the lesson of resilience Green retailing and

furs rs rHE rtue of I year when we get to take a step back from the day-to day grind of running the business and reflect on the year that was. Why? To learn, so we can do what's necessary to improve in the coming year and into the future.

The first step is looking at the business metrics, comparing performance against plan, and so forth. Diving into the numbers is necessary, informative, and boring as hell. You've got to do it and in times of certainty and little change, it's sufficient. But that's not the world we live in.

More enlightening is taking the time for deep reflection on strategy. If you're a lone wolf who does best keeping your own counsel, head off by yourself to some place that inspires you. Take the time to consider what you know, and don't know, about the changing world you live and do business in. If you lead a management team, take them on a "visioning" retreat that will afford the space and time to adequately consider the new context within which your business operates. What lessons have you leamed?

This past year-with shifting climatic patterns, extreme weather events, unstable macro and regional economic conditions, and rising energy prices-gave a taste of what's in store in coming years. Against this background, construction activity is trending up, especially green building, so that's a somewhat predictable constant, but being prepared for an uptick in green building isn't the same as being prepared for Hurricane Sandy.

If there's one lesson I've learned from this past year, it's that we need to think hard about how we can build resilience into our communities and businesses, and into the built environment, generally. Resilience is loosely defined as the ability of a system to absorb a disturbance and continue functioning without collapsing-in other words, "bounce-back-ability." This is critically important as we enter a new era of super storms, volatile energy prices, and shifting economic priorities. How can we continue to function even when lights go out for days, supply chains are cut, or fuel prices suddenly skyrocket?

In practical terms, we can begin to outline what this might mean for the home and shelter supply chain, generally, and for individual dealers. More green building products and materials, yes, but what else? Robustness, redundancy, and diversity are three key attributes of resilient systems and are concepts that might inform new product development, categories, and services. Can we retrofit homes to withstand 150-mph winds? Can we build backup energy systems that don't rely on gas or diesel? Can we develop multiple sources of supply for essential goods, multiple sources of income, and multiple sources of finance?

These kinds of questions will undoubtedly gain in importance over the next few years. Obviously, last year was crazy, but we can learn some good lessons from it. More importantly, this industry is already in a good position to begin developing resilience within, as well as helping our customers, stakeholders, and wider communities do the same. What that looks like will differ depending on local conditions. Maybe one day, home centers will include a "resilience department" wedged in between plumbing and electrical. Whatever the future we'll be better prepared thinking deeply about the lessons we learned this past year.

JaY TomPt Managing Partner Wm. Verde & Associates

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Wood Products Attend Inauguration

When President Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 21, he will be standing on a platform made of Douglas fir supplied by Grasmick Lumber, Baltimore, Md., distributed by Sherwood Lumber, Islandia, N.Y., and manufactured by Sierra Pacific Industries' sawmills in Aberdeen and Burlington, Wa.

"SPI is the largest producer of these types of long/wide

Warren Trask Co, relocated its operations and office headquarters Jan. 1 from Stoughton, Ma., to a larger, recently acquired complex in Lakeville, Ma.

Located just south of l-495, the facility has roughly 75,000 sq. ft. of protected storage and office space over 9+ acres.

'The layout and location of the facility will enable us to continue on our current growth path," said v.p. Bernie Nugent.

Jordan Lumber & Supply, Mt. Gitead, N.C., is considering investing $1.5 million and adding 50 jobs to expand to solid wood production at its fencing plant in Biscoe, N.C. Operations could begin as early as this year.

Kleer Lumber, Westfield, Ma., agreed to sell its assets to Tapco parent Headwaters Inc.,-South Jordan, Ut.

Jerith Mfg., enitacetphia, pa., acquired Delgard Premier Alufiinum Fen'cing trom Deiair, Detair,it.J.

Delgard's 300,000-sq. ft. plant will be consolidated into Jerith's 444,000-sq. ft. facility.

Masonite next month is shuttering its door plant in Kirkwood. N.Y.

Wurth Wood Group, Charlotte, N.C., is now distributing Flakeboard particleboard, MDF and TFL products at its 12 branches in the Southeast, boards in the U.S., which explains why the supplier back East continues to make purchases of our Washington lumber-quality counts," said Sheri Nelson, SPI spokesperson. Sherwood is one of SPI's largest distributors.

PPG Induslries,Pittsburgh, Pa., agreed to pay $1.05 billion for AkzoNobel's Nortfr American architectural coatings business.

The deal includes its North American architectural coatings production and distribution facilities, paint stores, and product lines, including Glidden, Flood, Liquid Nails, SICO, and ClL.

Weyerhaeuser has added Versatex products at its DCs in Minneapolis, Mn., and Chicago, ll.

In addition, Weyco's DCs in Baltimore, Md.; Pittsburgh, and Easton, Pa., have added Tlmxo decking and railings, extending its Tnuxo dishibution to 21 of its 22 markets.

Guaranteed Supply Co. is now distributing Sto E|FS and stucco products at its 12 branches in the Carolinas and Norfolk. Va.

Horizon Forest Products added a 2s,000-sq. ft. branch in Charlotte, N.C. (J.D. Ziegelhofer, mgr.).

NyloBoard, Covington, Ga., received Code Compliance Research Report 0183 from Architectural Testing Inc. for its NyloDeck products.

Boral Composites, Roswell, Ga., won LEED silver certification for its Boral TruExterior Trim olant in East Spencer, N.C., which was completed in2011.

This is the fourth consecutive presidential inauguration in which the platform was built using Sierra Pacific lumber. About 200,000 bd. ft. was used, enough to build about 13 average-size homes. Much of it was 2x4s, but wider 2xl2 and 2xl6 planks-up to 26 ft. long-were also used. On the big day, the more than 10,000-sq. ft. platform will hold more than 1,600 guests.

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