This is a big news for gate valve manufacturing :Crane’s Fluid Handling segment backlog was $286 million at September 30, 2008, a decrease of 4% from $298 million at June 30, 2008, and an increase of 18% over $243 million at December 31, 2007. The third quarter 2008 sales increase of $2.5 million reflects $2.1 million of incremental sales related to the August 2007 acquisition of the Mobile Rugged Business division of Kontron America.

James, Wolf and Robert,

Thank you so much for voicing your opinions and concerns. Let me first address James' inquiry about an NDA Board member being a part of this forum and more importantly, the assumption of the Association catering solely to the 'larger' contractors.

I am in fact on the Board of Directors and I also work for one of the largest demolition firms in the country. Additionally, I am the chairman of the Ad-Hoc website committee. That is specifically why I took the initiative to post the inquiry here and hope that such a proactive approach will help to begin negating the thought that smaller contractors aren't significant to the Association. Everyone in our industry is important. PERIOD!

For those of you who have never received a lead from the association, the new website (slated to launch by mid-October) is designed to increase your prospects. I personally field at least half a dozen calls that I have to forward on to the NDA for distribution to said 'smaller' companies.

Some History: Back in September 2007, the NDA Board of Directors was essentially sequestered at MIT's Endicott House in Dedham, MA. We spent three days brainstorming about how to best meet the needs of our members. During that time, we performed a lot of exercises to help reach cohesion of ideas on what we, as the Board, needed to do to better inform the masses of who we, as an Association are what we represent and more importantly, what our industry is all about.

Out of this, we formed multiple task groups designed to assess our industry, our members and the buyers/users of our services. Out of this, we decided to entirely revamp the website to make it the source for 'All Things Demolition'. That is the reason I put the post out here in the first place.

We approved a budget and hired a firm to help us redo the website to meet the goal of being the ultimate resource for our members. One where they can understand our Government Advocacy - their voice- as we speak to regulators on the industry's behalf to help educate the decision makes to help pass legislation that is in the best interest of all parties. The website will be re-tooled such that when people are looking for our respective services or complementary businesses, when they perform a contractor search in their region for their sought after commodity, every member who meets that input criteria will become just as viable of a choice as the next guy. When OSHA comes to your jobsite looking for your safety manual, you can choose to have the physical version on hand, a cd or better yet, log in to the members section and find what you need. When you are looking to train your guys for regulatory compliance, you can register online for the Demolition Academy or you can register for the online training courses that will be offered. When you want to know what happens in the Board meetings, what motions were put on the table and what the agenda is/was in general, you can see it and read the minutes of the meetings that too will be posted. If you need to reach a particular committee, again, that will become a doable option.

Gentlemen, the Association is changing its image from the 'strong (anti?) opinions' organization that you once knew into the epitome of Associations. We are your source for 'All Things Demolition.' This is why I

legal and safety issues would be worthwhile. also training materials. maybe a mentoring program for new people getting into the business. you might also consider a special arrangement with some equipment dealers around the country to permit members to demo new equipment coming out.