Bill McNutt III

Bill McNutt’s Op-Ed Piece on Corsicana Daily Sun

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:16:11 -0400

On April 19, 2013, the Corsicana Daily Sun ran an Op-Ed piece by Bill McNutt on exporting. It is fascinating reading. Check out this link. http://corsicanadailysun.com/opinion/x1520508500/Guest-Commentary-On-the-topic-of-exporting

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas. He can be read on http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/ and http://billmcnutt.com/

You Too Can Be A Lone Star Exporter

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:14:46 -0400

By Bill McNutt: Co-Owner of Tradesman Truck Accessories Located in Winters, Texas

In the 1990’s, California was America’s export champion. In 2002, Texas took the lead and never looked back. Is your small to medium-sized Texas-based company ready to jump on this wagon train traveling across borders in search of new prospects, customers, and profits? How do you get started? Where do you turn for help in the Lone Star State?

When my partners and I bought Tradesman Truck Accessories seven years ago in the little West Texas town of Winters (population 2,562), we were the most unlikely of export candidates, or so we thought. We were wrong.

At Tradesman, we build from scratch the shiny aluminum storage boxes you see in pickup trucks and sell them under names like “Husky” and “Tradesman.” You see them all over Dallas County, from construction sites to the Park Cities. Very few countries use the pickup truck the way we do in the United States, but in Mexico they certainly do. The North America Free Trade Agreement, initiated by President Ronald Reagan and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, gave us an opening. The governor’s office helped us seize the opportunity.

We turned to the Office of the Governor’s Economic Development Department. They have an office in Mexico City, headed by the ever-helpful Mónica Sánchez (msanchez@governor.state.tx.us) and her knowledgeable hard-working staff. We call them NAFTA-gators: folks able to help us avoid the potholes and formulate a successful export plan. They quickly confirmed two things. Number One, Mexico was a market of great potential for us. Number Two, we would not have to make any adjustments to our products to sell south of the border.

The State of Texas Mexico City office maintains a database of Mexico-based companies by sector. They used our existing marketing materials to gain comments from Mexican companies and potential distributors about our products. By the time our CEO David McGuire and I got to Mexico City, Ms. Sanchez and her team were full of information, tips, and tactics for our company. Best of all, they had the profiles of seven Mexican distributors who were interested in a business partnership with us.

The State of Texas office did not stop there. They arranged face-to-face meetings for us in Mexico City and their staff members accompanied us. Long distance calls to prospective manufactures reps and partners in Guadalajara and Monterrey took place as well. Today, we are blessed to have two representatives in Mexico and sales are flowing.

We also used the U.S. Department of Commerce Trade Specialists at the United States Embassy in Mexico. A U.S. Embassy will typically have 12 to 20 U.S. government agencies operating within its walls. These include Immigration, Agriculture, Commerce, State Department, C.I.A, Social Security Administration, etc. The highest-ranking commerce official in Mexico has the title of Commercial Counselor. His trade promotion group is called the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service. It is a wealth of information about your industrial sector from automotive to health care, from oil and gas to manufacturing (www.mexico.usembassy.gov).

Outside of relying on the State of Texas and the U.S. Department of Commerce, our best suggestion is to form your own export outreach team: identify employees who speak foreign languages, have lived abroad, traveled, or worked for other companies who export. Once your team is established, participate in webinars, read how-to books, consult with freight forwarders, and participate on a Trade Mission that targets your industry or attend a U.S. government sponsored trade conference in the region that shows the most promise.

Adapting your website for foreign search, prospects, and customers is a must. If you think Brazil is a market, have some information in Portuguese. This will help the search engines and foreign prospects find you. Finally, consider the remarks from an unlikely trade source, actress Sissy Spacek once said: “I was always proud about being from Texas. Maybe that was part of fearlessness. I love the fact that Texas is so big; you don’t feel small because of it. You can achieve your dreams.”

Bill McNutt is the Co-Owner of Tradesman Truck Accessories

Winters, Texas

He can be reached at (214) 537-9311 or http://billmcnutt.com/

Bill McNutt - A Business Profile 03/10/13

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:43:20 -0400

Bill McNutt - A Business Profile 03/10/13

Time to Move On

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:33:37 -0400

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.com/

From the minute Texas Ranger owner Tom Hicks hired Noland Ryan in 2008, the sixty-one-year-old Hall of Famer knew a succession plan was important for the organization. Today, the owners of the Texas Rangers are being unfairly demonized for using common sense business tactics to protect the franchise.

Succession is always a challenge for any successful organization. Succession for less than successful organizations is easy. All, and I mean all professional organizations have a succession plan.

SMU President, Gerald Turner is sixty-nine years old and he is the oldest President in Conference USA. SMU has a succession plan.

Texas Instruments CEO, Richard Templeton is fifty-four years old. Texas Instruments has a succession plan. Why are sports fans shocked that the Rangers have the same thing as Texas Instruments and Southern Methodist?

Without a succession plan you have nervous employees, a questioning media, and a disincentive for good people to come to work. It’s time for Ranger fans to move on to the next story such as beating the A’s or the Angles. Enough time has been spent on basic business practices.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

The Football Times They Are A-Changin’ in the Lone Star State

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:33:58 -0500

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.com/

Having just returned from a trip to Austin and San Antonio, it gave me a chance to speak with fans, high school coaches, members of the Board of Regents, and other knowledge folks about the University of Texas football program. Here are some of the things that were learned.

Every year a great number of THE best high school players in Texas comes down to signing with the University of Texas or Texas A&M. Texas traditionally gets 60% to 65% of these players to come to Austin for four years. Once A&M announced it was moving to the SEC, the number became roughly 50-50. Now that A&M has had a breakout year, the majority of the boys are going to be wearing maroon and white.

58% of the players signed by Texas in the past five years committed in February of their junior year in high school.

Texas has missed on a lot of great quarterbacks especially in not offering a scholarship to Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel aka Johnny Football. They also missed when they told Cam Newton that QB Gilbert would be the starter if Cam came to Austin. (He went to Auburn instead followed by Heisman followed by National Championship.)

Players want to play in the best conference. It appears the SEC tie-in is helping the Aggies in head-to-head recruiting matchups with the Horns. The next few years will be fun to watch.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

The Real Issue and The Real Solution

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 11:54:26 -0500

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.com/

The fiscal cliff. The budget shortfall. The great compromise. Everybody in Washington seems to be focused on taxes going up, or not, for citizens making more than $200,000 if you are single or $250,000. This debate is keeping us from solving the real problem and removing the greatest challenge to our nation, our entitlement programs. It is a known fact that if we taxed 100% of the income over $250,000 a year you can only run the federal government for 98 days.

Medicare takes up 15.5% of the federal budget. With the retiring baby boomers, the numbers skyrocket. ObamaCare will add increasing burdens.

We need to get away from this politics of envy in this country and salute those who not only create wealth but risk their own money to create jobs for others

Unless we solve the entitlement challenges, college graduates will keep living out their twenties in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading ObamaChange posters and wondering when they can move out and get on with life.

Look at what private people, investing in the private market can accomplish. As of this fall, U.S. natural gas prices were one third of European levels. Not 33% less, but one third of European prices. In a few short years, North America will no longer need a drop of oil from the Islamic world. The strategic burden will fall on Europe.

The Eagle Ford in South Texas is thankfully private, not federal government land. It is 400 miles long and 50 miles wide. It is now THE largest oil field development in the world. The oil does not stop at the U.S. Mexican border. But on the Mexican side, where the government owns all mineral rights, there is little to no activity. Lesson learned!

Scattershooting with McNutt

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:07:21 -0500

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.com/

Living in the football dorm at SMU, we would wait for the afternoon delivery of the Dallas Times Herald to arrive to keep up on our Southwest Conference opponents and to see what Blackie Sherrod, America’s leading sports writer thought about football.

I had the pleasure of traveling with Blackie and Verne Lundquist to the World Cup in Germany in 1974 while playing football at SMU. They were roommates, but had a falling out when Verne revealed to Lamar Hunt that Blackie slept with a blackout mask on his face!

Ol’ Blackie was the world’s first blogger in some respects. But his Sunday Scattershooting column, a little bit of this and a little bit of that, was a favorite of Texans everywhere.

Here is my version of Scattershooting from today’s world of business and sports.

Today, one in six is over 65, the highest proportion ever recorded and likely the highest in history. This is good news for certain kinds of food that have great texture and strong flavors. As we get older we get more and more enjoyment from the texture in foods. This is good news for cookies with lots of nuts, and the traditional fruitcake.

Everybody knows the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. But, few know the name of the last. His name? Gene Cernan. Soon, there will be no one living who knows the lunar surface “up close and personal.” That will be a sad day for mankind.

Very few of the masters’ apprentices can duplicate their success. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots has enjoyed seeing his former employees rise through the NFL ranks. They tend to be terrific successes or terrible failures with very little in between. An example of success is Thomas Dimitroff of the Atlanta Falcons. They have lost only once as of Thanksgiving weekend 2012. The failure is Scott Pioli, the Kansas City Chiefs’ general manager the last four years. They have only won once this season.

The Paralympics Games have nothing to do with paraplegic. It is shorthand for parallel. The Paralympics first started in 1948, and ran along side of the regular Olympics.

Final thought: The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

Rush Limbaugh spends some time with Bill McNutt at the...

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:01:02 -0400

Rush Limbaugh spends some time with Bill McNutt at the Superbowl.

Soccer with a Difference Maker

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:35:42 -0400

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

“Festive is an understatement” said David Koch from Wichita, Kansas as we watched the gold medal soccer final in London at the 2012 Olympics. Mexico upset Brazil and I got to spend a couple of hours with a thoughtful, fascinating America patriot, and sports fan.

I had never heard of Mr. Koch until 2009 when the free spending and regulation heavy Obama-Biden Administration came to power. He and his brother Charles have dug deep from their own pockets to fund think tanks, political organizations and candidates. All are dedicated to putting some limits on the intrusiveness of government.

Having attended nine World Cups and nine World Cup Finals I have come to appreciate how special any match is between Brazil and Mexico. The fans of each national team are fun loving, passionate, dressed in uplifting colors, and not mean spirited like some other countries supporters. Into this amazing atmosphere ventured Mr. Koch and one of his buddies. He quickly engaged me with a series of questions about soccer, a sport he knew little about. His quick and curious mind was aflutter with comments and observations. In short, we had fun as we sensed we were seeing Olympic history and a large upset in the making. (Mexico won 2-1 after going up 2-0)

At one point he looked at his watch and said “I can tell you now, Paul Ryan is being announced as the Vice President.” I was stunned and checked my I-phone to confirm that Virginia Beach, Virginia was the location of the event! He spoke of the uphill challenge facing the nation faced to stop the catastrophic overspending. I was impressed with how open he was given the death threats, cyber-attacks and critical news stories he and his business had endured.

Given that I had worked in the Reagan White House, I think he felt comfortable with me. But more importantly I had something he needed, quality information about “the beautiful game” as it was called by Pele. On a rare sunshine afternoon in merry old England, we shared some prospective on life, sport and politics. Then, we went our separate ways. He was kind enough to give me his card and pose for pictures. In the end I felt just like the Mexican team, an unexpected winner in ways I could not have imagined when I entered the stadium.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

Bill Mcnutt poses with White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesner and...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:24:09 -0400

Bill Mcnutt poses with White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesner and Bob McNutt at a Neiman Marcus Reception for Collin Street Bakery

Health Care: Problems and Solutions

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:15:09 -0400

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

What is the focus for health care? Should it be increasing the number of insured Americans or controlling health costs by fixing a dysfunctional health insurance market. I believe it is the latter. Let’s take a closer look.

The biggest challenge with the current system is consumers who do not have to come out of pocket for services (or only have a low co-pay) do not spend money the same way as if it came out of their own pocket. We must bolster market forces.

Politicians of both parties run from the idea, but America should call employer-paid health insurance what it is: compensation. And they should tax it. Today, if a family buys their own insurance, they generally get no tax break.

My family and I have a HAS (Health Savings Account). We get a slight tax advantage to put in the after-tax dollars, but they grow without tax consequences and come out tax-free. We make the investment each January and have never touched the money. It is our goal to use it to pay for things in our old age that insurance does not cover. But, HAS’s are rarely promoted and not fully understood.

Regardless of who wins the Presidential election this year, the playing field should be level. Families who buy insurance on their own should receive some kind of tax break. If you agree, write your Congressman or U.S. Senator.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

Oil and Gas

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:05:27 -0400

By Bill McNutt

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

During the Presidency of Jimmy Carter, a popular cartoon portrayed him as George Washington in a cold winter log cabin at Valley Forge. An aid says “General, we are running low on firewood.”

His response? “Tax Firewood!”

This knee jerk response applies to the way the United States treated the oil and gas industry for many years. Today, the emergence of shale plays has completely revitalized the domestic onshore market for oil and gas, giving North American the opportunity to be energy independent by 2020.

In a world where China, India and Brazil are experiencing dynamic growth, the demand for global oil and natural gas will continue to grow. Domestic oil production will enable the U.S. to reduce imports, saving billions of dollars. Natural gas is replacing coal for power generation. It is also allowing an explosion (no pun intended) of new construction in the domestic chemical industry as global players take advantage of the cheap U.S. feedstock.

Baker Hughes and Goldman Sachs estimate that the U.S. drilling rig count will expand from 1,875 last year to 1,979 in 2012, onward to 2,476 in 2014. One of the challenges from shale gas is the rapid decline rates with production often down 50% to 70% in one year. This means drilling must continue. Compare this to oil wells where fields discovered in last ten years have decline rate of ~14%.

As North America pursues energy independence, let’s rejoice the fact we are not living in cold Valley Forge-style log cabins like General Washington. And, let’s hope our national leaders have moved beyond the thought that taxing something creates more of it!

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

Demands From Occupy Wall Street

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 08:57:58 -0400

By Bill McNutt, III

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

It is the one year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I have studied their demands and it boils down to unhappiness with income distribution or economic inequality. Let’s break that down and look at it closer. Let’s pretend Bobby cuts grass for a living and makes $100 a day doing it. Then let’s say Cindy teaches class and makes $500 a day. In this scenario there is a income inequality. For Bobby, it’s not fair that he sweats and toils hard all day long and makes one-fifth of Cindy. Yet Cindy would say she spent four years going to college and getting a degree not to mention the money it cost her for that. She says to Bobby, “Get a degree and come teach.” Bobby says, “No, that’s not fair!” It appears the best way to satisfy Occupy Wall Street and people like Bobby is to redistribute some of Cindy’s wealth to Bobby and make things more equal. The best way to do that is to make Cindy give money to the government and let it give Bobby his fair share. That way, if Bobby doesn’t feel like cutting grass today, he can still get paid because Cindy is busy teaching and making money to send Bobby. With his day off, Bobby can go protest on Wall Street about the unfairness of it all and perhaps get more money from more Cindys. Not bad. Or, he can take some time off and travel to countries who believe in the same system. Those governments own everything and distribute it equally to its people so everything’s fair no matter who works hard or not. Cuba is an excellent example. They have free haircuts, medical care and beautiful beaches where Cubans learn to swim to the U.S. Perhaps the Occupy Wall Street folks can meet the Cubans as they arrive on the beaches of Florida and ask them how they can swim to Cuba where things are much fairer. Dang we’re gonna miss them.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt III invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

Uncertainty In Economy Adds To Unemployment

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:44:01 -0400

By Bill McNutt, III

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

Until the election is over, uncertainty in our economy will continue to cause higher unemployment that necessary. Small business owners don’t want to add jobs when they have no idea where the economy is headed. It costs money to advertise for potential employees. Then the business owner has to train them, nurture them, motivate them and supervise them. Again, that takes a lot of time and resources. Their biggest fear is waking up one day and the economy is in a tailspin. Suddenly, all the money and time spend to get his new employees up to speed is down the drain. They must all be let go. It’s taxing not to mention mentally and emotionally draining on the employees who are left. No, as long as there is some uncertainty, there will be higher employment. Keep your eyes open for the end of the election and see if hiring doesn’t get better.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt III invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

Unemployment Rates Don’t Say Everything

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 11:36:53 -0400

By Bill McNutt, III

http://billmcnutt.tumblr.com/

The government continually posts unemployment rates and when they do everyone wrings their hands as they analyze what it all means. For me, the numbers show only general trends and not specific data that you can sink your teeth into. Here’s why I say this. First, you have people who are not receiving unemployment benefits yet are actively seeking work. If Betty lost her job and is looking for work but didn’t file for unemployment benefits, how does the government know? Or how does the government know whether or not Betty is taking a few years off and living on her savings, traveling the world? She may or may not be looking for work.

Next, Charlie lost his job but took a job that pays way less and one in which he is way overqualified. How is he counted? The government says he’s employed yet does that mean things are good with Charlie? No, of course not. The statistic on Charlie can be trotted out as positive when in fact it is negative.

Another big error deals with worker’s claiming unemployment yet not wanting to work. We have all come across person after person sucking down unemployment benefits and not really looking for work. In fact, when our businesses have called these people to interview them, they either no-show or show up and say they are just waiting until their benefits run out. However, the government counts them as unemployed when they aren’t. They are simply children in the custody of the government.

The point of all this is that before you hang yourself on each unemployment report, don’t. Look at general trends over a one year period and you will see a whole lot more.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt III invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas

The Potential For Oil and Gas

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:22:44 -0400

By Bill McNutt, III

www.visualcv.com/billmcnutt

Investing in Oil and Gas Service Companies in New Mexico could become very interesting if Romney and Ryan win in November. In Hobbs, New Mexico on Aug. 23, Governor Romney said he will end a century of federal control over oil and gas drilling on government lands, giving the authority to the Governors of the 50 states.

The federal government owns about 28 percent of the 2.27 billion acres of land in the United States. But west of the Mississippi, it is a much larger percentage. As of March 2012, only about 37 million acres were under lease for oil and gas operations, of which about 16.3 million acres have active oil and gas production or exploration, according to the Interior Department. Mitt Romney is making a bid for anti-Washington voters in key oil producing states and preparing the ground work for employing thousands of unemployed Americans in the oil patch at good wages, with good benefits.

The federal government owns vast portions of states like New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and Alaska. Under President Obama, officials in Washington have played a bigger role in drilling and mining decisions on federal lands in the states, and such involvement rankles many taxpayers and energy executives, who prefer the more pro business touch of local officials.

“I’m going to change the regulatory and permitting process,” Mr. Romney said at a rally in Hobbs, N.M., in the giant Permian Basin oil fields, where companies are eager to begin drilling on millions of acres of federal lands. “Sometimes I have the impression that the whole regulatory attitude of the administration is trying to stop oil and gas and coal — that they don’t want those sources, that instead they want to get those things so expensive and so rare that wind and solar become highly cost-effective and efficient.”

Mr. Romney said that states like North Dakota and Colorado grant drilling permits on state-owned lands in days or weeks, compared with the nearly a year that it takes the federal government to grant approval. “They found a way to do a job in a more efficient way,” he said. “On federal lands, the permitting process to actually drill and get oil or gas is extraordinarily slow.”

“Empowering states, rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all federal government approach, is the right way to increase American energy,” said Kathleen Sgamma, a vice president at Western Energy Alliance, a group of oil and gas producers.

The George W. Bush administration allowed individual drilling permits to be issued without a detailed environmental review, resulting in a surge of oil and gas production that has been the driving force behind reducing the amount of oil we import as a nation.

A graduate of SMU, Bill McNutt III invests in and operates several businesses. He is based in Dallas, Texas.

Multiply // Bill McNutt III

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:46:00 -0400

Multiply // Bill McNutt III

Ryze : Bill McNutt III

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:46:00 -0400

Ryze : Bill McNutt III

BigSight - Bill McNutt III

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:45:00 -0400

BigSight - Bill McNutt III

Bill McNutt III's About.me Page

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:45:00 -0400

Bill McNutt III's About.me Page