An invitation to METALCON International, Atlanta, October 11-13,
This year, the average American citizen will have to work 120 days into 2011 before they have earned enough money to pay this year’s tax obligations at the federal, state and local levels. Yes, this year’s Tax Freedom Day arrived on April 12 – which was three days later than in 2010. But on the bright side, Tax Freedom Day 2011 was nearly two weeks earlier than in 2007. Why the difference?
Well, the general recession has resulted in fewer tax dollars being collected, and of course reduced income for many. Fortunately the Bush era tax rates were extended, which also helped lower the tax burden. And finally, the recent 2 percent reduction in payroll taxes lightened the load.
But before you start jumping for joy over the fact that you are not paying the government more in taxes, bear in mind that Americans will pay more in taxes this year than they will spend on food, clothing and shelter combined. So what does our government do with that tax revenue?
The basic answer is that tax revenue is supposed to be used for things that we as citizens can’t pay to do ourselves. So this includes maintaining roads, bridges and infrastructure, providing national defense from foreign attack and threats, and regulating sectors of our economy related to transportation, financial security, air quality and safety in our buildings.
Does the government really care about buildings? Yes governments at all levels have a keen interest in the building stock in this country. In fact, the federal government has placed on itself many mandates to improve the energy efficiency, water efficiency and sustainability of its buildings. The General Services Administration Public Buildings Service is the largest owner/operator of commercial-style real estate in the United States. GSA manages 350 million square feet of space in office buildings, courthouses, laboratories and border stations. And GSA is serious about finding ways to lower the energy and water consumption of existing and new federal government buildings.
So it’s timely that METALCON will be highlighting the procedures and opportunities for the metal construction industry to work with government on building projects. In fact this year’s keynote will be presented on October 11 by Kevin Kampschroer, Director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings at the US GSA. The presentation is titled “Metal and High Performance Green Buildings”.
Also on opening day, October 11, Greg Goodwin, founder and president of Goodwin Marketing Group, LLC will discuss “A Sustainable Approach to Successfully Winning Work with the Federal Government”. Throughout Government Day on the 11th, there will be a line up of other speakers discussing strategies for doing business with the government and expanding market share with government clients.
This is OUR government for the people, as President Lincoln so elegantly stated, so come to METALCON and learn how the metal construction industry can benefit from the government’s growing interest in green and high performance buildings. It will also give you a chance to interact with contacts from a variety of government agencies and departments that are interested in using metal in construction for meeting their mandates.
