NBN Online for the week of December 12, 2005

Gen. Colin Powell Keynote Speaker at Builders’ Show

About 100,000 housing professionals — including home and apartment builders, architects, product manufacturers and those involved in every aspect of residential and light commercial construction — are expected to turn out for the industry’s largest annual trade show and exposition, the 2006 International Builders’ Show, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.on Jan. 11-14.

Held in one of the largest convention centers in the country, the NAHB event will boast a record 1,600+ exhibitors spread across more than 1.5 million square feet of space — the equivalent of more than 40 football fields. On display will be the most cutting-edge designs, technologies, products and services available to the home building community in the new year.

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Lumber Prices Provided by Random Lengths

More Housing Needed to Keep Children With Their Families

An increasingly inadequate supply of affordable housing is disrupting low-income families and sending their children into the child welfare system at an unnecessarily high cost to American taxpayers, according to housing experts discussing the issue at the National Housing Conference on Dec. 2.

Roughly 30% of the children who have been put into foster care have been separated from their parents because the family doesn’t have access to affordable housing, said Ruth White, director of housing and community development for Catholic Charities USA. All but a scant 1.5% of the households who lose their children after being cited for neglect earn less than $30,000 annually, she said.

Subscribe Your Employees — You Could Win a Digital Camera

Sign up three or more of your employees for free, online subscriptions to Nation's Building News and you automatically will be entered in a contest to win a Sony digital camera.

There have been eight winners already — the most recent winner is Greg Zehe, of Parkview Homes, Inc. in Strongsville, Ohio — and you could be next.