BPD 3-16

BPD

MARCH 2016

Building Products Digest

INDUSTRY NEWS & MONEY-MAKING STRATEGIES FOR LUMBER & BUILDING MATERIAL DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS

REGIONAL WOODS: EASTERN PINE ≈ SPF ≈ CEDAR ≈ REDWOOD • FASTENER UPDATE

BPD

March 2016

 Volume 35  Number 1

Building Products Digest

BPD

Building Products Digest www.building-products.com

A publication of 526 Media Group, Inc.

151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

President/Publisher Patrick Adams padams@building-products.com Vice President Shelly Smith Adams sadams@building-products.com Publishers Emeritus Alan Oakes David Cutler Managing Editor David Koenig david@building-products.com Editor Stephanie Ornelas sornelas@building-products.com Contributing Editors Carla Waldemar, James Olsen Director of Sales Chuck Casey chuck@building-products.com

Special Features 8 FEATURE STORY

NEW DEALER OUTREACH PROGRAM FOR NORTHEASTERN SOFTWOODS

In Every Issue

Circulation Manager Heather Kelly hkelly@building-products.com

6 ACROSS THE BOARD

How to Advertise

18 OLSEN ON SALES

10 INDUSTRY TRENDS

20 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

THE CHANGING FACE OF FASTENERS

22 EVANGELIST MARKETING

12 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

32 APP WATCH

SUSTAINABLE DESIGNS: REDWOOD MEETS CALIFORNIA-GROWN INSPIRATION

32 TALK BACK

16 INDUSTRY TRENDS

34 MOVERS & SHAKERS

HOW KNOTTY GOT ITS GROOVE BACK

18 MARGIN BUILDERS

36 ASSOCIATION UPDATE

MOBILE TOOL KIT HELPS DEALERS MARKET WESTERN RED CEDAR

36 IN MEMORIAM

28 NAWLA–THINKING AHEAD

38 NEW PRODUCTS

BRAND IS THE NEW PRODUCT— HOW TO FORTIFY YOUR MARKETING

52 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

42 PHOTO RECAP: BMSA SHOW 46 EVENT RECAP: NRLA EXPO 50 EVENT RECAP: NAWLA IN NE

53 DATE BOOK 54 FLASHBACK 54 ADVERTISERS INDEX

NORTHEAST REGIONAL MEETING

Online BREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS, EVENT PHOTOS, & VIDEO

BPD DIGITAL VERSION

THIS MONTH’S EDITION AS WELL BACK ISSUES OF BPD CAN BE VIEWED DIGITALLY AT BUILDING-PRODUCTS.COM

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AS

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PRINT or ONLINE Chuck Casey Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 chuck@building-products.com Patrick Adams Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 padams@building-products.com CLASSIFIED – David Koenig Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 david@building-products.com

How to Subscribe

SUBSCRIPTIONS Heather Kelly Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 hkelly@building-products.com or send a check to 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 U.S.A.: One year (12 issues), $24 Two years, $39 Three years, $54 SINGLE COPIES $4 + shipping BACK ISSUES $5 + shipping FOREIGN (Contact hkelly@building-products.com for surface and air rates, including to Canada)

BUILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is published monthly at 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 486-2735, Fax 714-486-2745, www.building-products.com, by 526 Media Group, Inc. (a California Corporation). It is an independently owned publication for building products retailers and wholesale distributors in 37 states East of the Rockies. Copyright®2016 by 526 Media Group, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully protected and must not be reproduced in any manner without written permission. All Rights Reserved. BPD reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter, and assumes no liability for materials furnished to it.

ACROSS the Board

By Patrick Adams

Simple, but not easy

M

I are at that amazing stage of parenting when EVERYTHING seems fun and exciting to our 5-year-old daughter. Want to try soccer? YES! How about music lessons? ABSOLUTELY! This enthusiasm lasts until about five minutes into the first session when she realizes that being great at these things takes work.

This brings us to a recent sunny morning where I let her ride with me for a few holes of golf. After explaining the rules, she replied, “That’s easy!” Just hit the little white ball into the hole… easy! I hit and missed the green on this par 3. Her reply? “Daddy, it’s so easy… you’re not very good at golf!” True perhaps, but that’s not really the point.

I helped her get onto the green with her ball, but from there, it was a series of so many putts that she eventually picked up her ball and dropped it into the cup. She stood there and stared at the ball in the cup for a bit as I walked up to her and asked, “What do you think of golf?” Her reply: “It’s not easy.”

Call me crazy, but it’s important to me that my daughter and those I care about have full lives where they are passionate about things. I’ve found that the things I’m most passionate about and fulfilled by are not easy. We sat down on the green by the cup (I have an even longer story about how this was possible) and I asked her, “Do you know the difference between easy and simple?” She thought about this a long time and replied, “They seem kind of the same, but they’re not.”

Y WIFE AND

Most things in life are simple. Go to work and get a paycheck. Meet someone, get married, and live happily ever after. Meet a customer, get the order, and do business until you both retire. Hit a little white ball into a hole. All very simple concepts… that are not easy to execute successfully. In fact, I would argue that the most meaningful things in life are the simplest concepts but are the farthest from easy and if they were easy, they wouldn’t mean so much to us. Why does our wedding anniversary mean so much? Why do I feel so proud when a customer continues to do business with us? Why do I have the weeklong celebration already planned out for the day that I ever hit a hole in one?

Because it is an event that celebrates a simple concept that was not easy to achieve.

As my daughter and I sat on the green and pondered simple versus easy, I explained to her that Daddy’s life hasn’t been easy, having her wasn’t easy, and providing for and protecting our family, friends and employees is not easy. But I told her that is the exact reason why Daddy is so happy. She thought about that for a long while and finally responded: “Remember when we went for that long hike up the mountain with Mommy?” “Of course I do,” I replied. “That’s simple… we were just walking,” she said. “But that wasn’t easy… it was REALLY HARD!” I asked her how she felt when she got to the top. “I felt like a big girl… it made me happy!”

Ah, parenting… so simple! My golf game on the other hand….

I’m grateful for all of the simple things in life, which are not easy but give me the greatest rewards. What all of us do in this industry is a simple concept, but rarely is easy. I think this is the greatest lesson we can teach the next generation—that just because it is a simple concept and that some of us make it look easy, this comes from a lifetime of hard work!

“Success is simple. Do what’s right, the right way, at the right time.” ~ Arnold H. Glasow

Patrick S. Adams Publisher/President padams@building-products.com

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Building-Products.com

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FEATURE Story Eastern White Pine

Taking it to the streets

NELMA launches outreach program for Northeast retailers A T A NORTHEASTERN Lumber Manufacturers Association marketing committee meeting in late 2015, discussions turned to what could be done to better reach the key audiences of retailers and dealers. The end result: NELMA launched a Retailer Outreach Program (ROP) in 2016, with the sole purpose of creating a consistent information channel between the association and lumber retailers.

“Our goal is to provide retailers with the latest information on northeastern softwood lumber products,” said Jeff Easterling, president of NELMA. “We plan to communicate

the information in such a way that it can be used down the line for sales staff training and even further dissemination to their builder/contractor customers.”

Traditional retail programs target one or two top brass within each company; the N E LMA program is designed to go deeper, reaching the people at the counter who actually sell the wood. By passing along key sales points and product information, as well as links and marketing tools to provide even more enhanced learning, the result will be a level of wood product knowledge not seen in the wood

A WIDE VARIETY of NELMA educational and marketing tools are available to retailers, and will be promoted and shared via the association’s new Retailer Outreach Program.

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association industry in decades.

“As the lumber grading agency for Northeastern softwoods, which includes eastern white pine and Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPFs) products, we want to build a partnership with these key individuals and be their go-to source for information,” continued Easterling.

The primary information vehicle will be an easy-to-read e-newsletter, featuring topic-specific, and to-thepoint, useful educational info bites.

The opt-in list of retailer recipients (already years in the making via the N E LMA.org website) will receive information from N E LMA approximately every three weeks.

Relevant content will encompass items such as the following: • Lumber grading information and updates on eastern white pine and SPFs products • Siding installation and finishing “Best Practices” for builders; • Profiles and patterns of eastern white pine for interior applications and exterior siding use • Topical/trendy information, such as regional housing start trends, and lumber shipment numbers and trends for eastern white pine and SPFs • Links to online marketing tool resources like N E LMA’s board feet calculator • Useful technical information and span charts for SPFs • Links to each edition of Skip & Wane, the lumber industry’s first comic strip • NELMA Grader Academy online Building-Products.com

access and updated information on new levels, how to start an in-house tournament, etc.

• Links to N E LMA educational videos • End-use photography and online “Virtual Home Tours” demonstrating the uses and beauty of eastern white pine products in homes.

Each newsletter will feature an interactive element, AskN E LMA, where retailers can email their questions or questions from their customers direct to N E LMA for assistance. Answers to these questions will also be included in following newsletters to assist other retailers that may encounter the same inquiry.

“This is a conversation; we’re building a stronger relationship with this important lumber retailer audience,” noted Easterling. “We need to let them know how we can help and what we can provide to help them everyday on the job. We’re looking forward to opening that door even wider with the AskNELMA section of the e-newsletter.”

To continue the educational conversation, retailers will be strongly encouraged to share the N E LMA information via their own informational, customer-directed outlets, be they newsletters, flyers, or social media posts. Incentives will urge this process along, with retailer contact names entered into regular drawings for highend prizes for each proven use of NELMA information down their communication chain.

Registration and opt-in for the NELMA Retailer Outreach Program is completely free for retailers and dealers. All submitted information will be kept confidential and not sold or given to anyone at any time.

“We’re in this Retailer Outreach Program for the long haul,” concluded Easterling. “This is not a short-term effort. We have so much information to share, and we’re looking forward to launching new relationships and starting a long-lasting, mutually beneficial conversation with the retailer side of the house.”

To opt-in and be part of the first phases of the N E LMA Retailer Outreach Program, please email your company name and the contact information for all company representatives wanting to receive information to info@nelma.org.

For any questions, call N E LMA toll-free at (800) 819-6040.

Building-Products.com

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INDUSTRY Trends

By Clark Allen, Simpson Strong-Tie

The changing face of fasteners

T

ODAY’S NEW

fasteners address specific application and installation needs, providing contractors with more opportunity than ever to use a product that’s specially designed for their job.

Auto-Feed screw driving systems increase productivity and reduce fatigue. Drywall, subflooring, wood, composite or metal decking, metal roofing and siding can be challenging to install precisely and quickly. Newer auto-feed screw driving systems, however, offer installers several great advantages to make installing these types of materials easier. These new systems are rapidly becoming the tools of choice, replacing traditional handdriven screws and cumbersome pneumatic nailers.

Auto-feed screw driving systems provide speed, reliability and power.

They also allow installers to stand up while driving fasteners. This helps reduce worker fatigue, is easier on backs and knees, and saves time. In addition, these systems eliminate the need to handle individual screws, allowing installers to work faster (there are no dropped screws that can scratch panels) and reduce costs.

A major advantage of screws is that they draw materials together tightly.

This is especially helpful with subfloors because screws reduce the chance of squeaks—a common frustration for homeowners. No squeaks mean less headaches for contractors from callbacks and cost overruns.

Auto-feed screw driving systems are easy to use, durable and designed for a wide variety of fastening applications, including agricultural postframe buildings and new and replacement residential roofing projects.

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ACHIEVING the same cost savings in coastal regions where building codes require the use of structural pilings, is one area that’s harder. This floor-to-floor screw is designed to simplify the wind-uplift restraint connection while providing superior performance over the life of the structure. (Photo of Strong-Drive SDWF courtesy Simpson Strong-Tie)

Fastener strips allow hands-free screw advancement and virtually eliminate fastener waste, making them ideal for metal roofing and siding.

Fasteners for continuous load path connections. Tried-and-true metal connectors, fasteners and anchors have traditionally been used as a system to connect the roof, floors and foundation together. However, new structural fasteners designed for wind-uplift restraint provide easier, cost-effective alternatives for builders.

When used together as a system with anchor bolts at the foundation, these truss and floor-to-floor screws provide a reliable, safe and economical solution for creating a continuous load path and resisting wind uplift.

March 2016

Fasteners for harsh environments. While newer fasteners save time and money in many types of construction, one area that has been harder to achieve the same cost savings is in coastal regions where building codes require the use of structural pilings. These newer code changes were adopted by coastal communities after the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and have increased the number of bolted connections required for building structural piles.

For decades, bolts have been used for pile construction to ensure a structurally sound connection. However, these types of bolted connections are not easy to install in the field. And the more difficult the connection is to make, the more costly it becomes, along with increasing the risk that it won’t be installed correctly.

Many pile connections have beams on each side of the pile. This means installers have to make sure the predrilled hole for the bolt is properly aligned through the pile and beams.

This process is time consuming and takes considerable strength and skill to perform properly and safely, particularly when on a lift or suspended 15 feet off the ground.

Given the large size of these piles, which can be 12-14” thick, the installer also has to add the washer and tighten the bolt while blind to the back of the assembly. It can take several minutes per fastener to get the job done right. A safer solution would be a screw specifically designed for the severe corrosive environments found in heavy-duty marine and coastal applications.

Without having to predrill, aligning (Continued on page 30) Building-Products.com

PRODUCT Spotlight

By Charlie Jourdain, California Redwood Association

Redwood meets California-grown inspiration I

DON’T HAVE to tell you that California has a reputation for leading the nation in mandating some of the most rigorous energy standards. From transportation to water consumption, energy use to waste generation, the prevailing wisdom is “do more with less.”

The recent adoption of rules that require all new residential construction to be net-zero by the year 2020 and all new commercial construction to be net-zero by the year 2030 underscores the value assigned to that axiom. It also opens new opportunities for us in the building products industry to lead by example and to encourage further innovation.

Last year, the California Redwood Association and its member companies supplied redwood to the California Polytechnic design team entering the Solar Decathlon competition. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, this competition challenges collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered homes that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.

The Cal Poly team’s 2015 design, INhouse, emphasized an efficient, performance-based design, providing a quality, cost conscious home made predominantly of locally

CAL POLY’S entry in the recent Solar Decathlon, INhouse, emphasized efficient design and locally sourced materials.

(Photos courtesy CRA)

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SOLAR-POWERED design home heavily relied on redwood and other locally sourced materials.

sourced materials. Redwood helped the team accomplish a number of project goals: • Use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products where possible: All California redwood grown for lumber is certified according to FSC standards.

• Locally source building materials: the project site was located a short travel distance from the lumberyard, making redwood an even more natural material choice for this California home.

• Incorporate passive elements to reduce the active cooling load while providing a comfortable living environment: One of the primary shading strategies used a redwood screen, patterned as a solar thermal map of the house to maximize the efficiency of the shade screen. The end result reduced cooling loads by almost 5%.

• Merge design aesthetics with naturally long-lasting materials: the tannins in redwood help keep the wood dry, fire-resistant, and resist decay.

Solar Cal Poly team member Jin Lee explained, “With redwood, intelligent design choices can merge with the aesthetic and practical desires of a space, and manifest it within a single material. Oiled or natural, living or lumber, the redwood will continue its legacy of grandness, and put us another step closer to a sustainable standard.”

For CRA’s redwood members, supporting this team was a sound business decision. According to Architecture Building-Products.com

A Century of Redwood The California Redwood Association is celebrating its centennial in 2016. This century mark is notable for how CRA has shifted perceptions of this remarkable tree and helped secure an evergreen future for its lumber products.

Now one of the oldest trade associations in the forest products industry, CRA first began as a collaborative effort to promote redwood products during the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition. Today, it helps promote the benefits of redwood lumber while also protecting the unique characteristics of the land best suited to grow lumber that would meet the association’s highest quality standards.

From the start, CRA has helped define the unparalleled qualities naturally inherent to redwood not found in any other softwood species. From early findings that showed how redwood’s inherent grain and fiber strength made it more resistant to warping and cupping as well as decay-resistant to more recently proving the carbonneutral qualities of a redwood deck’s lifecycle, CRA and its members continue to share facts that prove what redwood growers have known all along: the strength and beauty of redwood can’t be found anywhere else on earth.

From the beginning redwood’s renowned fire resistance has been proven in real life testimonials as well as tested and proven in the laboratory. Continued testing by CRA has resulted in the ability of redwood decking and siding to be accepted for use naturally throughout California’s wildland urban interface fire zones.

CRA also has steadfastly supported California forestry regulations that have set high standards for sustainability and resource conservation; these laws are considered the most stringent in the world. In fact, a study by CalPoly– San Luis Obispo found that California’s forestry regulations proved that point.

Today, all CRA members’ product-producing redwood forests are FSC certified, positioning them to grow and harvest lumber that will be affordable and abundant for the next 100 years.

Building-Products.com

2030’s report, “The Roadmap to Zero Emissions,” approximately 60% of the built environment will be built and rebuilt around the world in the next two decades. The kind of inspiration that will help drive that building and rebuilding comes from competitions just like Solar Decathlon.

Creating the next-generation building innovation doesn’t require brand

new building materials. One of the reasons products like redwood continue to be used is because of their naturally long-lasting and sustainable qualities. The sustainable future is a bright one for redwood.

– Charlie Jourdain is president of the California Redwood Association. Reach him at charlie@calredwood.org or (888) CAL-REDWOOD.

REDWOOD for INhouse was supplied by the California Redwood Association and its members.

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INDUSTRY Trends

By Western Red Cedar Lumber Association

How knotty got its groove back

W

HAT DO YOU do when you have an abundance of sustainably harvested, quality product that some mistakenly consider second-rate?

Make like Real Cedar and reposition your product as a first-rate option in a surging revival movement.

For decades, building materials with naturally occurring character marks were generally frowned upon in the world of modern design.

Everything had to be streamlined and flawless. Not anymore. There’s been a huge return to authentic aesthetics and the embracement of natural materials.

As such, architects want wood that looks like… well, wood! This is where

the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association comes in.

The non-profit organization represents 27 reputable producers of Real Cedar products, and instantly recognized this organic shift as an opportunity. Since then, WRCLA has been putting their Select Knotty Real Cedar at the forefront of its marketing initiatives. Suffice to say, it’s paid off.

Select Knotty is now the go-to choice for architects looking to juxtapose their clean, sharp lines with a warm, textured building material.

“Well, we’ve always known our Select Knotty is a beautiful product,” explains WRCLA managing director,

SELECT KNOTTY western red cedar is the start of this Aptos Retreat by Cass Calder Smith.

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Jack Draper. “So the challenge was convincing architects, because lets face it—they only ever chose knotty grades for one of two reasons: Either they wanted a more cost-effective product or they wanted to create a ‘rustic’ look. It’s only the last few years that architects and builders have started specifying knotty for its contemporary appeal.”

A great example of this growing trend is the Tree House by Matt Fajkus Architecture. There was a time when a funky white residential project like this would have featured almost all man-made materials and then maybe some pristinely clear cedar

(Photo by Paul Dyer) Building-Products.com

LUXURIOUS PROJECT by Sandrin Leung Design incorporates knotty into its contemporary design.

trim. But as Fajkus explains in a recent Real Cedar blog post, the prominently featured knotty cedar was key to creating a crisp and truly contemporary façade.

“The knots in this case added a desired texture and contrast to the clean and minimal massing of the white stucco on the house,” he says.

“In terms of composition, the wood provides a warmth and richness that complements the concrete floors, stucco volumes, and clean-lined geometry of the overall massing of the home.”

In addition to siding applications,

we’re seeing a lot more knotty cedar in modern landscaping projects.

Naturally, one of the main reasons is that knotty grades of western red cedar boast the same top performing, weather resistant properties as clear grades, only at a significantly lower coast. But there’s more to it than that.

Now more than ever, homeowners are starting to truly appreciate the visual impact of naturally occurring character marks on their decking, fencing and pergolas. And that’s no accident. WRCLA has worked especially hard at showcasing the unmis-

Redwood • Western Red Cedar

(Photo by Ana Sandrin)

takable beauty and versatility of Select Knotty in outdoor living spaces.

So other than savings and visual impact, what are these ‘knotty converts’ getting when then choose this particular grade of western red cedar?

“Like all Real Cedar customers, they’re getting an eco friendly product that’s naturally resistant to rot, decay and insects,” says Draper. “They’re also getting a product that’s low maintenance, long lasting and accepts and holds a wide range of finishes. But most of all, they’re just getting a really beautiful product.”

Alaskan Yellow • Port Orford • Incense Cedar

Siding • Pattern Stock • Specialties • Prestain & Prime • Decking • Timbers

Clear Incense Cedar, WRC, Redwood, DF & Pine Clears

Whether you want a truckload, carload, container or special order, we are here to meet your needs.

Family owned and operated for three generations and counting.

Molders, Re-Saws, Planers on site for Milling

RFP Lumber Co., Inc. Give us a call at 530-538-4400 and let’s talk lumber

4801 Feather River Blvd., #29A, Oroville, CA 95965 • www.RFPLumber.com

Building-Products.com

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MARGIN Builders WRCLA’s DIY on the Fly App

The Real Cedar mobile toolkit

C

desk looking up best practices. That’s probably the last thing most builders want to be doing.

But the reality is projects don’t always go according to plan. Whether it’s a client wanting to change a major design component after a project’s underway or the weather not cooperating, builders need the flexibility to adapt quickly without jeopardizing the quality of their work or their deadline.

And that’s exactly what the Real Cedar Mobile Toolkit offers them.

Developed by the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, this digital howto handbook is designed for builders on the go. Hardware stores, lumberyards, job sites, toolsheds, workshops—wherever their projects take them, the Real Cedar app is there to provide fast facts on planning, specifying, installing, finishing and more.

Bonus: It’s free, easy to use, and availHAINED TO A

able on iTunes and Google Play.

It’s not just for builders either. It’s also an excellent tool for retailers. For example, if a customer comes in to a building supply store with a quick decking span question, staffers equipped with the Real Cedar app can look that info up in a matter of seconds. In turn, this high-tech resource is another way for lumber distributors to indirectly ensure customer satisfaction—i.e., they can rest assured end users are getting the right product for their projects.

Plus, from a marketing perspective, WRCLA’s new “DIY on the Fly” app just makes sense given the rapid growth of mobile use. According to a recent report, 41% of RealCedar.com traffic comes from smartphone and tablets, which is up 35% from the previous year.

But is this “pocket pro” a good fit

BUILDERS and dealers now have a handy app that provides fast facts on planning, specifying, installing and finishing their western red cedar projects.

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for the lumber industry? Short answer: yes. WRCLA made sure of it. Before going to market, Real Cedar reps took the app out for an extended test drive.

The feedback was very positive.

“The response was great right from the get-go,” says Paul Mackie (a.k.a.

Mr. Cedar). “I knew we had a winner the first time I was on site with an architect who needed to recalculate his siding coverage. Building was set to begin later that week, so time and money were of the essence. And we were able to figure it out right away at the touch of a finger.”

Another way the Real Cedar app benefits WRCLA members is the geolocator showing the Real Cedar retailers closest to a builder’s current location. “Yes, it always helps when people know where to buy your product,” says Mackie with a laugh, before adding, “Seriously though, a lot of builders already know that western red cedar is sustainably harvested in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho, but what some don’t realize is that Real Cedar products are carried in building supply stores throughout North America. So what this app does is connect those customers with our products a whole lot faster.”

Building-Products.com

OLSEN On Sales

By James Olsen

Warm vs. pleasant

O

is pleasant. Our favorite grandma is warm. Our mailman is pleasant. Our pastor, priest or rabbi is warm. Who are we closer to? Who do we trust more?

What do we need as sellers to be successful? A competitive advantage. Sellers who struggle overestimate the importance of competence vs. confidence and caring.

Competence is not a competitive advantage! We are not competing against the incompetent! Product and market knowledge are overrated. Without warmth they mean little to our customers. Competence is just the sit-down money.

It does not guarantee success.

Pleasant: friendly, agreeable, amiable, nice, genial, cordial, likable, amicable, good-humored, good-natured, personable; hospitable, approachable, gracious, courteous, polite, obliging, helpful, considerate; charming, lovely, delightful, sweet, sympathetic, simpatico.

Warm: friendly, cordial, amiable, genial, kind, fond; welcoming, hospitable, benevolent, benign, charitable; sincere, genuine, wholehearted, heartfelt, enthusiastic, hearty.

Many sellers confuse being pleasant with being warm, and their results suffer for it. Our customers are looking for three things: Competence: Do we know what we are doing? Do we do what we say we will and do we do it on time?

Confidence: Do WE believe what we’re saying? Confidence inspires. Confidence is contagious. Confidence sells.

Caring: Humans, our customers, like and need to feel cared about. They will ask us to help them breathe before they ask us to care for them—meaning we must give them something they never ask us for but need and want: warmth.

UR FAVORITE WAITRESS

How Do I Warm Up

Our Greeting. Warmth and rapport happen (or don’t) in the first 14 seconds of our interaction with others. Don’t mail in the initial “How are you?” with anyone at our target account. Many sellers, while not out and out rude to the receptionist, treat them like furniture—pleasant—but they don’t treat them like an important human. Huge mistake.

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Receptionists are allies or blockers; it’s up to us.

We identify ourselves (in our warmest voice): “Good morning, this is Jamey Smith from Big Bad Lumber Co., out of Osh Kosh, Wi. They tell me you do the lumber buying, is that correct?”

So many sellers don’t identify themselves, their company, or where they are calling from. This leaves the customer wondering about this information until we give it.

Even if they continue speaking with us, it’s nagging in the back of their mind: who is this and where are they from?

The weather. I first learned this reading Larry King’s book How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. I thought it was a little too obvious, people wouldn’t engage. I was wrong. Asking about the weather is magical. “So how’s the weather in Austin this morning?” Even the grumpiest curmudgeon will warm up taking about the weather. We have been talking about the weather since our beginnings; it’s in our DNA. Weather, even more than sports, is something we can talk about with little chance of conflict.

What do you do for fun? People like to talk about themselves. Business talk is important. Talking about what our customers do for fun is important also.

Why Aren t We Warmer

Many of us are guarded in our “regular, non-selling” life. Why are we guarded? Some of us are naturally reserved. Some of us have had bad experiences causing us to be distrustful and protective of our feelings. Some of us are very attractive (whew—missed me). Attractive people are guarded because (in real life) any friendliness can be over-interpreted and acted on, so these people hold back a little. Some of us were raised to be tough and silent.

Whatever our reason(s) for being guarded, we must lose them. We are warm and open with our customers. This is an active pursuit. Not being unpleasant is not the same as being warm. Does a tepid shower feel better than a hot shower? Of course not.

And a tepid sales call doesn’t feel better than a warm one either!

We are all selling in hyper-competitive markets. We need an edge. We need look no further than our hearts.

When we open them up to others, they cannot help but open theirs to us. If we want to ultimate competitive advantage in sales, we only need to warm up.

James Olsen Reality Sales Training (503) 544-3572 james@realitysalestraining.com Building-Products.com

COMPETITIVE Intelligence

By Carla Waldemar

Success times two

I

T ’ S D ECEMBER , the lumberyard’s proverbial slow season, which created a problem for Walter Dreyer.

“Sorry,” he apologized for needing to reschedule a phone conversation; he’s extra-busy.

Nice problem. Not a new one, however. It’s been busy at Dreyer’s Lumber & Hardware in Chatham, N.J., ever since he bought the business 23 years ago.

For decades Walter had been working the wholesale lumber side and, as a favor to one of his customers going out of business, spread the word among the other yards he called on

that the man’s Chatham operation was for sale. But all he heard from them was, “Nothing happening there. No inventory. Not a good idea.”

Sharing the story around the dinner table one night with his two post-college sons, the boys had a suggestion to offer: “Why don’t we buy it?” “So,” says a blindsided Walter, “we talked; we put a deal together—and here we are, 23 years later.”

Sure, he knew dimensional lumber, plywood, what have you—but little about the nuts and bolts of running a retail operation. Feet to the fire: What to do? “As a wholesaler,” he explains,

ONLINE MOULDING, millwork and building materials catalog is at the heart of Dreyer’s Lumber’s new website.

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“I had developed a lot of good friends among my customers. So I called them and asked questions: ‘Should I buy this product?’ ‘What’s the answer to….?’ And that’s what’s unique about this industry,” he declares.

“Operations help each other. You’re competitors, but also friends. Plus, “he notes, “whatever town you’re in— unlike many other businesses—the local lumberyard is always a community fixture. People count on it.

“I knew the basic products to stock,” he continues—“framing lumber, pine, cedar siding. So, start with the basics. I added hardware, became a True Value dealer, and [later] added 15,000 square feet of store and showroom, so that created a lot of opportunity and reasons for homeowners to come in. Women,” he knows, “are the decision-makers when it comes to where to spend the money, so having a showroom offering displays became a big asset—not only for us, but for our contractor customers, who could bring their clients in and hand them over.

There are not a lot of places showing folks four or five window lines, and it’s hard for folks to make a decision just by looking at catalogues.”

Yet Dreyer’s has enthusiastically— make that, realistically—entered the 21st century with a state-of-the-art website that includes a vast online moulding, millwork and building materials catalog. Clearly Walter has been paying attention to the digital age. “It’s so different from generations back—today, two people working, less time to shop, so they use the Internet.” (Check out www.dreyerslumber.com, as customers do, for everything from ordering info to howto videos.) The company’s phone-hold message also doubles as a savvy marBuilding-Products.com

keting tool.

But that is Now. Back to Then: “When I bought the business, there was little-to-nothing in the way of materials.

Instead of its pine #2, we now stock prime and AZEK, along with I-beams, the basics of lumber. We kept adding on— plumbing, electrical, fancy hardware. It’s become one-stop shopping.”

Sales climbed. And they shot up again, with the addition in 2003 of the new showroom—not exactly a walk in the park to accomplish. “We used four trailers sandwiched together—2,000 sq. ft.—for 13 months during construction.

We thought we’d lose 15% of our business by this, but”— surprise—“instead we increased it 15%! We’d gone back and forth over when is the best time to build—when it’s busy or when it’s slow. The answer is,” he’s discovered, “there’s no right time, so just do it.”

Dreyer’s added a couple of kitchen designers to man (woman?) the new showroom, bringing the building’s total to 28 on staff. That’s a lot of people to train, Walter, so… any thoughts on that?

You bet. “One of the biggest issues in the industry today is finding young people who want to work in the lumber business,” he reports a fact you readers know all too well.

How to go about it? “You have to pay them a living wage, starting out. And, send them to classes—those offered by window companies, hardware companies, etc. The more educated the folks at the counter are, the better help you can give your customers—and that’s vital today, because those customers have so many more choices, including the Internet. Have somebody there to explain the different hardware finishes, for instance.”

Women—those family spenders he’s astutely courting— love the new addition. No more messy site. “They come in with white pants and don’t get dirty. It’s friendly, well-lit.

Items facing the right way on the shelf (“How hard is that?”)—his big complaint when shopping elsewhere. The staff is trained to offer help—not just point, but walk folks over, then show them multiple choices and explain the differences. “That’s what’s called ‘service.’” Walter notes, with a touch of irony. “And people appreciate it more today, when they’re not getting as much elsewhere, or when they buy online. But when it comes to the home, it’s tough to buy online. People want to see it, and to understand it—for instance in windows, a true divided light vs. a simulated one. And our contractors love bringing their own customers here.”

That’ll help keep you ahead of the competition. And there’s plenty of it near Chatham—“nine other retail locations in a 10-mile circle, including the big boxes.” Dreyer’s keeps a step (or three) ahead by tending to its clientele.

“That’s number one. Retail yards can offer much better serBuilding-Products.com

vice than the boxes because we know what we’re talking about; you’re not dealing with a part-timer who works four hours. Here you get your questions answered, and by the same people this week as will be working next week—not like the stores on the highway.”

To retain his contractor business (80% of Dreyer’s transactions), again the answer is service: “A pro will call in the morning, not with ‘I need…’ but ‘How soon?’ They’re not planning ahead. So we turn it around. We’ve got the people and equipment—14 trucks—to deliver. We do require a $300 minimum purchase, because, when you figure it out, it probably costs us $100 to make the delivery, in employee time, gas, the loading and unloading and heading back again.”

Another smart solution: a second store. Rather than requiring a 55-mile drive for customers, or Dreyer’s trucks, in 2014 Walter opened a second store in Oakhurst, N.J. Same old story: a location in business for 88 years was selling out as its current owner, age 83, opted for well-earned retirement. “A supplier called to let me know, so I decided to take a look.”

Another dog, turns out. “He hadn’t done much in the last seven, eight years.” But what the heck? When others saw a dump, Walter envisioned a location. As in “location, location, location.”

“It was closer to the Jersey shore, so badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. There’d be business from that storm for us for the next 15 years. Two years afterward, people were just getting started, because of delays in insurance payments or decision-making, whatever. So we bought the store, cleaned it up, threw most of the product in the Dumpster. Then we stocked it with products similar to the Chatham store. Yet, there are some differences. The new store sold more LSL studs in one year than we had in the past 20 years in Chatham, for instance.”

Both communities are affluent and growing, Walter discloses—lots of new construction as well as additions. “The Chatham location is on a direct line to Manhattan, close to Wall Street, so there are lots of knock-downs being rebuilt (which is becoming key in New Jersey) to connect to Midtown. So, no, we didn’t feel the recession here,” he says.

But he watched how other yards reacted. “They were cutting down on inventory so dramatically—a big mistake,” he figures. “Customers would come in here and ask, ‘Do you have…?’ and were shocked when we actually said ‘yes.’ But,” he laughs, “that’s our business! You can’t do business from an empty wagon!” As an aside, Walter notes that back in the 1950s, the state boasted 650 yards. Today, 113.

What about the future? “The tragedy today is, so many yards today are going out of business, with no family members to take over.

One of the biggest problems,” he says, “is that the cost of the land a yard is on is so great that no one can afford to buy it.” But he’s not concerned. “I enjoy working here; I always have. And my sons are capable of running the business if I’m not there, so I don’t have to worry.”

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net March 2016

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EVANGELIST Marketing

By Alex Goldfayn

The promise of perseverance “M

ANY OF LIFE’S failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison said that. And he’s a man who knew a thing or two about failure.

This is one of my favorite quotes in the world. Because all of us can think of times in our lives when we’d had enough, when we were ready to quit, but we didn’t. We tried again. Just one more time. And it was enough. As Edison said, that one extra effort is often the difference between success and failure.

Recently, my new book, The Revenue Growth Habit, was selected as the Sales Book of the Year for 2015 by the business retailer 800-CEO-Read. Also, Forbes selected it as one of the top business books of the year. This makes me particularly happy because the publishing industry rejected my book more than 50 times, over years, before I found it a home with the excellent publisher John Wiley & Sons.

In fact, Wiley itself rejected my book twice before it finally bought it. Even the editor who eventually bought it had said no before I called him again, against my own agent’s advice, and sold him the book.

Here’s the thing for those of us working on revenue growth: No never really means no. It simply means not at this moment. So we must give people another moment to say yes. If the buyer isn’t buying, don’t quit on him. Try again. Then again. And again. The beauty of our work is that we only really need one yes! The number of rejections don’t matter, because we only need one yes. In fact, one of the revenue growth techniques I’ve been teaching a lot lately focuses on going back to everyone who told you no in the last year, and restarting the conversation. “Listen, Tom, I know we tried to connect on this last year, but here we are in 2016—should we revisit that conversation?”

Another powerful revenue growth technique is to follow up on quotes and proposals. The customer asked you to write up a quote. You dropped what you were doing and did it. The customer doesn’t respond. (Silence!) I teach a simple three-email follow-up technique that closes 20% of these quotes and proposals that you don’t hear back about.

What are we talking about here? We’re systematizing and formalizing perseverance.

Last April I was speaking at a convention and one of the other speakers was the legendary psychologist and author, Martin Seligman. During his speech, he said something I will always remember: His research has found that perseverance and resilience are twice as important to success as talent is. That is, perseverance and resilience are two-thirds of the equation to success, and talent is just one-third.

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Think about the power of this.

Last year, we moved homes. In the backyard of the old house were two maple trees my wife and I planted when my children were born. These were important trees to us, deeply meaningful, and we wanted to bring them with us to the new house.

Turns out, when you’re moving established trees, you can’t just have people dig it up with shovels. You need what they call a hydraulic tree spade to do the work. This is a huge piece of machinery, mounted on a flatbed truck the size and weight of a cement mixer. In the Chicago area, where we live, there are maybe a dozen of these companies.

I called them all. They all told me no. They didn’t want to do a little backyard project. They do golf courses, parking lots, and office complexes. One guy agreed, but emailed me the night before the work was to be done to cancel.

The closing on the old house was now days away. I had spent six weeks looking for a company to help us with the trees with no luck. My wife told me to give it up and buy a couple new trees (we could have planted a forest for what this service costs!). My parents told me to give it up, and even the tree people told me to just buy some new trees.

This wouldn’t work for me. I wanted these trees. So I started calling companies in Wisconsin. It took another dozen calls to find somebody to do it. We got the trees moved. They’re in the front yard now, closest to the sidewalk and the street, for everyone passing by to enjoy.

After the trees were moved, my wife said to me, “I don’t know anybody else who would have persevered like this to get these trees here.”

Revenue growth is the same way. Anything worth having is the same way. People will always tell us no. We must simply give them—or someone else—another opportunity to say yes. Try again. Then again. We only need one yes.

Keep trying until you get the yes. And you will get the yes.

– Alex Goldfayn is CEO of The Evangelist Marketing Institute, a revenue growth consultancy, and author of The Revenue Growth Habit. Visit www.evangelistmktg.com.

Alex Goldfayn CEO, Evangelist Marketing Institute www.evangelistmktg.com Building-Products.com

Guardian Opens Baltimore DC

DEALER Briefs

High Brothers Lumber, Camdenton, Mo., suffered $25,000 in damage from a Feb. 12 fire.

Guardian Building Products, Greenville, S.C., has opened a new building products distribution center in Belcamp, Md., serving Maryland, southern New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and northern Virginia.

With 50,000 sq. ft. under roof and an additional 60,000 sq. ft. of outdoor storage, the facility is fully equipped with a new racking system, effectively doubling space on the ground with over 1,200 pallet racks.

The move also allows GBP to nearly triple its product offering to customers.

Ace Hardware, Princeton, Mn., was closed by Mike and Jeff Haehn after 32 years, to concentrate on their auction firm.

Old Illinois Yard Changing Hands

Zarsky Lumber Co. closed its Harlingen, Tx., yard early last month and will serve the area from Los Fresnos, Tx. Northland Lumber & Supply, Fairfax, Mn., added a design center in neighboring Redwood Falls, Mn.

TW Perry relocated its venerable Chevy Chase, Md.,

branch to Silver Spring, Md., Feb. 29.

Marjam Supply Co. opened a kitchen & flooring showRiverhead Building Supply site in

room at the former Riverhead, N.Y.

Menards will open a 205,000-sq. ft. superstore this fall in

Hollister, Mo.

Sunrise True Value Hardware, Sunrise Beach, Mo.,

reopened Feb. 1 under new boss Chris Pieschl. It closed a year ago with the passing of longtime owner Kathy Adams.

Rocky’s Ace Hardware has entered Maine with its acquisition of 140-year-old Rogers Ace Hardware, Bath, Me. Prior owner John Hichborne will stay on for the transition.

Fifth-generation Bernzen Lumber Co., Quincy, Il., is closing March 4 after 127 years. Any remaining assets will auctioned off March 16, so the new owner can start with a fresh slate.

The acquisition by another unnamed lumber company will be finalized following the auction. The new lumberyard will open in late March or early April.

Greg Bernzen, who expects to stay on as general manager, said his parents are selling primarily due to ailing health.

Penn Hardware Chain Closing

Western Pennsylvania hardware retailer Trader Horn, Butler, Pa., will be closing all seven of its stores after 58 years of business.

A spokesperson said the owner is in poor health and wants to retire and that it will take a few weeks to move all the merchandise. Once that’s complete, all seven stores will be shuttered.

Size does matter.

Douglas Fir up to 20” x 20” x up to 40’ Cedar 16” x 16” x up to 32’

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Richardson Timbers

toll free (877)

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318-5261 phone (214) 358-2314 fax (214) 358-2383 www.richardsontimbers.com

March 2016

Building-Products.com

US Lumber Moving Maryland DC

U.S. Lumber Group has outgrown its 114,608-sq. ft. warehouse in Aberdeen, Md., and will relocate next month to a 258,000-sq. ft. facility in Joppa, Md. The new property provides not only a larger warehouse, but also more room for outdoor storage.

SUPPLIER Briefs Wood Resource Recovery, Gainesville, Fl., filed for

bankruptcy to reorganize.

PGT Inc., North Venice, Fl., completed its acquisition of commercial window/door maker WinDoor, Orlando, Fl. WinDoor joins PGT and CGI as a third brand in PGT’s portfolio and will continue to operate and manufacture products in Orlando as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Key Wholesale Building Products, Mason City, Ia., is now distributing Fairway Building Products’ railing systems in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.

Parksite will expand its distribution of DuPont Corian and DuPont Zodiaq into Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, starting April 1. Dave Abram will act as sales mgr. for New England territory.

Parksite already sells DuPont Surfaces products in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Florida and the Caribbean.

CertainTeed’s Little Rock, Ar., roofing business achieved ISO 9001 certification.

Two Michigan Dealers Call It Quits

A pair of multi-generation building supply retailers are folding in Michigan.

Seventy-year-old Port Huron Building Supply Co., Port Huron, will close its doors by the end of this month. The announcement came days before a federal judge’s ruling that the business violated pension payments with its union and would incur $2 million in fines.

Part of the Teamsters union for nearly 60 years, Port Huron has never missed a monthly pension payment, said president Michael Lauth. His attorney, Gary Fletcher, claimed the pension fund is essentially putting the company out of business, saying the owners decided to liquidate their assets in anticipation of an unfavorable ruling. They have not decided whether to appeal.

In Garden City, Town N’ Country Hardware is liquidating, due to the retirement of owner David Henry, 79, who opened the store when he was 19. He has sold the building.

Wood Treater Buying 3 More Plants

Stella-Jones subsidiary McFarland Cascade Holdings, Tacoma, Wa., has agreed to purchase two additional treating companies, Kasatchie in Louisiana and Lufkin Creosoting Co. in Texas. Both deals should close in April.

Lufkin Creosoting produces treated poles and timbers in Lufkin, Tx., notching $34.2 million in sales last year.

Kisatchie produces treated poles, pilings and timbers in Noble and Pineville, La., with combined 2015 sales of $51.8 million. The purchase is for parent company 440 Investments LLC, which includes Kisatchie Treating, Kisatchie Pole & Piling, Kisatchie Trucking, and Kisatchie Midnight Express.

Mid-Columbia Lumber LLC 710C Street • Culver OR 97734 Phone: 541-475-7241 • Fax: 541-475-7242 www.mid-columbialumber.com

MCL Longs and Studs for Site-Built Roof and Wall Construction

• 2x4 through 2x12 up to 60’ • Engineered to equal strength of solid sawn lumber • Stays straighter than solid sawn lumber • Certified Exterior Joints / HRA

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MCL Joists for Floor Construction

• Engineered Joists & Rim Boards – the perfect solution to fire code changes Contact Christy Hollenback 541-279-6525 christy@mid-columbialumber.com

Building-Products.com

THINKING Ahead

By Mark McLean, Roseburg Forest Products

Brand is the new product

C

ONGRATULATIONS ! You survived the Great Recession. Like many companies in lean years, you might have achieved cost savings by slashing your marketing budget. If that’s true, now is the time to start building it back up.

But when you invest in marketing this time around, consider what you might do differently. Here at Roseburg, we have traditionally focused on product marketing. What that meant, practically speaking, is that we centered our promotional and advertising activities on our product lines.

Two years ago, after internal deliberations and consultation with our agency partner, we decided to take a different tact. Products are still important (after all, someone has to buy something for a company to stay in business), but our front-line marketing activities have shifted from product marketing to brand-building. Telling our company’s story has become just as important as listing the products we sell.

Here’s another way to look at it: Let’s say you’re an auto manufacturer. From a product-marketing perspective, you want to distinguish your vehicles from others.

About NAWLA

NAWLA (North American Wholesale Lumber Association) is the association that delivers unparalleled access to relationships and resources that improve business strategy and performance through sales growth, cost savings, and operational efficiencies for wholesalers and manufacturers of forest products and other building materials that conduct business in North America.

Learn more about how NAWLA can help your business at www.nawla.org.

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That can mean the difference between a truck and a convertible, or the difference between two different trucks or two different convertibles.

With a brand-marketing approach, you want to distinguish your entire company from others. In our previous example, it’s the difference between buying a car from Audi, Ford, GM and so on.

Why should you focus on brand-building? Before the Internet, it may have been advantageous to promote your products in ads, especially print magazines. They were a customer’s main source of information, so in a sense you had a captive audience. Things have changed to the point where you could say advertising has become “opt-in.”

Customers have many sources of information, so the pur-

Building-Products.com

A Special Series from North American Wholesale Lumber Association

Networ

Learn

To hear additional marketing tips from peers like Mark, you are encouraged to attend NAWLA’s 2016 Leadership Summit: Where Industry Decision Makers Grow, March 13-15 at the Westin Mission Hills in Palm Springs, Ca. You will build knowledge on relevant management topics and key trends in education sessions and connect with peers through multiple networking events. You will leave with proven best practices, cost-saving measures and new or renewed relationships with customers, prospects and suppliers. Learn more or register at www.nawla.org. pose of advertising has changed.

Now as far as I’m concerned, the whole reason for marketing communications is to make people aware of your company. An awareness of who you are precedes detailed knowledge about your products.

There’s even more to it than that.

A strong brand can make a difference to the bottom line. In the 1980s, Dr. David Aaker popularized the concept of business equity, which he defined as “a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand name and symbol, which add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service.” In theory, brand equity can reduce advertising costs over the long run, as your brand becomes a stand-in for all the benefits you were trying to promote.

Or it can help reduce customer turnover by fostering long-term loyalty to your brand.

So when I say customers should know ‘who you are,’ I don’t mean simply the name of your company.

Your new challenge is to forge an

Building-Products.com

emotional relationship between your brand and potential buyers. You want to be the first company that they think of when they need something. That’s difficult to do if you’re just talking about products. When we decided to emphasize our brand, what we really wanted was to tell our story, to let people understand who we are and to communicate our values.

Did I mention that brand marketing only works if you’re clear about your story and your values? Before taking your message to the marketplace, think about what you stand for. At Roseburg, we operate around three values. One is “sawdust in the veins,” which means our employees need to have a passion for this industry. Two is “handshake integrity,” by which we mean that you say what you’re going to do and do what you say. The third value is “driven to win.”

For us to communicate those values meant talking about our employees. People relate to people, not to ‘products.’ So we decided to launch a promotional campaign that highlighted our employees. For our “Working for You” campaign, we ran advertisements on various platforms. Each ad featured a photo of an employee, their name and title, and an invitation to visit our website, where buyers could read detailed stories.

When customers come to your website, it’s an opportunity to deepen their connection with your brand.

The experience they have browsing your website is part of the brandbuilding process. A clearly organized, well-designed, easy-to-navigate site supports a positive perception of your brand. At the same time, a site that’s difficult to use will reflect negatively on your brand.

And onward from there. Once you start thinking about your brand, you can see how it touches everything in your company. So take a

good look at yours and think about how you can build on it this year.

– Mark McLean is director of marketing for Roseburg Forest Products, Roseburg, Or., and a member of NAWLA’s marketing committee.

(Sources: 1prophet.com/blog)

Moves to Fortify Your Mar eting Strategic

• Buyers have more product choices than ever. Set yourself apart with a strong, identifiable brand that buyers come to trust.

• The industry’s workforce is aging. Start developing a plan to attract the next generation before key employees start retiring.

Operational

• If your marketing and sales departments are the same, try separating them. With a budget dedicated just for marketing, companies are forced take more action on the marketing side then if it’s rolled up into sales.

• If you partner with a marketing agency, look for one with industry experience or at least a passion for understanding how the supply chain works.

Tactical

• Make it easy for prospective buyers to order samples and literature online by implementing an e-commerce solution.

And get ready for the day that online ordering is the norm.

• Try hosting how-to videos on your website and YouTube channel. Short videos are a powerful way to educate buyers about your company and products. They’re easy to digest and share through social media platforms.

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LMC sent 40 dealers to Wharton for an intense MBA-style course designed specifically for up-and-coming talent.

LMC Dealers Go to Business School

Over 40 LMC dealers attended a week of executive education Jan. 10-15 at the renowned Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

LMC and the leadership team of Aspiring Leaders collaborated with Wharton Executive Education to create a dynamic program designed to expose dealers to the newest core concepts of business, and then empower them to apply these concepts in their own businesses. The curriculum was built to meet the unique needs of LMC dealers who are currently managing the business or will in the future.

The program’s content is based on Wharton Executive “Advancing Business Acumen” program, consisting of interactive lectures, case studies, simulations, self-assessments, and faculty and peer dialogue.

Each day dealers worked together in different teams, giving each attendee the chance to learn from fellow dealers across the country by working to solve real life problems. Whether someone was looking to improve financial acumen, strategic planning, organizational & collaborative behaviors, or learning how to integrate strategy and finance, the program covered it all.

“The coursework was relevant to our industry,” noted Neal Fruman, National Lumber Co., Baltimore, Md. “It was very interesting and thought provoking with lots of great people to engage with.”

The Changing Face of Fasteners (Continued from page 10)

the wood posts is simpler and installation can be done from one side in a few seconds, rather than the minutes required when using a separate bolt, washer and nut. These types of screws are designed to replace 3/4" and 5/8" bolt/washer/nut assemblies in piers, boardwalks, structural pilings, and docks.

Other innovative fastener features. Many value-added design features add up to making today’s fasteners better than ever. Low torque points, aggressive thread pitches and specialized head designs all work together to improve speed and efficiency, resulting in lower installation costs.

Lower torque installation also means contractors have the option of using convenient cordless tools.

Anything that speeds up installation—while preserving safety and quality—is a boon to installers. Today’s new fasteners can result in considerable savings to the bottom line—and that’s what contractors like to hear.

– Clark Allen is senior project manager at Simpson StrongTie. He can be reached via www.strong-tie.com.

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Building-Products.com

An Open View to More Revenue

CableRail offers your customers an attractive, ultra-low-maintenance, view-friendly railing infill option, making it one of the fastest growing deck railing products. As the category leader, CableRail by Feeney offers dealers an incredible opportunity to expand their sales.

Built for Success: • Leading brand in the industry • Lead referrals • Advertising & promotional support • Low initial investment • Fast inventory turns • Very strong margins • Pre-packaged cable assemblies • Patented, easy-to-use Quick-Connect ® fittings • Movable freestanding displays • Dedicated customer & dealer support teams

Learn more, 1-800-888-2418 or www.feeneyinc.com/merch-bpd

Karpp Acquisition Brings GMS into New England

APP Watch

Gypsum Management & Supply, Tucker, Ga., has entered New England, with the acquisition of Robert N. Karpp Co., Boston, Ma. Founded in 1979, Karpp is one of the largest drywall specialty suppliers in New England, serving select regions of Massachusetts and surrounding states through its three distribution centers and fleet of boom trucks, moffets, flat beds, racks, and pick up trucks.

App: James Hardie 3D App Produced by: James Hardie Price: Free Platforms: Apple iOS

TALK Back

A new app provides accurate measurements of siding, trim, soffit and windows and a 360˚, 3D home rendering using smartphone photos.

It reduces the guesswork of job estimates and provides 95% accuracy, eliminating the need to manually re-measure. It also lets users interchange exterior elements like windows and view in 20+ different colors.

– Download from iTunes

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We welcome your letters to the editor.

Send to letters@building-products.com, Fax 714-486-2745, or c/o Building Products Digest, 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, Ca. 92626.

THE REASONS WHY

Patrick, I saw your article about “Why” (February 2016, page 6). I thought you should know in one of our first meetings discussing 2016 my question from a marketing perspective was “What is the WHY behind our business?”

March 2016

Simon Sinek gives a great little speech from his book Start With Why. I’m sure you like to read, because you obviously like to write.

Anyways, as a company (especially from a marketing standpoint) we are aiming to hold very true to the WHY behind our business. I agree with you—it’s a great question. I often feel that as new technology emerges my generation kind of forgets what got us here in the first place. The WHY is what started Madison Wood in 1959… and I intend to keep that as our main focal point for many many years to come.

Great article! I enjoyed reading it.

Kari Gaviria Madison Wood Preservers Madison, Va. kgaviria@madwood.com

I like the question Why. From Mr. Curious (a name given to me by my college roommates after asking why too many times).

Chris Thoms Blue Book Services, Inc. Carol Stream, Il. cthoms@bluebookservices.com

Building-Products.com

MOVERS & Shakers Jamie Perry has been named director of sales for ECMD, North Wilkesboro, N.C. Matt C. Black has been promoted to president of ECMD division Arndt & Herman Building Products, and Brandon Barnes is now president of its Crown Heritage Stair Co. division.

Greg Christy has been promoted to president and COO of Northeast Treaters, Belchertown, Ma. Chris Hayn, ex-Jeld-Wen, has rejoined Fiberon, New London, N.C., as vice president of sales.

Jim Rockwell has retired after nearly 50 years in the industry, the last 32 with Seaboard International Forest Products, Nashua, N.H. Matti House is a new marketing specialist at Smith Millwork, Lexington, N.C. John Lindsey has retired after 43 years in the industry, the last 18 in sales with Skana Forest Products, Fort Lauderdale, Fl. Gary Gillespie, Greg Pray, and Dave Abts were promoted to executive VPs at Columbia Forest Products, Greensboro, N.C.

Mallory Robinson is a new marketing associate at Robinson Lumber Co., New Orleans, La. Mike Gulledge, sales mgr., Deltic Timber Corp., El Dorado, Ar., is retiring April 15 after 38 years in the business.

Kaylen Handly has joined Benjamin Obdyke, Horsham, Pa., as market development mgr.

EJ Durgin, mill supervisor, Durgin & Crowell, Springfield, N.H., is moving to a more specialized role, centered on maintaining and improving all moving parts of the mill. Chris Farrens, former mill supervisor with Interfor, has come on board to help run the pine operations.

Craig Penfold, ex-Greenheart Group, has joined International Forest Products, Foxboro, Ma., as solid wood products group regional mgr. in South America, focusing on hardwood lumber and log products, primarily from Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana.

Michael G. Wooldridge has been appointed to the board of Universal Forest Products, Grand Rapids, Mi.

Lauren Gramza has joined Keene Building Products, Mayfield Heights, Oh., as trade show & marketing coordinator. Drew Mellen is a new quality engineer.

Joseph McCormick was named CEO of Connor Industries, Fort Worth, Tx., succeeding Kurien Jacob, who is now chairman of the board.

Scott Bacon, ex-Fabral, has been named VP-sales & marketing for Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., Louisville, Ky. Paul Evans, divisional sales director, BMC Stock Holdings, Atlanta, Ga., was named NAHB’s 2015 Educator of the Year.

John Smith, president and CEO, Pennsylvania & Indiana Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Cos., Philadelphia, Pa., and his wife, Julie, will participate in “Brave the Shave” to benefit the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, shaving their heads to show solidarity with children fighting cancer. Donations can be made at www.stbaldricks.org/participants/johnsmith.

Isadore Belle is new to builders hardware sales at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus report.

Finally, a composite decking that doesn't look like plastic!

Introducing Naturale composite decking by NewTechWood. Same UltraShield technology you trust, with the natural look you want, in a wide variety of unique colors.

Visit www.newtechwood.com or call us at 866-728-5273 for more information Distributed by

AMERICAN LUMBER CO. INC. #1 American Way, Walden, NY 12586 Ph: 800-277-0222

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ASSOcIATION Update Lumbermen’s Association of Texas & Louisiana is gearing up for its 130th annual convention and buying show March 30-31 in San Antonio, Tx. The convention will kick off with a lunch and golf tournament at the JW Marriott Oaks Golf Course, followed by a welcome party and annual membership/board meeting breakfast with guests Texas House speaker Joe Strause and Texas Association of Builders’ Scott Norman.

Building Material Suppliers Association honored Jones Millwork & Lumber, Columbus, Oh., as Dealer of the Year and Culpeper Wood Preservers, Culpeper, Va., as Supplier of the Year during its recent show in Hickory, N.C. (see photo coverage of event, pages 42-44).

Northeast Retail Lumber Association is looking forward to its first roundtable of the spring March 21-23 at Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, Portsmouth, N.H. Upcoming board meetings by affiliates include Eastern New York Lumber Dealers Association March 8 at Holiday Inn, Sarasota Springs, N.Y.; Northern New York Lumber Dealers Association March 9 at Best Western, Canton, N.Y.; Mid-Hudson Lumber Dealers Association March 15 at Alexis Diner, Newburgh, N.Y.; and Lumber Dealers Association of Connecticut March 16 at Acadia Insurance, Rocky Hill, Ct. National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association invites dealer members to meet with business colleagues, national leaders, and association leadership at its annual legislative conference April 18-20 in Washington, D.C.

IN Memoriam James E. McGinnis Jr., 87, 64-year veteran of McGinnis Lumber Co., Meridian, Ms., died Jan. 6 after a lengthy illness.

He joined his father’s wholesale lumber business after receiving his business degree from the University of Mississippi in 1949. He also spent two years in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps during the Korean War. He was also president and founder of McGinnis Distributing Co., a pro dealer he ran for 49 years.

He served as president of the Forest Products Wholesalers Association in 1969 and president of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association in 1976.

Frank L. Peterson, longtime sales manager for Cleary Forest Products, Dallas, Pa., died Jan. 26.

A Navy veteran, he started in sales at North Branch Lumber Co., Kingston, Pa., before becoming a lumber broker with Cleary in 1985, retiring in 2013.

Donald R. “Don” Dykstra, 85, longtime Midwest regional manager for True Value Hardware and Coast to Coast, died Jan. 25 in Las Vegas, Nv. After serving in the U.S. Army in Europe, he worked for Badger Paint in Wisconsin and then joined Coast-to-Coast Hardware as a district manager for a three-state region out of Dickinson, N.D. In 1976, he moved to St. Cloud, Mn., to manage the region for True Value.

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NEW Products

Stones with Tones

Boral Stone added two new colors to its easy-to-install Versetta Stone product line— Mission Point and Graphite.

Mission Point combines light gray and blues for a softer approach, while the more dramatic Graphite boasts a blend of near-black grays with occasional whitewashed stones.

Both colors come in Tight Cut or Ledgestone textures.

Georgia-Pacific’s ForceField Air & Water Barrier System keeps potentially harmful water out of a structure during construction— and for the life of the building.

The system consists of engineered wood sheathing panels laminated with a proprietary air and water barrier.

 BORALAMERICA.COM

 GP.COM

Sheathing Shield

(800) 255-1727

(404) 652-4000

Inflatable Helper

The Winbag is an inflatable, hand-operated, fiberreinforced air cushion that can be used to replace shims and wedges in a range of applications.

It provides a maximum pressure of up to 220 lbs.

Sophisticated Spirals

The new Trex Spiral Stairs collection is designed to enhance the beauty of any backyard, while providing a functional, space-saving alternative to standard stairs.

The system is offered in both aluminum and galvanized steel models.

 TREX.COM

(800) 289-8739

 WINBAGUSA.COM

Your Eastern & Midwest Redwood Specialist

REDWOOD DECKING THE NATURAL ALTERNATIVE

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CHICAGO SUBURBAN LUMBER SALES 800-341-6485

7459 Franklin St., Forest Park, IL 60130

Fax: 708-771-7391 • Email: joe@chicagosuburbanlumber.com

www.chicagosuburbanlumber.com

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The Ultimate Screw

Simpson Strong-Tie is expanding its Deck-Drive DCU Composite screw product line to include two stainless-steel versions, providing pros and DIYers with deck screws that offer added corrosion resistance in marine or high-exposure environments.

The two new screws require no predrilling and provide a smooth, clean finish. One is made from Type 305 stainless steel, offering additional corrosion resistance in wet areas such as freshwater rivers and lakes; the other is made from Type 316 stainless steel and is designed for severe exposure conditions.

 STRONGTIE.COM (800) 999-5099

Building-Products.com

THINK WOOD Think Warren Trask for the most comprehensive Eastern Pine inventory!

Since 1924, Warren Trask has been committed to being the number one source for Eastern White Pine.

Think Warren Trask for all your Eastern White Pine needs.

1•800•752•0121

www.wtrask.com

A Unique Element to Decking

The versatile and attractive StartLight solar light by AGS Stainless Steel adds a unique element of interest to any deck or outdoor area. A one-piece stainless steel shell holds a water resistant LED light assembly with rechargeable NiMH battery.

The top-mounted solar cell is sloped for efficiency and visual appeal. Perfect for decks, stairs and pathways, the light installs easily to wood, composite, metal and more.

 AGSSTAINLESS.COM (206) 842-9492

Everlasting Vinyl Decking

EverNew vinyl decking is virtually maintenancefree, easy to install, won’t split, warp or rot and will rarely need painting, scraping or sanding.

The vinyl decking has a hollow vinyl profile with an easy-to-clean, non-porous surface said not to stain, scratch or fade.

 CERTAINTEED.COM (800) 233-8990

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BMSA SHOW Photos by BPD

BUILDING MATERIAL Suppliers Association enjoyed an uptick in attendance at its recent building products show in Hickory, N.C. Dealers enjoyed seminars, visits with suppliers, and the opportunity to make new relationships and view the latest products. [1] Graham Thick, Michael Bowers, Don Scullion. [2] Andy Chatman,

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Mathew Hamby. [3] Matt Black, Brandon Barnes. [4] Matt Yaun, David Peeler. [5] Keith Harris, Robert Salters. [6] Travis Darnell. [7] Annette & Scott Stanford. [8] David Elenbaum.

[9] Bill Phillips, Roger Smith, Jody Treadway.

[10] Jim Kilpatrick. [11] Bill Langmaid, Kat Williams. [12] Galen Martin. [13] Ron Norcross, March 2016

Lee Easter, Mike Moore, Gale Nichols. [14] Barry Taylor, Jay Cole. [15] Dave Adams, Brandon Reavis. [16] Thom Kujawa, Mike Gower. [17] Jim Ramsey, John Ramsey. [18] Mike Tester, John Stier, Jim Muthersbaugh.

[19] Danny Wingate, Thomas Gibson, Jim Ray. (More photos on next 2 pages) Building-Products.com

BMSA SHOW Photos by BPD

BMSA (continued): [20] Phil Osborne, Ron White, Ted Smith, Dennis Ramey. [21] Howdy Roberson, Jason Roberson, Bradley Huneycutt. [22] Rick Benton, Lou Kurcsics. [23] Larry Adams. [24] Norwood Morrison, David Anderson. [25] Houston & Mariam Crumpler. [26] Shenna Chaffin, Matti House, David Cox. [27] George Miser, Cindy Carlson. [28] Steve Guiffre, Duane Smith. [29] Jonathan Myers. [30] Scott Sheppard, Steve Building-Products.com

Collins. [31] Chuck Beaty, Jeff Bicknell. [32] Walter Smith, Jay Sego. [33] John Bryson, Mike Craft. [34] Duane Dassow, Joel Adamson. [35] Jeff Tice, Cindy Rosser, L.M. Tice. [36] Gina Myers, Brent Richardson, Will Barrett.

[37] Cindy Hartley, Don Moore. [38] Amos Kauffman. [39] Jarrod Thomas, Mike Daignault. [40] John Anderson, James Aud, Krank Anderson, Mike Sams, Mark Sluder. [41] Charlene Ogata.

(More on next page) March 2016

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BMSA SHOW Photos by BPD

BMSA (continued): [42] Bryan Strickland, Cory Jameson, June Strickland. [43] Greg Brooks, Robert Dietz, Jim O’Brien. [44] Lynn Schwarz, Cindy Carlson. [45] David Fisher, Missy

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Schram. [46] Mark Chambers, Cory Peters. [47] David Rumsey, Robert Beckham. [48] Mike Wagner, Cory Jameson. [49] Clint Darnell, Susan Griffin, Ken Geene. [50] Roland Paiva, March 2016

Ronnie Simpson. [51] Kala Badger, Jim Hunsuch. [52] Lee Tigner, Shawn O’Connor. [53] Michael Tull, Burford Arning, David Szilezy. [54] Eric Cashen, Daniel Horne. [55] Keith Fox, Craig Doehner. [56] Stan Hedgecock. [57] Allen Townsell, Jamie Perry, Steve Helderman. [58] Steve Norton.

[59] Chris Moon, Chuck Casey. [60] Scott Arena, David Welborn, Fred Foust. [61] Lee Gay, Gary Gentle. [62] Christian Lempeckski, Bill Eure, Becky Stier, Jeff Womack. [63] Aaron Hershelman, Melvin Nelson.

Building-Products.com

Northeast dealers in force

Northeast Retail Lumber Association enjoyed another bustling LBM Expo Feb. 10-12 at Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, R.I. Members had the opportunity to network with vendors and fellow dealers, attend a range of seminars and business meetings, and take part in presentations honoring high achievers.

Northeastern Young Lumber Execs gave its CHIPs Award to Barry Russin, Russin Lumber, and its Redwood Award to David and Theresa Moore, Wiley Brothers, and Jeff and Jennifer Larson, Gilmore Home Center.

Affiliate associations presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to Robert Zavorskas, Huber Engineered

Woods (MRLDA); Howie Jones, Huttig Building Products (RLDAM); Doug Britton, Britton Lumber (VRLDA); and Sam Katz (NYLILA).

Lumber Persons of the Year feted were Genn Hagan, GNH Lumber (ENYLDA); Steve Levin, Fallsburg Lumber (MHLDA); Tom Bartram, Herrington’s (LDAC); Russell Howe, Weyerhaeuser/TrusJoist (WNYLDA).

Mark Torrisi, Jackson Lumber & Millwork (NHRLA); Ted Angell, L. Sweet Lumber (RILBMDA); D. Paul Murphy, Boston Cedar (MRLDA); John Yazwinski, Hancock Lumber (RLDAM); Cory Poulin, Poulin Lumber (VRLDA); and Bob Bicknell, Bicknell Building Supply (NNYLDA).

HISTORICAL DISPLAY [1] adorned the show, sponsored by Warren Trask, Boise Cascade, and Sierra Pacific. [2] George Hewitt, Greg Johnson. [3] Bill & Cathy O’Brien, Jim O’Brien. [4] Christina Giacone. [5] Frank Jolly, Terry Miller, Jeffrey Leonard. [6] Otto Katt, Matthew Dague,

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John Morse. [7] Nate Lowrey, Bill Sweeney, Jim Folan. [8] Tim McLees, Joe Ragsdale, John Marshall. [9] Bob Clark, Bill Ingham, Kevin Smith.

[10] Ellen Fredrich.

(More photos on next 3 pages) Building-Products.com

NRLA EXPO Photos by BPD

NRLA EXPO (continued from previous page): [11] Eddie Lackard, Steve Brandt. [12] Jeff Easterling, Matt Duprey. [13] Larry Boyts, Mary Kittrell.

[14] Ralph Schmidt. [15] Joel Cone. [16] Tom Ellerbrook, Gavin Pedrotty.

[17] Mark Przypek, Bob Loew. [18] Neil Czarnecki, Kevin Harris, David Broughton. [19] Marc Favara, Dean Baumgartner, Jim Sammons, Vin Rogers, Mark Sobieraj. [20] Brett Shuler, Kent Marks. [21] Gina Vicini, Building-Products.com

Paul Young. [22] Sheila Michaud, Bob Lemieux. [23] Joel Adamson. [24] Paul Harris, Kalvin Eden. [25] Jim Maier, Jamie Souza, Bob Stanek, Marty Wiles, Keith Rogers. [26] Eddie Kedic, Dena Ivan. [27] Jason Gomes, Nathan Hevy, Chris Deguzman. [28] Jay McCarthy, Matt Hungerford, Frank Nelson, Darrell Hungerford.

(More photos on next page) March 2016

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NRLA EXPO Photos by BPD

NRLA EXPO (continued from two previous pages): [29] Tony Stevens, David Jeffers, Ghislain Roch. [30] Greg Hartman. [31] Doug Barton. [32] Carl Desgagues, Sylvio Clermont. [33] Jason Ramaley. [34] Terry Griffith, Vincent Micale. [35] Lou Daviau, Frank Vara, Ryan Black, Greg Gallagher. [36] Bob Carroll, John Fijalkowski, Lyle Tompkins. [37] Rob Williams, Todd Feineigle. [38] Gina Duffy, Jacek Romanski. [39] Kevin

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DeMars, Jordan Russin. [40] Mark Challinor. [41] Kevin Harris, Mike Stepanski, Lynne Liebertz. [42] Adam Maki. [43] Wayne Bennett, Dave Catlett, Len Moscowitz, Scott Crowe, John Catlett, Jim White, Peter Krihak. [44] Kyle Little, Tom Glaube, David Gaudreau, Andy Sinnott, Josh Goodman, Michael Goodman, Jim Zlotnick. [45] Rick Pully. [46] Michael Shishler. [47] Sabrina Seccareccia.

Building-Products.com

NAWLA NORTHEAST REGIONAL Photos by BPD

HIGHLIGHT of North American Wholesale Lumber Association’s recent Northeast regional meeting in Providence, R.I., was [1] a discussion on expectations between wholesalers and retailers, with panelists Joe Cecarelli, Oxford Lumber; Joe Miles, r.k. MILES; Chris Costello, Timberline Enterprises; John Sinclair, Holden Humphreys; Steven Neubert, BlueLinx; and Carl Lamb, Snavely Forest Products. [2] Bob King. [3] Todd Lindsey.

[4] Robert Bicknell, Jim Pelowski, Chuck Handley. [5] Vincent Micale. [6] Chuck Gaede, Jeff Dill. [7] Andrew Goodman, Alden Robbins, Matt Duprey.

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[8] Matthew Skerry, John Sinclair. [9] Gary Whitmarch. [10] Mark Barnard, Mike Kelly. [11] Dan Keith, Matt Verineau, John Fijalkowski. [12] Jim Enright, Matt Caissie. [13] Bob Fitzpatrick, Peter Krihak. [14] Dave Durst, Michael McLaughlin, Rodger Ekstrom. [15] Sterling Golder. [16] Jason Rastad, Tonia Tibbetts. [17] Joe Miles, Anthony Muck. [18] Joe Cecarelli, John Sinclair, Steven Naubert. [19] Brian Pershyn, Dan Semsak. [20] John Stockhausen, Carl Lamb. [21] Josh Goodman, Kyle Little. [22] Mikey Goodman, Steve Maneri. [23] Rick Palmiter, James Martinez.

Building-Products.com

CLASSIFIED Marketplace Rates: $1.20 per word (25 word minimum). Phone number counts as 1 word, address as 6. Centered copy/headline, $9 per line. Border, $9.

Private box, $15. Column inch rate: $55 if art furnished “camera-ready” (advertiser sets type), $65 if we set type.

Send ad to Fax 714-486-2745 or david@building-products.com.

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

Checks payable to 526 Media Group. Deadline: 18th of previous month.

Questions? Call (714) 486-2735.

To reply to ads with private box numbers, contact box number shown, c/o BPD, 151 Kalmus Dr., Suite D200, Costa Mesa, Ca. 92626.

Names of advertisers using box number cannot be released.

WANTED TO BUY

WANTED TO BUY

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

TRI-STATE LUMBER CO.

Your Southern Yellow Pine Timber Connection Specializing in 6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10 Tel. (662) 862-2125 • Fax 662-862-4900 email dhoman@tristatelumber.net

SHAVER WOOD PRODUCTS Southern Yellow Pine Timber Production

6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12

Reload Services & Storage Available Norfolk Southern Mainline Served Easy Access to I-40 & I-77 Company-Owned Truck Fleet (704) 278-9291 • Fax (704) 278-9304 Cleveland, N.C. email steve.twiford@gmail.com or shavers.reload@gmail.com

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DATE Book Listings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend.

NAWLA – March 6-9, University of Innovative Distribution, Indianapolis, In.; (800) 527-8258; www.nawla.org.

Southern Cypress Manufacturers Assn. – March 9, annual meeting, Fort Worth, Tx.; www.cypressinfo.org.

Northwestern Lumber Assn. – March 9-10, Nebraska lumber convention, Omaha, Ne.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org.

Hardwood Manufacturers Assn. – March 9-11, annual conference, Fort Worth, Tx.; (412) 244-0440; www.hmamembers.org.

LMC – March 9-11, annual meeting, Orlando, Fl.; www.lmc.net.

IDEAS Trade Show – March 11, King of Prussia, Pa.; www.ebmda.org.

North American Wholesale Lumber Assn.

– March 13-15, Leadership Summit, Westin Mission Hills, Palm Springs, Ca.; (800) 527-8258; www.nawla.org Greenprints – March 15-16, Atlanta, Ga.; (404) 872-3549; www.greenprints.org Blish-Mize Co. – March 18-19, market, Overland Park, Ks.; www.blishmize.com.

International Wood Products Assn. – March 18-20, annual convention, Las Vegas, Nv.; www.iwpawood.org.

JLC Live Show – March 18-19, Providence, R.I.; (800) 261-7769; www.jlclive.com.

Peak Auctioneering – March 19, St. Charles, Il.; www.peakauction.com.

Construction Suppliers Assn. – March 2223, blueprint reading/material take-off, Tyrone, Ga.; www.gocsa.org.

Lumbermen’s Association of Texas & Louisiana – March 30-31, annual convention, San Antonio, Tx.; www.lat.org.

Peak Auctioneering – April 2, LBM auction, Detroit, Mi.; www.peakauction.com.

Structural Insulated Panel Assn. – April 46, annual meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico; (253) 858-7472; www.sips.org.

Moulding & Millwork Producers Assn. – April 4-8, annual business meeting, Key West, Fl.; www.wmmpa.com.

Kentucky Forest Industries Assn. – April 5-7, annual meeting, Louisville, Ky.; (502) 695-3979; www.kfia.org.

Peak Auctioneering – April 9, LBM auction, Indianapolis, In.; www.peakauction.com.

Woodworking Industry Conference – April 13-15, Cancun, Mexico; www.wmma.org.

Call It The Fun Side of Cedar.

Who says siding has to be all about straight lines and uniform color?

Specialty profiles of Western Red Cedar siding such as Haida Skirl add personality and individuality to your home. And that’s something no cement or plastic siding can do. Western Red Cedar gives you natural durability, long lasting street appeal and surprisingly little maintenance.

Which leaves more time for the fun things in life.

Make the right choice for your business, your customers and your environment. Western Red Cedar offers dependable performance, unmatched beauty and superior environmental credentials to cement siding and other man-made products. The choice of discerning builders and consumers alike, Western Red Cedar adds warmth, character and value to projects and significant returns to your business.

1.866.778.9096 www.realcedar.com

To learn more about Haida Skirl or to place an order, contact us at 604-437-3434, toll free 1-866-553-9663 or info@haidaforest.com

Composite Panel Assn. – April 17-20, spring meeting, Westin Paloma, Tucson, Az.; www.compositepanel.com.

National Lumber & Bldg. Material Dealers Assn. – April 18-20, legislative conference & spring meeting, Washington, D.C.; (800) 634-8645; www.dealer.org.

Building-Products.com

www.haidaforest.com

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ADVERTISERS Index

FLASHBack 55 Years Ago This Month

Skyrocketing redwood demand, with orders—and

consequently production—up sharply at all 11 major redwood mills, was the big news in BPD predecessor The Merchant Magazine back in March of 1961.

Among other headlines: • United States Plywood Corp. was putting the finishing touches on the largest particleboard plant east of the Mississippi—a massive facility in South Boston, Va., capable of producing 30 million sq. ft. a year of 3/4” Novoply, its patented particle flakeboard.

Combined with its 50-million-sq.-ft.-a-year Novoply facility in Anderson, Ca., US Plywood would become the world’s largest particleboard producer.

• In Springfield, Or., Georgia-Pacific was starting up the world’s largest plywood press to crank out “plywood of the future.” Not only were the facility and its hot press huge, they were also high tech, introducing “a completely new process for laminating wood” and “the first continuous process for making plywood.”

In minutes, green veneers moved from logs into a 41-ft.-high, 60-opening press and were heat bonded with dry glue and resin-impregnated Kraft pulp into a permanently bonded, completely dry panel ready for shipment. The Fiber-Ply panels, produced at a rate of 2.6 million sq. ft. a month, had two more plys than regular plywood, including a tough, smooth surface on both sides that eliminated the need for a paint undercoat, prevented checking, and minimized grain raise.

The plant closed in 1989 due to log shortages.

• With all that new plywood production coming on line, G-P needed dealers to do their part and sell it, so G-P concurrently rolled out a new promotional program to help retailers create a “supermarket atmosphere.” New sales aids included pennants, indoor and outdoor banners, and display cards, all themed to promote “A Parade of Plywood Values.”

Arch Wood Protection [www.wolmanizedwood.com]...........11, 49 Cedar Creek Wholesale [www.cedarcreek.com] ........................27 Chicago Suburban Lumber [chicagosurburbanlumber.com] ....38 ClearSpan Fabric Structure [www.clearspan.com] .....................13 Cox Industries [www.coxwood.com]............................................33 Crumpler Plastic Pipe [www.cpp-pipe.com] ................................40 Diacon Technologies [www.diacon.com]...............................23, 25 Do it Best Corp. [www.independentsdoitbest.com]......................5 Durgin & Crowell Lumber Co. [www.durginandcrowell.com] ....39 Engineering Services & Products Co. [www.esapco.com] ........13 Everwood Treatment Co. [www.everwoodtreatment.com].........41 Fasco America [www.fascoamerica.com]....................................30 Feeney [www.feeneyinc.com] .......................................................31 Haida Forest Products [www.haidaforest.com]...........................53 Kop-Coat [www.kop-coat.com] ............................................Cover II Lumbermens Assn. of Texas & Louisiana [www.lat.org] ...........51 Maze Nails [www.mazenails.com].................................................45 Mid-Columbia Lumber [www.mid-columbialumber.com] ...........26 NewTechWood [www.newtechwood.com]...................................34 Northeast Treaters [www.netreaters.com] ...................................49 Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Assn. [www.nelma.org]...32 Novik [www.novik.com] ...................................................................7 Pennsylvania & Indiana Lumbermens [www.plmilm.com] ...........9 Redwood Empire [www.redwoodemp.com]...........................17, 19 RFP Lumber [www.rfplumber.com] ..............................................15 Richardson Timbers [www.richardsontimbers.com] ..................24 Roseburg Forest Products [www.roseburg.com].............Cover IV Seaboard International Forest Products [www.sifp.com]...........15 Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]...................................37 Snavely Forest Products [www.snavelyforest.com].........Cover III

BY 1961, Hollow Tree Lumber was one of the industry’s big success stories. In short order, the owners had bought three sawmills, installed new technology, and insisted on consistent, high quality products. In 1962, at the company’s peak, it was purchased by Oregon-Washington Plywood Co., Hartsdale, N.Y. Most of the assets were picked up by Longview Fiber Corp. in 1965, and then, in 1973, by newly formed Louisiana-Pacific. LP, however, had no use for the mills and they were dismantled. The Ukiah reman plant survives, as part of Mendocino Redwood Co.

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Swanson Group Sales Co. [www.swansongroupinc.com].........35 Viance [www.treatedwood.com] ...........................................Cover I Warren Trask Co. [www.wtrask.com] ...........................................40 Weyerhaeuser [www.weyerhaeuser.com]......................................3 Woodway [www.woodwayproducts.com] ....................................36 Building-Products.com

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Building Products Digest

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151 Kalmus Dr. Ste. D200 Costa Mesa, CA 92626-5959