged source. Opinions expressed by officers do not necessarily reflect the official views of MCIA or CMCA. The appearance of advertising or new product information doesn't constitute or state an endorsement by MCAACMICA of product featured.
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