Benjamin West Quarterly
 

Letter from the President

Global Expansion While Mitigating Risk

Benjamin West opened its Hong Kong office October 1, 2008, providing our FF&E and OS&E purchasing services to our clients in Asia, as well as expanding our global sourcing capabilities for all our projects. Our company has expanded internationally to meet global hotel expansion and to increase our worldwide sourcing and

vendor resources. We see the industry as one global supply chain. It is our job to match the needs of each client's individual project with the best vendor in the world for that particular project. With our Asia and European sourcing bases, we can maximize each projects FF&E and OS&E potential.

-Alan Benjamin
Alan Benjamin,
ISHP, ISHC
President

 

Gifts in Kind

Empower Charities—Help Those Who Help Others Today
Gifts In Kind International Delivers Corporate Resources to Quality Charitable Groups

Gifts In Kind International—a unique, charitable organization that works closely with corporations to deliver resources to the nonprofit community—offers businesses of all sizes some new ways to help, while at the same time addressing core business needs.

Product Donations: Help People in Need, Reduce Inventory Levels
Short on cash, but dealing with excess or returned inventory? Consider donating products to Gifts In kind International. Not only do you get an accelerated tax deduction, your business can help charitable groups that serve the needy or offset the cost of operation. Donated office supplies can help charities cut their costs and expand their programs. Clothing, household items, toys, personal care products and other items can help a needy family during this economic crisis. Visit the Gifts In Kind website at:
http://www.giftsinkind.org/partners/?pn=co_donate_products.asp to make a product donation or email Doyle Delph at ddelph@giftsinkind.org.

 

Asia Corner

Macro Economic Changes in China... Hotel Owners' Concerns
  1. Macro business environment in China:
    • Chinese factories are going bankrupt by the thousands in the past six months... due to the aggregate effects of the following:
      1. Drastic demand reduction from overseas customers over the past 12 months
      2. Higher material costs (such as metal, energy, etc.) over the past two years
      3. Higher labor costs/labor law changes over the past two years
      4. RMB appreciation over the US dollar
      Inferior factories are simply not able to compete and owners skip town, owing thousands of workers with several months of unpaid wages, resulting in daily occurrence of labor demonstrations in some areas of China.
    • GDP growth in China is slowing from an average of 9%+ annually to the current projected 2009 GDP growth in the 6%-7% range.
  2. To mitigate an economic slowdown, the Chinese government has implemented various policies to
    stimulate the domestic economy:
    • Committed to spending billions in infrastructure projects such as airports, highways, ports, transportation systems, etc. in undeveloped areas of China
    • Increase in the development of rural/farming areas to incentivize area residents to farm
      locally
    • Further relax policies and reinstated VAT rebates with various export goods to keep export
      business alive
  3. What should US hotel stakeholders concern be as so many FF&E products are from China?:
    • Vendor due diligence as many of them have OEM factories that produce products for your
      hotel
    • Structure payment terms to these FF&E vendors that would offer enhanced risk protection
    • Establish milestones and audit production progress along the way to ensure timely productive delivery

Written by: Bill Cheung, Managing Director, Benjamin West Hong Kong

 
 
What's New at BW
  • Benjamin West Opens Hong Kong Office under Managing Director Bill Cheung... Read More
  • Benjamin West Chicago gets a new Project Director—Rita Turbak... Read More
  • Benjamin West named as Purchasing Firm for The Le Meridien Philadelphia... Read More
  • Benjamin West launches Velocity® 2.0G Program... Read More

 

Upcoming Industry Events

 

A Comment from our CFO

“Safe Guarding your Funds”

In these turbulent times, clients are more concerned than ever about the safekeeping of their funds. Benjamin West offers increased security for its client accounts through its agent business model. Benjamin West does not receive interest on any client monies it holds. By forgoing interest income, the FDIC provides 100% protection of its client deposits. The FDIC backs client monies held by Benjamin West through the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. This coverage is available through December 31st, 2009. Benjamin West is working with its bankers to understand the actions of the FDIC to make sure beyond 2009 what are the plans of the FDIC to insure client monies. We will make sure to keep you informed.

 

Benjamin West Green Corner

Velocity® 2.0 Green:
The Velocity® Program was first established in 2003 when Benjamin West applied its industry-leading knowledge and experience to create a new paradigm for how hotels approached the interior FF&E process. Benjamin West reversed the traditional process by asking leading vendors in each product category to develop guidelines for a FF&E design package. Benjamin West then worked in conjunction with designers and vendors to create the Velocity® Program.

Program benefits include:

  • Reduced Renovation Cycle & Lower Fees—Only Interior Design Documentation needed
  • 5-10 year Product Warranty for Every Item in the Room—The First in the Industry
  • Pre-Approved Design by Major Brands—Designed to Meet Most Brands' Technical Standards

Based on the success of the initial Velocity® package, Benjamin West refreshed and upgraded the program to reflect today's design trends while incorporating environmentally conscious products. The Velocity® 2.0 Green program is custom designed to meet most brands' technical standards while maintaining the benefits of the initial program in quality, cost, and time savings. The refreshed program was created to work with three and four star limited service, extended stay, and time share properties as well as assisted living and university facilities. To learn more about the Velocity® 2.0 G program visit www.benjaminwest.com

 

  
Meet the Benjamin West Strategic Account Management Group
Boulder, CO Boulder, CO Chicago, IL Hong Kong London

Benjamin West is aware of the level of attention every client deserves, therefore we have implemented a team of Strategic Account Managers to work solely with our clients. A strategic account manager is the guardian of the strategic customer relationship, orchestrating the deployment of corporate-wide resources to provide comprehensive product, service and solutions to the strategic account.* This “organized around you” model of client relationships have been proven to help drive overall project efficiency and effectiveness. For Project Proposals and consultation, call a Strategic Account Manager today to get the level of attention and dedication you deserve!

*http://www.strategicaccounts.org/public/about/what.asp

 

  

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