MB Quarterly News mBest Practices Only MB offers mBest practices - five key principles that assures you a job well done! The Best People The Best Process The Best Systems The Best Service Our Promise MB Contract Furniture 6210 Goodyear Road Benicia, CA 94510 1-800-395-9004 mbcontractfurniture.com Calendar of Events December 6 Evening IFMA East Bay Holiday Party Scharffenberger Chocolate- Berkeley Jan. 23 All Day Full day course/training on ergonomics- Cupertino $$ (cost to attend) Feb 28-March 1 IntersectWest- Las Vegas A Holiday Message from Jane Mele, Principal I love this time of year. The air is crisp, the trees lining the streets are changing to yellow, red and orange (who said California doesn't have seasons?). As we enjoy taking time off with our families and the holidays, keep in mind our manufacturers also take time off so allow enough time when scheduling your projects. One of our corporate initiatives is to become more involved in our furniture industry community, which allows us to share even more information with you. This gives you the information to apply within your own organization. We are focused in 3 areas: Green Sustainability (reuse and recycling issues as well as issues of sustainable design and manufacturing), ergonomics (health & safety) and facilities education & development through IFMA, ergonomic seminars, green/sustainable and furniture shows. For your convenience, see our calendar of events to help support these areas. We will be adding a new page to our web site called Events and Resources. Please keep checking our web site for this addition. If you are looking for a particular type of training/event or know of one missing from my list that pertains to our industry, please call me. From all of us at MB, have a safe and healthy holiday. Jane Mele Project of the Quarter- Samuel Merritt College New School in Sacramento Coordination & consolidation of a large variety of furniture vendors for executive offices, computer lab, classroom, break room and library was controlled at our Benicia Distribution Center. This allowed preassembly & staging to efficiently be performed, so we could meet the client's deadline. Furniture vendors included AVA, EDI, Bay Concepts, HAG chairs and Datum Files. Samuel Merritt is enjoying this successful installation, which met their stringent economical specs. You can view more projects completed by MB Contract Furniture at our project gallery. Warehouse Clearance Sale in Progress MB has recently cleaned house in our warehouse and have a number of furniture items which might interest you. For example, this two piece workstation is being sold for only $249.00. We have many more items available on our warehouse clearance page! Employee of the Quarter - Howard Utsurogi Howard Utsurogi was born in San Francisco and grew up in the East Bay. In 1983 Howard worked for a Steelcase dealer in Oakland as an installer and has worked in the office furniture industry ever since. A resident of San Leandro, Howard’s main hobby is enjoying his tortoises and aquatic turtles. About MB, Howard says, “MB’s ability to function in all areas of the business from small service jobs to large projects is not only an enjoyable challenge, but a good fit with my experience.” Congratulations Howard! Product of the Quarter - Great Openings’ Latitude Collection. Latitude provides not only a wide selection of furniture including lateral files, pedestals, desks, wardrobe towers, bookcases and overhead storage, but all of this with 50 different colors including a diverse selection of metallic, textured and accent colors for those interested in spiffing up their offices. MB has picked the Latitude Collection because of how it provides you, the client, with a plentiful selection of not only colors and finishes but also eight standard drawer and door front designs in an industry leader quick ship package extending from five to twenty days. All of this at a great price. Please take a look at the Lattitude Collection page for pricing and ordering information. Remember, you are always welcome to call us with any questions you may have. Service of the Quarter - Site Manager mBest Practices is a unique process that we offer our customers. As a part of our process, we provide site management for all our projects. Our site manager position is designed to insure that your project goes smoothly and as planned. Site manager’s jobs begin as soon as the project is initiated, and they work in concert with our account manager and all vendors to verify the accuracy of product, facilitate site readiness and to coordinate the project from kick off to sign off, while keeping you apprised throughout. This extra set of expert eyes and hands is one reason that our mBest Practices guarantee is your assurance of a job well done. Learn more about MB Contract furniture and the services we provide by downloading our Online Brochure (.PDF) Recipe of the Quarter - Banana Bread (2) eggs, (3) medium bananas - ripe, 2/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1 3/4 cup sifted all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts Break eggs into bowl, beat until blended, cut banans into one inch pieces and mix with eggs. Add sugar & oil to mixture and beat until well mixed. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt together into mixture. Add nuts and mix untill dry ingredients, just blended. Pour into oiled 9 1/2"x 5 1/2" x 2 3/4" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Outrageous! Provided by Dorothy Prokop from the mother of her childhood friend, Mary DeNigris.