AFMA Seminars To Focus On Health Insurance, Competing In A Global Economy

Furniture World Magazine

The American Furniture Manufacturers Association is offering seminars this summer on two challenging issues for the furniture industry: employee health insurance and competing in a global economy. "How to Compete in a World Economy: Strategies That Work" will be presented Aug. 14 at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro. Sponsored by the Manufacturing and Purchasing Divisions of AFMA, the seminar will feature presentations by Robert Edwards, retired director of the N.C. Manufacturing Extension Partnership at N.C. State University, and Lee Houston, a partner in Everest Group, an international company specializing in world trade, turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions. Edwards and Houston will discuss five strategies that American companies are using to compete and weigh the merits and disadvantages of each strategy. They also will examine the relative cost of production, U.S. vs. China, including labor, materials, overhead and time factors, as well as discuss the advantages of U.S. domestic manufacturing vs. Chinese manufacturing. The program is designed for top executives such as chief executive officers and vice presidents of manufacturing, finance and purchasing. The program objective is to encourage companies to examine their philosophy in light of the world economy. The cost is $150 per person and includes lunch and snack breaks. "Tools for Building a Healthy Health Plan" is a how-to seminar designed to assist in controlling the financial future of employee health benefit plans. Sponsored jointly by AFMA’s Human Resources/Safety and Finance Divisions, the two-hour seminar will be offered from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Aug. 6 at the Gateway Conference Center in Hickory and at the same time on Aug. 7 at the Embassy Suites in Greensboro. Many employers today are not only spending more than they think they should on employee health care, they are spending more than their company can afford. As costs spiral out of control, companies are forced to increase the cost share for benefits, potentially leaving lower-paid employees unable to continue coverage. Manufacturers faced with such problems would benefit from the seminar. Among the topics is a presentation of the results of an eight-year case study of Pulaski Furniture’s self-funded health benefit plan. Seminar participants will see how the plan was managed and how costs were contained across the eight-year period. Presenters include Ira ("Pete") Crawford, Pulaski’s senior vice president responsible for financial management of the company’s self-funded employee health benefit plan for more than 20 years. Crawford will share valuable first-hand knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work in a self-funded plan. He will be joined by Ernie Meredith, president, and Lisa Craft, vice president, of BSI –The Benefit Services Company, Salem, Va. Both will share insights gleaned from their experience providing clients with unique benefit programs. Recently published data indicates the use of self-funding plans is rising. The number of employers choosing to self fund plans doubled from 2000 to 2001, from 7% to 15%. This seminar is designed specifically for top management – vice presidents of finance, vice presidents of human resources, directors and managers of benefits. The cost is $39 per person. For more information, call the AFMA office at 336-884-5000.