Online subcontractor
library coming this fall

Contractors' Knowledge Bank promises vast database for ASA

By Luke McFadden
Manager of Communications
ASA National

More options for locating critical business resources will be available to subcontractors in the fall of 2002.

The Contractors' Knowledge Bank, currently being developed by the Foundation of the American Subcontractors Association, is a Web-based digital library providing educational resources on demand. FASA plans to inaugurate the Knowledge Bank in fall 2002 as part of its Contractors' Knowledge Network.

You, your accountant, your legal advisors and even your top salespeople and field employees will be able to benefit from the Contractors' Knowledge Bank. While some subcontractors are reluctant to get on the Web, possibly because they believe "the Internet does not help my business or takes too much time," users of the Contractors' Knowledge Bank will quickly learn how the Internet can benefit them.

Almost as good as money

The Knowledge Bank will be an information service providing 24-hour access to carefully selected documents relevant to your business. FASA and ASA are currently researching, retrieving and digitizing documents so that, by fall, they will be indexed and accessible through the Knowledge Bank on the national ASA Web site.

ASA documents, special reports, white papers, articles from The Subcontractor, presentations from past conferences, news releases and other information that could be useful to subcontractors will be deposited for future retrieval. For example, the Knowledge Bank will include ASA's retainage media kit, which features important documents to assess the level of risk you are agreeing to when you agree to a contract with retainage. Articles about handling complex contract clauses also will be included.

As a "living" database, the Knowledge Bank will constantly expand to meet the needs of subcontractors. As they log on to the Web, they can find answers to questions such as, "Are there new tax rules I should be aware of?" or "Is there any federal legislation that could impact my safety program?"

The Knowledge Bank will be a unique educational vehicle within the construction industry. It will be the only searchable database designed and created specifically for ASA members with information and research that pertains to subcontractors and their businesses.

The most advanced technology from leading companies like Microsoft and Adobe will run the Knowledge Bank, enabling subcontractors to quickly search volumes of documents and download, print and copy documents directly from their desktops.

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