Congress and Expo Educational Workshops

Click here to download the MHI Congress and Expo Brochure

Wednesday, April 27

1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Change – Smooth Sailing or a "Perfect Storm?"
The expression that "change is the only constant" has never been truer than in today's business environment. This session will explore the change curve and focus on specific tactics to help lead change efforts. Understanding why change efforts fail will help attendees avoid common mistakes when trying to implement new ideas. Learn why having a change management strategy is critical to moving your business forward. Speaker – Jenny Hodge, American Modern Insurance Group

Dodd/Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted into law on July 21, 2010. The law is considered the most significant rewrite of rules governing banking and financial services in decades and will impact every financial institution and credit instrument in the nation. Provisions in this bill contain significant issues for lending in our industry and addressing these issues, and correcting them, will be a primary focus for MHI in 2011. Members of an MHI task force charged with identifying areas problematic for the industry will discuss the pitfalls identified and remedies needed. Speakers – Tim Williams, 21^st Mortgage Corp.; Jason Boehlert, Manufactured Housing Institute

Protect Your Investment by Implementing a Structured Maintenance Cycle
Adopting a structured maintenance cycle for your community can save you time and expense (think emergency repairs), help maintain or elevate your property's value, and keep your residents more satisfied. While some types of maintenance occur on a weekly, monthly or seasonal basis, there are major preventative maintenance items that should be scheduled and planned for so that they do not adversely impact the community's annual budgeting, cash flow or reserves. A seasoned community manager and owner will present a practical seven-year cycle that covers most contingencies in community maintenance. Speaker – Dick Bessire, Bessire and Casenhiser, Inc.

2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Listening – Your Greatest Asset
Whether you are a salesperson, community manager, or anyone involved in communicating with residents or prospects, this session will uncover poor listening habits and communication obstacles. Learn the listening skills needed to help you make more sales. Speaker – Joe Adams PHC®, The Housing Marketplace

The SAFE Act and Its Impact on Your Business
The SAFE Act, and its application to the manufactured housing industry, is a key issue for retailers and community owners. The purpose of the SAFE Act was to provide more control, through training and licensing requirements, over individuals who work with consumers in obtaining loans for dwellings, including manufactured homes. This session will identify activities that trigger licensing requirements, (receiving compensation or gain from a loan transaction, taking a residential mortgage loan application, or offering or negotiating terms of a residential mortgage loan) and clarify to the extent possible activities that would not trigger licensing. Up-to-date information on regulatory activities, by HUD or the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will be covered. Speakers – Dick Ernst, Financial Marketing Associates; Deborah Robertson, McGlinchey Stafford

Are You Prepared for an Emergency?
Historic flooding took place in Nashville, Tennessee in May 2010. Over 13 inches of rain was recorded over a two day period, doubling the previous record. Flooding displaced thousands of residents and flooded hundreds of businesses, many of which were unprepared for such a crisis. Are you prepared for the unthinkable? Whether a natural or man made disaster, many of the advance preparations and responses afterward remain the same. In this session you will hear lessons learned from the Nashville flooding disaster that can help you prepare your community or business for the worse. Speakers – Marla Jackson, Tennessee Manufactured Housing Association; Christine Lindsey MHM, UMH Properties, Inc.

Thursday, April 28

9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Making the Best of Social Media and the Web for Your Business
The internet has not only changed the way we connect with our prospective customers, it has changed the way we interact with them and, indeed, the way prospective customers behave. Today's consumers are more savvy, better informed and expect to be educated and engaged rather than simply sold to. The maturation of the internet has brought about new tools to assist in engaging with your customer base. The most practical of these tools fall under the banner of "social media" or "social networking." Join a discussion on how these new tools can help you engage with your customers and prospects and drive more sales through your pipeline. Speaker – Derrick Hachey, ManufacturedHomeSource.com

Regulatory Compliance Issues for Retailers and Communities Assisting Customers with Home Financing
This session will identify a myriad of compliance issues for community owners and retailers that are triggered by finance activities and/or the use of consumer credit reports. Provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACT Act), such as the Safeguards Rule, Red Flags Rule and proper disposal of consumer information, as well as the Patriot Act, the SAFE Act and more will be discussed. These issues affect operations of all sizes, and this workshop will provide some strategies for saving time and money while ensuring that you are legal and compliant in your finance operations. Speaker – Ken Rishel, Precision Capital Funding.

Going Green – It's Not Just for New Development
Green is a major focus in the housing industry today as environmental awareness and energy efficiency continues to dominate the headlines. But how can older established communities participate in the Green movement? This session will explore Green opportunities for older communities in their day-to-day operations and when rehabilitating the community and/or homes. Speaker – Donald Westphal ACM®, Donald C. Westphal Associates, L.L.C.

11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

USDA's Rural Development 502 Program Can Help Your Customers Obtain Financing
A central goal of USDA Rural Development is creating affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate-income rural residents. One program that helps achieve that goal is the 502 Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan program for which manufactured housing is eligible. In this session you will hear from experts at USDA about the requirements and mechanics of the 502 program and how it can provide needed financing for your rural area customers. Moderator – Roderick Knoll, Manufactured Housing Resources Group; Speakers – Thomas Stephens and Elias Askins, USDA Rural Development Las Vegas Area Office

Engaging the Media Successfully – How to Get Good PR for the Industry
Media outlets are looking for new and human interest stories. The media today operates on tight budgets and time, so it is important to make it easy for them to be engaged by you. By better understanding and engaging reporters or editors, we can more often and successfully tell the story of a company, product or the industry at large. The goal is to get out the message about our quality homes and communities. Ultimately, when we successfully engage the media, we are generating good PR to the general public that we seek to attract to our homes, products and services. Speakers – Mark Bowersox, Indiana Manufactured Housing Association; Tony Kovach and Eric Miller, Manufactured Home Marketing Sales Management; and Bob Stovall, Orange Cat Productions

Utilizing Sensible Guidelines to Price and Sell Homes Consumers Can Afford
In the site built housing industry, the past few years have clearly demonstrated the consequences of not applying practical home values and a homebuyer's ability to make monthly payments to the sale of a home. In the manufactured housing industry, in a land-lease community, there is the additional factor of monthly rent that must be considered. This workshop will present a practical formula for pricing homes sited in either land-lease communities or on private property utilizing the Annual Median Income (AMI) of the specific local housing market, and individual or household Annual Gross Income (AGI) to calculate "affordable" and "risky" price points for the homes you are selling. Speaker – George Allen CPM, MHM, GFA Management, Inc.

Click here to download the MHI Congress and Expo Brochure