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City of West Palm Beach Lowers Building Permit Fees 19%

10/6/2014

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Story by:
Scott Worley
Managing Member / President
Northstar Building Management, LLC
Northstar Homes Realty, Inc.

Office: 561-967-3739
Cell:   561 248-4231

e-mail: Scott@northstarhomesfl.com
With the downturn in the housing markets starting in 2008, all 38 building department in Palm Beach County had to some level difficulty with budgeting which led to a combination of cut industry and real estate developers have been targeting West Palm Beach.  This increase in backs in staffing, reduction in cash reserves and the raising of building permit fees. Under the leadership of Mayor Jeri Muoio, Director of Economic Development Chris Roog, Development Services Director Rick Greene and Building Official Robert Brown, West Palm Beach has been steadily changing into a pro-growth builder friendly municipality. With over a dozen new large projects announced this year, the construction volume has resulted in significant improvement in West Palm Beach’s Building Services Department budget and operating reserves. The City of West Palm Beach currently has over 1 billion dollars of construction valuation either in active construction or in backlog (process of being approved by not yet started).

The fiscal year 2003-2004 was a peak year in construction in West Palm Beach with a significant number of high rise condominiums under construction. The City had over $735,000,000 of construction generated from over 25,000 building permits. The down turn hit West Palm Beach hard with the worst fiscal year being 2009-2010 were construction activity dropped to only $100,000,000 generated from only 7,157 permits. Unable to fund its building department adequately it laid off employees and develop a furlough employee program. Eventually the City commission had to raise building permit fees however, they raised them in a many that would facilitate a reduction when construction volumes increased.  The City adopted in 2009 a resolution with two permit fees calculations structures. A higher fee structure based on lower permit activity (under $250,000,000 of construction valuation for the permits for fiscal period) to enable the City to survive the economic slowdown and a lower fee structure that would automatically kick in when permit volume reached a specific level. On June 24, 2014 West Palm Beach shifted to the lower fee structure based on the volume of activity. The net effect is that a typical $300,000 home’s building permit fee would have been under the old fee structure $6,510 dropped to $5,298 under the new fee structure representing a 19% reduction.

West Palm Beach is the first municipality in Palm Beach County to lower rates since the construction industry rebound that started in 2013 and has continued into 2014. How does West Palm Beach compare to the other municipality in building department fees? The rates vary dramatically but West Palm Beach is definitely looking better after its reduction. Below is a sampling of the municipalities that have the most permit activity in Palm Beach County in order of highest to lowest fee:

Estimated Permit fee on a $300,000 valuation new single family home:

Town of Palm Beach                                       $8,221

Boca Raton                                                         $7,050

Boynton Beach                                                 $6,900

Delray Beach                                                      $6,628

Old City of West Palm Beach Rate           $6,510

Jupiter                                                                  $6,000

New City of West Palm Beach Rate         $5,298

Palm Beach Gardens                                      $3,895

Un-Incorporated Palm Beach County      $3,850

City of Wellington                                            $3,535

With the increase in construction volume, all building departments in Palm Beach County will be faced with issues of how to service the volume increase. It is likely that Building Officials will be focused on hiring and training new employees, funding long deferred technology update projects and rebuilding reserves. While the building industry fully supports a high level of service from Building Departments, as construction volumes increase it will be important for the building industry to meet with building officials to evaluate if the cost of building permits can be reduced.

The City of West Palm Beach Building Department budget with the lower permit fees will still generate a significant surplus. The current plan for the surplus is focused on servicing the anticipated higher volume of construction activity. The City is preparing to high and additional 17 people in the Building Services Department preform a major technology upgrade to paperless building plan applications, acquisition of the vehicles and equipment to accommodate the new employees and rebuild their depleted operating reserves. They currently have no plans on increasing or further decreasing building permit fees.

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Steps to market your business on Facebook

7/17/2014

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PictureLike us on Facebook!
Before you start marketing on Facebook, think about your marketing goals, your target market, the services you offer and what type of promotions you can offer. Once you've set these goals you can use Facebook Pages to reach the audience you need to achieve them.  


Here are the 5 things you need to do to get started.

1. Create a Page
Pages are what companies, non-profits, and public figures use for their presence on Facebook. It's free and fast to set one up and it creates an instant presence on desktop, mobile, and tablet. Facebook recently announced a new, more streamlined look for Pages so it's easier for visitors to find what they're looking for about your business.

2. Invite People to Connect
It's not about the number of people who like your Page, but that your business Page is connected with the right people. Invite friends who'll be interested in your Page, or upload your customer email list to send an email letting people know about your Facebook content. You can do all of this from the Build Audience section at the top of your Page.

3. Post Compelling Content
Compelling content can take many forms. Tell your story through product photos or share links to upcoming sales and relevant industry articles. Reach more of the people you care about by boosting your posts. You can also get inspiration from other businesses like yours here.

4. Measure
Check out Page Insights to see what kind of people connect and engage with your Page. Is it mostly men? Women between the ages of 18 and 24? Do posts with photos perform better than text-only updates? You can answer these types of questions from the Insights tab at the top of your Page.

5. Download the Pages Manager App
If you own a business you’re going to be busy.  If you find yourself away from the computer and need to make an update, the Pages Manager app can help you manage your Page on the go. You can publish content, edit your Page, boost posts, and view Page insights straight from your phone. Get it in the iTunes Store or Google Play Store.

Need help or support? MSC Marketing offers Facebook and social media monthly plans. 

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SPONSOR FOR A CAUSE

6/24/2014

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MSC Marketing is delighted to sponsor the Gold Coast Builders Association Chapter of FABA Kick-Off event Wednesday, July 2nd. Wines for Humanity will be joining us to help celebrate this kick-off and assist us in generating some funds for Habitat For Humanity, one of GCBA's members.  We want to also thank Florida Builders Appliances, Sub-Zero ad Wolf for their sponsorship. This will be a great event where old and new members will enjoy fine wines, cheese and a delightful paring by Oceans 234 in Deerfeild Beach. Join us! Let Maya know if you want to attend, we will point you to the right person and make sure you are registered! Cost is only $25 for non-members. Already 40 RSVP's and more to come!

Contact Maya at maya@mscmarketingonline.com 

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GOLD COAST BUILDERS ASSOCIATION REORGANIZED

5/31/2014

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Chapter to serve Palm Beach and Northern Broward Counties  

With the revitalization of the building industry, the Gold Coast Builders Association (GCBA) has been restructured as a chapter of the Florida Atlantic Building Association to effectively serve members in Palm Beach and Northern Broward Counties.

Alley E. McInnis, Chief Estimator for Prime Group, will serve as President of GCBA and Maya S. Chocron, CEO of MSC Marketing & Advertising, Inc. will be Vice President.

Alley, a long-time member of GCBA, has 30 years of construction management experience and has built a variety of residential and commercial projects throughout the state of Florida. Alley is a Life Director of GCBA and a Licensed General Contractor.  He is currently working on three Marriott Hotel properties in Delray Beach, Key Largo and Marathon, FL.

Maya S. Chocron has been in the marketing, design and real estate field, servicing clients since 1994. MSC Marketing works with builders, developers, sub contractors and specialty tradesmen. Maya is a Life Director of GCBA, is the current SMC Chair and has chaired the Prism Best Awards for several years.

GCBA Life Directors David Saul, John DeCicco and Patty Doyle will serve as special advisors for the newly restructured GCBA Chapter.

The GCBA Chapter is actively reaching out to current and former members. For information about membership and events, please contact Laurie Mortenson-Rose, GCBA Chapter Director at 561-531-2475 or LMortensonRose@myfaba.com.



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Use the holidays as an opportunity to get out in front of your prospects and business "entourage"

11/25/2013

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Have you posted your Happy Holidays wishes? Whether its through Facebook, email blasts, USPS cards or even a direct email... now is the time to do it! A holiday promotions is always a great idea, Black Friday is this Friday... if you have products to liquidate do it now!! OR you can do it after Black Friday is over and call it "The Ultimate After Black Friday Sale"... What % of  people wait for Black Friday to purchase? What if you positioned yourself as "the" after black Friday seller? I personally do not have product per-say - I can offer print specials though. Let's test it... all who replies to this post and states "i want an after black Friday special" I will print 1000 business cards for $60 bucks! PLUS NY, AL and FL free shipping! - orders to be requested between December 2nd to Dec 6 and processed by January 15th (100# gloss cover with aqueous coating double sided - standard shipping, artwork provided print PDF - artwork set-up extra if needed). I've been reading that many stores will be open the day of Thanksgiving starting at 8:00 or 8:30. Does that mean that most people will have thanksgiving "dinner" at lunch?

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

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Why Opt-Out?

5/13/2013

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I have sent an email blast to my database recently through constant contact - as I do so every year that focuses on tips. I did receive some opt-outs that I was a little amazed about. The information is valuable, so I wonder "Why-Opt Out?". Here is what I sent...




5 Consumer
Behavior Secrets 
 
  1. Humans Respond to limited inventory - scarcity - using a "limited time
    offer", or "the first 100 to respond" has been proven to increase ROI (Return On
    Investment).
  2. Certain words trigger human responses such as Free, New, Guarantee
  3. People buy through emotional reasons...  for example Nike's "Just do it
    campaign"... people who procrastinate will probably not react but people who are
    ready to move forward to "do it" would. Or how about alarm companies... they
    base campaigns on fear and worse case scenario's
  4. Consumers tend to give return or buy in once they get something for free.
    They feel some sort of brand obligation as a return "thank you" for the free
    item. 
  5. Visual graphics and design trigger consumer responses. Dotted lines around
    coupons will increase response rate even research shows that people are shopping
    online and physical coupons hardly get cut.
  6. ~ Jamie Turner, 60 second marketer
    resource
   Email Marketing 101 - 5 top things to think about before you write your email
  1. Who are you sending the email to? Who is your audience?
  2. Why are you sending the email? Educational, tips, informational, product
    sales
  3. Call to action - what is the user going to do after they get your
    email?
  4. how are you sending out the email? We always recommend to use a third arty
    email company such as Constant Contact or Mail Chip (let me know, we van help
    you determine)
  5. how will the email look? If you use a third part email company, they have
    templates and color schemes you can use - just make sure it matches your brand
    style. Keep the messaging clean and crisp and try not to only use images... some
    people do not see images in there emails. Tip - Make a text version, always! 

5 Steps to Social Success 
 
  1. Stop selling and start educating your current and potential customers to
    increase excitement, engagement and sales
  2. Position yourself as the expert in your industry (you know...that "go to"
    person that has all the answers and everyone turns to)
  3. Create blog posts that WOW your readers and makes them come back for more,
    AND uncover the perfect blog formula for your business
  4. Identify which social platforms work best for you (that's right, you don't
    have to be on all of them)
  5. Create a positive social strategy that you will actually execute

Do you find this information valuable?

Maya S. Chocron

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