Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware Corp. posted total revenues of $908.2 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 6.3% compared with 2011.

Net income was $10.2 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 49.3% compared with $6.8 million in 2011.

By a 4-1 vote, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on April 25, 2012, approved a new guidance on criminal background checks.

Consolidating and superseding previous EEOC guidance on criminal background checks, the guidance discourages blanket exclusions of individuals who have been convicted of crimes and encourages the use of individualized assessments of whether an employer’s criminal conduct exclusion is job related and consistent with business necessity.

Ahead of its annual shareholders' meeting, Sears Holdings has provided first-quarter guidance calling for net income of $155 million to $195 million (between $1.46 and $1.84 per diluted share from continuing operations) versus a net loss from continuing operations of $165 million ($1.53 loss per diluted share from continuing operations) for the first quarter in 2011. The above range includes approximately $235 million, after tax and minority interest, of gains from the sale of certain U.S. and Canadian stores. These transactions generated $440 million of cash proceeds.

According to the Employment Situation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate moved slightly to 8.1%, compared with 8.2% in March.

Nonfarm payroll employment increased with 115,000 additional jobs. Employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade and health care, but it declined in transportation and warehousing.

San Carlos, Calif.-based Kelly-Moore Paints has introduced its new zero-VOC colorants, which “will maintain excellent interior air quality during application without sacrificing performance,” according to the company.

Kelly-Moore is transitioning from conventional universal colorants to the new zero-VOC colorants; this has been completed in all of the company’s California and Nevada locations. The rest of its stores will be completed by this summer.

On the legality of healthcare reform

“Small businesses need healthcare reform to lower costs. If Obamacare is thrown out, something needs to replace it. Romney needs to address what he would replace it with.

“Responsible small businesses offer health care to their employees. The current system keeps increasing costs at double digits each year. That cannot last.” — Dick Wegner Portland, Ore.

What does ENAP stand for? Either you know it or you don’t. The answer: “Everyone Needs A Profit.” And to Stephen Sallah, president of the New Windsor, N.Y.-based co-op, it’s anything but trivial. “As a co-op, you can’t lose money,” said Sallah, who joined ENAP as CFO in 2008 and rose to the CEO title in September. “Somehow at the end of the day, you have to be able to return something in the black back to the dealers.” ENAP has done that, he said.

Ray Griffith, the CEO of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Ace Hardware, explained during an interview on Fox Business that consumers will continue to spend on their homes.

“We had a real good first quarter, and so far it’s carrying into April,” said Griffith during a segment described by the network as “Banking on do-it-yourself.”  

An American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA) survey of its members showed significant support for Mitt Romney. The survey, part of the AHMA Industry Confidence survey, also found that most members doubt the constitutionality of the Health Care Act.

Spending on private residential construction barely budged in February 2012 compared to the previous month, rising 0.8% to an annual rate of $527.3 billion, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Dept. Nonresidential construction such as hotels, offices, schools and healthcare facilities rose 1.6% to $280.8 billion in February.

Spending on single-family homes in February 2012 declined 1.5% compared to January, but multifamily home construction rose 2.0%.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky,), speaking on the floor of the U.S. Senate on tornado relief efforts last month, singled out several lumberyards and home-improvement retailers for their assistance in the aftermath of last month’s tornados. 

In 1999, Bob Taylor achieved a feat accomplished by no other home improvement executive in the annals of business journalism.

He was compared with “Bonanza” character Adam Cartwright and U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush — in the same article.

We’ll explain later.

First things first: Do it Best Corp. CEO Bob Taylor is to be congratulated for his selection as the 2012 inductee of the Home Channel Hall of Fame.