BPD January 2017 by 526 Media Group

JANUARY 2017

BPD

Building Products Digest

THE VOICE OF THE LBM SUPPLY CHAIN — FOR 35 YEARS

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January 2017

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n Volume 36 n 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, Marketing & Circulation 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, Alex Goldfayn Director of Sales Chuck Casey chuck@building-products.com

Special Features

In Every Issue

9 FEATURE STORY

2017 – A YEAR OF CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM FOR FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY

6 ACROSS THE BOARD 16 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

12 MARGIN BUILDERS

18 OLSEN ON SALES

14 INDUSTRY TRENDS

20 EVANGELIST MARKETING

THE NEW YEAR IN FASTENERS THE NEW YEAR IN SIDING & TRIM

26 NAWLA: THINKING AHEAD

COMPLYING WITH TRICKY REGULATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS

28 WWPA SPECIAL SECTION

LUMBER MARKETS GROWING STRONGER

30 WWPA SPECIAL SECTION

MANUFACTURERS SIZE UP STATE OF SOFTWOOD IMPORT DUTY CONFLICT

36 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

SOUTHERN FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY PLANDS FOR PROGRESS

42 MOVERS & SHAKERS 44 NEW PRODUCTS 47 IN MEMORIAM 48 ASSOCIATION UPDATE 48 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE 49 ADVERTISERS INDEX 49 DATE BOOK 50 FLASHBACK

Online BREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS, EVENT PHOTOS, & VIDEO

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January 2017

How to Advertise 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 Phone (714) 486-2735 Fax 714-486-2745 sadams@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 sadams@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®2017 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.

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ACROSS the Board By Patrick Adams

This year, I want… NOTHING!

LOVE IT WHEN we start a new year. I’ve never heard someone say, “No! If only this year would last just a few months longer!” I remember even when I was young, thinking my Grandmother LOVES the new year! You could actually see the excitement on her face as she organized, changed the calendars, and got ready for a fresh beginning. I think it must have been contagious because even as I write this, the holidays are still ahead of us, yet what I’m really excited about is the new year starting! However, it does make me think about why this is? This year wasn’t a bad one and, in fact, one of the greatest years of my life! Don’t we usually want to hang onto things that are great? My daughter NEVER says, “OK, Daddy, I’ve had enough of Disneyland… let’s leave now!” Good times with family and friends can never last long enough and yet, we’re always excited for a new year to start. We fill our time with “resolutions” and business plans full of the ambitious and dream-filled goals that we aspire to achieve in the “new year.” It made me think about how our goals unfortunately are always relative to our current state. Here’s what I mean. There have been a few times in my life where I was as close to having nothing as you can imagine. I remember during those times, my goals for the new year were simple: food, shelter, and simply an opportunity for me to prove to someone that I deserve a chance for better. However, like everyone, with each step up in life we tend to take for granted that which is behind us and only look ahead at what else we want. It’s kind of an interesting paradox isn’t it? I watch my daughter and even my newborn son learn from experience and mistake—don’t touch the hot pot! When we are in bad times, all we want is to get back to good times and

Building Products Digest

try to learn what took us there and what will prevent us from going back there again. Yet, once we get back to good times I think most of us only focus on creating “better” times! Here’s my point—do we spend enough time fully appreciating the good times when we’re lucky enough to have them? This past year, I was blessed with healthy family and friends and even welcomed my newborn son into the world. Our business, employees, readers and clients all did exceptionally well and celebrated all that we do to serve this great industry of ours. Our country also did well and had far more good times than bad when you look at the whole picture. While there is always room for improvement, I think it’s fair to say that for most of us, life is good! So, rather than making resolutions to go to the gym (which I know I won’t), to check something off my bucket list (which half of those things I’m not even sure if I’d enjoy anymore), or to aspire to be more “balanced” (whatever the heck that is), here’s my list for 2017: • Wake up every day and remind myself how fortunate I am and to be thankful that I’m blessed with another day with my family, friends and customers. • Look at the world through the lens of a lifetime rather than a minute. Try to be more patient, more understanding, and more thoughtful in my plans and actions. • Rather than preaching to my children about the people they should grow up to be, try to be the person that they want to grow up to be like. • Take the time to try new things. I know now that I’ll never have “extra

January 2017

time in my schedule.” If I keep waiting for that, the day will never come! • Spend more time in the moment. We are surrounded by “distractors”— our phones, computers, TV, radio, multi-tasking and more. I’m going to try just sitting and watching my kids, walking outside or listening to someone without anything else going on in my hands or mind. • Stop watching the news and other sources of constant negativity! Whatever your list includes, all of us here wish that when you look back on 2017 that you have a smile on your face and are thankful for another good year. It is our goal to serve you and this industry in a way that shows how grateful we are to be a part of your business success! Happy New Year! “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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FEATURE Story By David Fortin and Robert Berg, RISI

2017 Another year of cautious optimism for North American wood products industry M

ARKET PARTICIPANTS in the North American wood products market are once again cautiously optimistic as they look to 2017. This caution continues to pervade the wood products markets as uncertainty from the ongoing softwood lumber trade negotiations between the USA and Canada, the uneven U.S. housing recovery and the potential for further OSB restarts stifle optimism. Market participants seem to be gearing up for what they believe will be yet another year of modest demand growth with ample supply availabili-

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ty. This will likely result in cautious inventory buying behavior early in the year. However, 2017 could easily surpass these cautious expectations, which could result in an insufficient inventory buffer as demand powers higher both cyclically and seasonally in late spring and throughout the summer. Buyers adopted a conservative inventory strategy in 2016 in response to recent market performance and restrained expectations. Unmet price expectations in the North American OSB market in 2013 and more recent-

ly in the softwood lumber market in 2015 translated into debilitating inventory losses. Fresh memories of inventory losses combined with guarded optimism about housing (traders fully in the show-me mode), the OSB industry still acclimating to the startup of over 4.5 BSF of OSB capacity, and the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the softwood lumber trade negotiations between the USA and Canada drained enthusiasm for building inventories in 2016. Consequently, as demand moved

January 2017

Building Products Digest

both seasonally and cyclically higher throughout the year, buyers were forced to keep the frequency of ordering elevated to meet final demand, driving prices higher in a relatively orderly fashion through much of the year. This allowed producers to generate solid cash flow, and the conservative inventory strategy proved successful as buyers were able to acquire wood on an as-needed basis. Many industry participants are planning for another year of modest demand growth in 2017. U.S. housing starts have yet to consistently break out above the elusive 1.2 million unit mark. In fact, the two times they surpassed that watermark between January and September 2016, they fell below it the following month. At the time of submitting this article it remains to be seen what happens after Octoberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye popping 1.32 million housing starts. Despite healthy demand, U.S. housing production has been held back by the supply-side constraints of labor and land availability. At this point, the show me mentality of traders with regard to the housing markets has kept the consensus forecast at a mild 8% increase to 1.26 million units in 2017, according

Building Products Digest

to forecasts compiled by the APA. In addition to expectations for modest demand growth, overall uncertainty has been on the rise in recent months. From the potential trade, financial and immigration policy changes under the incoming Trump Administration to the unsettled softwood lumber trade negotiations, rising mortgage interest rates, new OSB capacity and mill restarts, and the strong dollar, to name a few, there is plenty to keep the wood markets unsettled. In this environment, traders are likely to maintain their conservative inventory buying strategies and producers are likely to plan conservatively and hope to be surprised on the upside. Although many hold conservative views on the wood products markets for 2017, reasons for optimism are growing. On the demand side, household formations (demand for shelter) remain strong and averaged more than 1.17 million through third quarter of 2016. While this is down from the 1.9 million households formed in 2015, it is on pace with underlying demographics and demand fundamentals. The owner-occupied segment of January 2017

household formations is up from only 33,000 units in 2015 to an average of 414,000 units year-to-date in 2016. The strength in the owner-occupied segment of household formations has been mirrored somewhat in housing starts, where single-family starts have averaged 778,000 units through October, up 11% from 2015. The resurgence in single-family starts bodes well for wood products consumption as single-family homes are nearly double the size and consume three times the wood on average as a multifamily unit. Demand for shelter should remain strong in 2017, supported by continued gains in employment, wages and consumer sentiment. With shelter inventory extremely tight, this demand will put increasing pressure on the existing shelter stock, which should eventually translate to increased residential construction as the supply-side constraints of labor and land eventually ease. The U.S. residential construction market garners most of the attention, but the residential repair and remodeling market is the largest end-use market for softwood lumber and the second-largest for OSB in the USA and Building-Products.com

therefore deserves serious consideration in any wood products outlook. In the absence of a notable increase in residential construction, demand pressure will continue to push home price appreciation well above underlying inflation and wages. A tight shelter market and escalating home prices will remain a boon for the residential repair and remodeling market as potential trade-up buyers make the decision to add-on in lieu of trading up. This will drive wood consumption in this end-use market higher as not only will the total expenditures in this end-use market increase, but the wood usage per dollar spent on these major alterations and additions tends to be more wood intensive (see chart at left). On the supply side, lumber and OSB may not be as readily available throughout 2017 as they were in 2016. The increase in Canadian softwood lumber production and shipments to the USA in 2016 will be difficult to maintain in 2017. Lumber producers in British Columbia are already starting feel the pinch from limited fiber supply due to the mountain pine beetle, and simply maintaining the 2016 production gains in 2017 will be challenging. Meanwhile, producers in Quebec and Ontario will have to address the challenges of lackluster demand for residual fiber and the cost of accessing the additional timber available in the region to increase production in 2017. Furthermore, the impact that potential duties or quotas would have on Canadian shipments to the USA needs to be considered. Supply from offshore markets helped buffer the North American softwood lumber market as demand improved cyclically in 2016. Offshore imports ratcheted higher in

response to the strong U.S. dollar, rising domestic demand and strong prices, but still only accounted for an estimated 2% of demand compared to an apex of 4% during the previous peak in 2005. This source of supply is likely to rise again in 2017, but will remain relatively small on a volume basis. Finally, with U.S. western lumber production likely to improve only incrementally due to the elevated cost of timber, the key to the supply/ demand balance in 2017 will be the rate at which lumber production in the US South expands. Meanwhile, the OSB industry is finally approaching the point of full utilization of the 4.5 BSF of capacity that was restarted earlier in the recovery. Stronger market fundamentals have engendered plans for further capacity expansion in the OSB market with three potential mill restarts at Huber’s Spring City, Tn., mill, Norbord’s Huguley, Al., mill and Tolko’s High Prairie, Alberta, mill as well as the first greenfield mill the market has seen in years, Martco’s Corrigan, Tx., mill. The Texas project is not slated to start producing OSB until the third quarter of 2017 and Huber’s restart not until 2018 with potential startup timelines for the Norbord mill and Tolko mill yet to be determined, but the anticipation of additional capacity seems to already be influencing market behavior heading into early 2017. However, this new capacity will not have a material effect on the supply/demand balance in the market next year as any additional supply from the planned capacity additions will not be available to the market until after demand reaches peak seasonal levels in third quarter 2017 (see table below).

It is easy to understand why many market participants are cautiously optimistic about the North American wood products market in 2017. The slow recovery in U.S. housing starts that is now going into its eighth year, the unresolved softwood lumber trade negotiations and potential duties levied on Canadian shipments to the USA, the uncertainty surrounding the policy goals of the incoming Trump Administration, recent inventory corrections in both lumber (2015) and OSB (2013), and readily available supply throughout 2016 have resulted in a flashing yellow light for the wood products market heading into 2017. These factors may dampen market expectations, but not necessarily final demand. RISI remains optimistic and expects demand for wood products to improve and outpace supply gains in 2017. In this scenario, modest inventory strategies implemented early in the year coupled with conservative production plans could result an insufficient inventory buffer, forcing both buyers and producers to chase the market higher as demand approaches peak seasonal levels during the second half of the year. – David Fortin, director, wood products for RISI, is co-author of The Lumber Commentary, The North American Lumber 5-Year Forecast, and The North American Lumber 15-Year Forecast. Based at RISI’s Bedford, Ma., office, he can be reached at dfortin@risi.com or (781) 734-8974. Bob Berg, economic advisor, wood products, works out of his Julian, Pa., office and can be reached at bberg@risi. com, (781) 734-8914, or David Fortin (814) 441-6110.

Potential OSB Capacity Additions Potential Startup Date

Capacity, MMSF

3Q 2017

850

Huber, Spring City, Tennessee

2018

450

Norbord, Huguley, Alabama

TBD

500

Tolko, High Prairie, Alberta, Canada

TBD

650

Mill Martco, Corrigan, Texas

Building-Products.com

January 2017

Building Products Digest

MARGIN Builders By Mike Dill, Paslode

Planning for your year in fasteners S

OME REGARD fastener selection as a simple “toss in the cart” decision in-store. However, that approach can add up to trouble if you haven’t chosen the best one for the job. Professionals need fasteners that fit the specific project at hand and meet or exceed the industry standards. To help take your work to the next level in 2017, we have compiled a list of five key considerations to guide choosing the right fastener for the job.

Consideration #1 — Does the fastener’s type fit the needs of the job? Every fastener has an intended use, and often times factors like the head shape or style, shank size, and finish will help a renovator match the right fastener to the task at hand. For example, fasteners made from stainless steel might provide the right amount of corrosion protection for an outdoor job using wood materials, but it may not have the right thread form or diameter to make a secure attach-

ment to the structure. It’s important to take all of a fastener’s attributes into consideration when choosing which one to use. Consideration #2 — Does the fastener meet industry standards? Fastener manufacturers produce and test to industry developed standards such as those created by ASTM and ANSI. These organizations ensure that materials and processes meet standardized industry agreed upon performance. For wood, concrete and masonry fasteners and anchors (and many other types), professionals should also look for a test report developed by the ICC (International Code Council). This assures structural engineers and inspectors that the product has been rigorously tested to meet specific applications in the field. Consideration #3 — Does the manufacturer stand behind its products?

The importance of product warranties and support can’t be underestimated. Check that the fasteners you’re considering have backup to their warranty claims. Claims of a multi-year or “lifetime warranty” are common but may not be backed by a reputable company that offers timely field support and customer service. Check the product’s packaging, website, or call its customer service line to ensure the right kind of warranties are in place for the needs of the project. Consideration #4 — How simple is the installation? Technological innovations have made mechanical fastening simpler and more reliable than ever. Some fasteners, such as Tapcons, can be installed with just a hammer drill, drill bit and sleeve/socket combo. But, be aware of the added costs—in both supplies and labor—that can come with purchasing certain fasteners that require special or additional tools and steps—all of which lead to lower productivity and profits. Consideration #5 — How are other trades talking about the product and its performance on the job site? The best way to understand a fastener’s reliability is to listen to the experts: the renovators who use them every day. Be sure to actively search reviews online through general searches, industry message boards, and trade publications to get a full range of peer feedback. If you keep these five considerations in mind, you will be well positioned to deliver high-quality results throughout 2017.

TAPCON masonry screws hold securely in concrete, block and brick.

Building Products Digest

January 2017

(Photo courtesy of ITW)

– Mike Dill is innovation manager for Paslode. Reach him via www.paslode.com. Building-Products.com

INDUSTRY Trends By Matt Gibson, Certaineed

Planning for your year in siding and trim T

construction is beginning to rebound, the industry is also noticing steady increases in remodeling. MetroStudy’s recent Residential Remodeling Index reported 4.5% more home remodel projects in the third quarter of 2016 than in the same period of 2015. This increase stands as the 18th consecutive quarter of year-over-year gains in residential remodeling projects. What’s more, MetroStudy is forecasting that such activity will increase another 4.4% in 2017 and 3.3% in 2018 as a product of rising mortgage interest rates and homeowners’ resulting decisions to stay put. Given that most improvements made to create a more vibrant exterior and increase weather resistance garner a significant return on investment, it’s likely many of these remodels will involve new siding and trim products. Today’s homeowner understands the advantages of alternative cladding materials like vinyl, polymer and cellular PVC over traditional materials, such as wood, stucco and stone. In addition to being low-maintenance, weather-resistant, lower priced, and easier to install, their ability to replicate the classic, time-honored appearances of traditional cladding materials continues to improve. Let’s look at some of the trends in more contemporary exterior cladding materials we can look forward to this year. HOUGH NEW HOME

More Design Options Allows Better Mixing, Matching LOOKING AHEAD: Continuing expansion of cladding color and profile options help fuel ongoing growth in home exterior remodeling activity. (Photos courtesy of CertainTeed)

Building Products Digest

January 2017

Due to emerging new color and texturing technologies, exterior contractors and their customers can expect Building-Products.com

LOOKING AHEAD: Continuing expansion of cladding color and profile options help fuel ongoing growth in home exterior remodeling activity.

to find even more classically-styled vinyl, polymer and cement-based cast stone veneer cladding and trim options in 2017. This growth in options will allow building professionals more tools for creating the more striking, vibrant exteriors today’s homeowners want by mixing and matching different siding colors and styles. For instance, with the current selection offered by top building product manufacturers, a contractor could mix horizontal and vertical vinyl siding, smooth or woodgrain textured, in a wide array of different colors. Most smooth textured vinyl siding authentically replicates the classic look of painted wood siding, but with the color incorporated into the product. This ensures fade resistance and eliminates the need for repainting every few years. Wood-grain textured vinyl and polymer siding continues to look more and more like the real thing, as products are often manufactured in molds that were pressed against real roughcut wood lumber. These products can often have the pigment of stained wood and are now increasingly available in color blends that emulate aged wood. But, with the coloring technology used for vinyl and polymer siding, this color blend will weather just as well as the solid colors. Homeowners will have virtually the same aged wood color in their siding after 10 years as they did day one. For homeowners wanting some contrast in the gables and other higher areas of the home, building professionals can draw from an ever-growBuilding-Products.com

ing variety of cedar-style polymer shake, shingle and half-round profiles in various painted and wood stain colors and sizes. For example, some homeowners might like a rough-split staggered shake pattern, while others may prefer a more uniform look. Demand is growing across the country for the “sawmill look,” straight edge shingles with a smoother cut and increased uniformity, creating what will likely become a popular siding accent trend this year.

Stone Veneer Cladding Another growing exterior cladding trend stems from the introduction of stone veneer products, which allow the average siding contractor to tap into the profitable stone masonry market. These cement-based products are molded from hand-picked stones and colored to authentically replicate natural stone color and texture at a significantly more economical price. The mechanically-fastened panels are easier to install than real stone, using techniques, tool and accessories common to the average siding contractor. And rain screens are now available that offer the latest in moisture management technology, for enhanced weather protection. Homeowners are sure to take to the stone veneer style siding for its beauty, low-maintenance and high return on investment.

More Trim Design Options & Easier Installation The product selection in cellular PVC and vinyl trim has also grown in the past year. Most consumers prefer January 2017

to use white as a vinyl accessory color to ensure an absolute complement to other exterior colors and make windows and doors stand out, but manufacturers are now giving consumers more accessory color options, such as darker colors that boldly complement a lighter siding color. Manufacturers are addressing the industry’s need for more trim profile options with product introductions such as wider window corners, water table profiles and New England window sill profiles. This trend will allow trim to have an even greater role in sprucing up exteriors. Contractors seeking an even smoother trim installation will be happy about the recent introduction of engineered trim systems, which decrease labor by including more prefabricated corners and other trim pieces in the initial shipment.

The Options Are There— Choose Wisely This year is bound to be a great one for building professionals, and the new product options now available to them are sure to make it even better and more profitable for dealers. The best advice is to seek out a brand that can offer a one-stop shop for exterior building product needs, with a wide selection of low-maintenance materials, colors, styles and profiles that will truly get homeowners excited about the goal of a revived home exterior. – Matt Gibson is marketing director for CertainTeed Siding. Reach him via www.certainteed.com. n

Building Products Digest

COMPETITIVE Intelligence By Carla Waldemar

Onward and outward D

ON’T YOU HATE

it when that happens? Every time you expand your store, in a month or three you need to expand it again. Whether it’s a law of physics (“Nature abhors a vacuum”) or a principle borrowed from baseball movies (“If you build it, they will come”), it seems as if, right after the grand re-opening, you’ve already run out of room. Even in tiny Bonners Ferry, so small a town in Idaho (in fact, it’s almost in Canada) that it gives you eyestrain trying to find it on the map. Jeff Brubaker, owner of Pro X Home Center there, describes his hometown

as “a bedroom community, an aging community, with a lack of businesses. Used to have three sawmills, now down to one. Well, there’s the border patrol building: the government is our biggest employer.” Jeff himself employs 35 hardworking staffers, up from four when he went into business in 2004 (and he’s still looking for a few more hires). Besides, he boasts, “It’s one of the prettiest towns in the Northwest, and voted the friendliest.” Nice, but it doesn’t put bacon in the skillet. Or maybe it does. People are build-

RECENT GRAND opening celebration marks Idaho home center’s transformation from a small-town lumberyard into a major regional center for do-it-yourselfers and contractors alike.

Building Products Digest

January 2017

ing new homes here. For many years, Jeff was a residential contractor doing just that until he realized he’s not a kid anymore: “Pretty soon, I won’t be able to handle this.” So he started manufacturing steel carports. But those contractor customers wouldn’t let him stop with that; they kept at him to supply lumber and shingles and such, and then kept right on agitating until they got him to open a complete home center. “I went from Protector Carports to Protector Exteriors to Pro X Supply to Pro X Home Center,” he relates—and that’s the executive summary of the past 10 years. Here’s how it all unrolled: By 2009, Jeff had bought a grocery store out to give his operation more space and better access. “But as soon as we moved in, we started the whole thing all over again, expanding every year.” In 2012, he added a double drive-thru. “Customers love it because it’s covered, so no more icy boards in winter, breaking them apart,” he laughs. “They’re well-stacked inside and heated in the winter evenings.” In 2014, once again, “we’d run out of room. So I bought the adjacent land, a couple of acres, so we could get things stashed and mashed out of the store. Our co-op took a look and advised, ‘Go for it! The market’s yours to own; you just need to do it.’” So Jeff decided to build a new store from the ground up. He sat down with his bankers, and the new operation opened in 2015. Providing 10,000 sq. ft. of retail, compared with 4,000 sq. ft. in the original building, presented Pro X with an opportunity to add new lines and expand existing ones presently Building-Products.com

PRO X Home Center owner Jeff Brubaker (top) has overseen the aggressive expansion and continually remaking of the business, assisted by his son, Andrew (bottom), who serves as store manager.

too small to satisfy his clientele. “We added housewares (we’d had virtually none), including more appliances. Lawn & Garden really expanded. And tools! Now they’re a big thing.” Next up—transforming the former retail building into a Home Décor & Design Center, primed to debut in 2017. Oh, and besides that, “we’re already in the middle of an addition of 2,500 sq. ft. to the new store.” More space and more lines mean more staff. And Jeff’s hiring. However, in the small community of Bonners Ferry, “it’s hard to find folks with experience. There’s only Building-Products.com

one other yard in town. So we do a lot of training.” It’s paid off. Business has grown every single year, including during the nation’s recession. “The downturn didn’t influence us; we just kept on expanding the whole time, and each year proved better than the last. But that’s because that, to succeed, we need to serve a wider area beyond this small town—North and South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, even Canada. Our contractor customers also find work in these areas, and then they call on us,” he explains. What do these pros appreciate, exactly? Top customer service—the first answer this reporter hears whenever asking that vital question. Also, Jeff adds, “Our quality. I try to buy the most expensive wood I can get, not the cheapest, and our contractors really appreciate it. Let the other outfit in town sell the cheap stuff. Top-quality is our niche,” he proclaims. And top delivery, via a fleet of half a dozen trucks, able to deposit drywall inside a house and shingles on the roof. A box truck ensures cabinets and flooring stay dry and well-protected. While Pro X’s pros are valued customers, it’s the do-ityourselfers who provide the highest ticket counts, which produce up to 60% of the operation’s revenue. (And the new store saw that count jump from 350 tickets a day to 500, even 750.) Not only do staffers roam the floor, prepared to answer questions, but Jeff’s daughter oversees the K&B department and also helps homeowners plan their new decks, renovations and additions. (“She’s really good at what she does,” says Dad, who’ll put her in charge of the upcoming Home Décor Center.) But the biggest draw is the broadened variety of products—and access to them. “Before, we didn’t offer shopping carts because the aisles were too narrow. People would make a beeline for their item and get right back out. Now, they love to browse.” Last spring’s grand opening made a huge impact, with special events each weekend for a month (“We fed 500 people burgers and hot dogs” on one of them), with vendors on hand, tool demos, even chainsaw carving (“very entertaining. We don’t see things like this in this small town”) and lots of drawings. “It pulled in a lot of folks new to us, and new customers still keep coming in, including Canadians driving through.” Pro X also reaches potential walk-ins through a Facebook account, manned (womaned) by a savvy young staffer. “Plus circulars and lots of radio,” adds Jeff. And, this writer has to mention, a mesmerizing promo monologue as phone-hold message. That voice? “People either love it or hate it,” Jeff reports—but it definitely gets their attention. (Those curious may hear it after hours at 208-267-7561.) What does the future hold? Well, more additions would come as no surprise. Beyond that—well beyond—Jeff has seven children and hopes someday “surely a couple might want to take it over.” In the meantime, it’s business as usual, which translates to unusual growth.

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net January 2017

Building Products Digest

OLSEN On Sales By James Olsen

Sales is confidence T

OO MANY SELLERS confuse competence with confidence. They believe that if they work hard and know their product, markets and sometimes even their customer’s needs, they will be successful. They are partially correct. Competent sellers achieve competent results. Our problem is that you and I do not want competent results; we want world-class results! All else being equal, and usually it is—we are in competitive markets—the tie goes to the most confident seller. An important distinction: we may feel/be confident “on the inside” but we must project confidence also. Our customers will be infected by the confidence (or lack thereof) that radiates from us; when they feel the confidence in us, they will feel it in themselves. Lack of confidence also radiates. If we are nervous, our customer will be nervous. If we are anxious, our customer will be also. ALL emotion radiates and infects.

Confidence Killers Body Language. Ninety-three percent of our communication is non-verbal. If we shamble into our customer’s office like a nervous teenager, they will treat us like one. Shoulders back, smile and relax. If we need to, do self-talk and deep breathing before the meeting—it works. Um, And-Um, Uh. These are momentum and expertise (ours) killers; experts don’t um. These utterances also make the customer restless and uneasy, neither of which leads to getting the business. Good, good. Another nervous tic said after gaining a piece of information from our customer. Salesperson: “How much of that do you use per month?” Customer: “We use about four carloads a month.” Salesperson: “Good, good. And…” It makes us sound like we are writing down items off a checklist. OK or Kay. For example, on an objection: Customer: “I can’t use that right now.” Quotron (almost before the customer finishes his sentenc): “OK!” This “OKing” is a white-flag, I-give-up-I-knew-youwere-going-to-say-no-anyway response. In many cases it is an interruption of our customer’s continuing thought and most importantly, never gets the order. Up-Speak. Katy Kay and Claire Shipman cover upspeak in their brilliant book, The Confidence Code. Upspeak is ending any sentence except a question with an upward lilt of the voice. Master Seller: “My name is Julie Powers from ABC and Associates.” Up-speaking Quotron: “My name is Julie Weakers from

Building Products Digest

January 2017

ABC and Associates?” Up-speak has an “I’m-sorry-to-barge-in-on-you-likethis-and-I’m-not-worthy” tone to it. Up-speak says— screams—that you don’t believe in yourself. Others will not be able to believe in you either. Cough, Ahem, or… Before Giving the Price. Many sellers unconsciously cough, ahem or make other mumbled sounds right before giving the price. Customers hear and feel this lack of confidence.

How to Project Confidence Be prepared. Nothing will help us feel and project more confidence than preparation. We must anticipate all questions/objections and have planned-out, rehearsed answers to them. We must know the details of our proposal. One of the biggest differences between sellers who dominate and the rest is that they are prepared to C-L-O-S-E not just get close and I’ll call you back. When we are ready to close our customers will know it and will come to expect it. Smile and laugh. We don’t need to exaggerate either, but smiling, laughing and chuckling project huge confidence and will help our customers relax and be receptive to us. The opposite is also true. Get to the point. When “small talk” ends and business begins is a dance based on our customer’s preference and our relationship with them. But when the pleasantries are done, do not beat around the bush. The best sellers are simple and direct in their approach. Acting like we are with our customer for any other reason than to do business is disingenuous, confusing and irritating; this fugue state does not get the business. Stay relaxed through negotiations. This is the biggest difference between the master sellers and the rest. Many salespeople are charming, friendly and loose until they get to the business part of the call. Then they lose all their charm and friendliness. This, of course, signals the customer to do the same. Master sellers overcome all objections and make all seem possible with their confident, easy tone. Ask for the order. In a positively assumptive way, ask for the order and ask often. Sales is confidence. Confidence is the stardust of sales. James Olsen Reality Sales Training (503) 544-3572 james@realitysalestraining.com Building-Products.com

EVANGELIST Marketing By Alex Goldfayn

10 revenue growth truths for a strong start to 2017

T’S TIME TO

talk about how to have the strongest possible start to 2017. Here are 10 revenue growth truths and techniques. Implement them into your company, and your sales go up significantly and quickly. • On average, most customers only know about 20% of what you can sell them, so always tell people about the various ways you can help them. We don’t need to increase this number to 80% or 100% to grow. Merely upping it to 30% will result in dramatic growth for you. • As such, it’s impossible to over-communicate with customers and prospects. Just because you’ve told somebody about your other work two weeks ago, doesn’t mean they remember it today. That’s why you always hear customers say, “I didn’t know you do that.” You can’t overcommunicate, so communicate relentlessly. • Companies that have a good list of customers and prospects always grow more and faster than those that don’t. We must know whom to sell to. A good list should consist of humans, with names and contact information, not just company names. • The discomfort with testimonials is ours, not our customers’, who are generally happy—which is why they’ve been buying from you for years or decades. People love being asked what they think. In fact, they feel honored and grateful. Nobody ever says, “I’d rather not share with you what’s on my mind.” Ask for testimonials and you’ll receive them. • Similarly, people love giving referrals. If you don’t believe me, at your next social event, ask a group of people for a recommendation for a chiropractor, dentist or house

Building Products Digest

January 2017

painter. People will trip over themselves making sure you use their person. So, ask. • Most salespeople are governed by their fear of failure, which is usually greater than their need to feed their family. As such, they would rather avoid the possibility of rejection than ask for business. Teach your salespeople that hearing “no” is not failure. Rather, not asking for the sale is failure. • Imagine what your sales would do if every salesperson pivoted to the sale and asked for the business with every customer and prospect they interacted with. My guess is your revenue would jump instantly. • Because most of us hear from customers when they need or when they’re upset about something, we lose sight of the fact that most of our customers are very happy with us. It’s just that we don’t hear from these happy customers because, like you, they’re busy, and there’s no reason to pick up the phone when everything is going well. So, remember, your customers love you. You do amazing work for them. You really help them. Know this, but also feel it. Really feel it in your heart that your customers love you. • Got it? Now, I need you to behave accordingly. That is, boldly! Be bold. Be confident. Be enthusiastic. When in doubt, communicate. You’re never taking your customers’ time, instead you’re helping them tremendously. You’re never bothering customers, you’re making their lives and work better. Revenue growth is no place for the meek. Be bold. Your market deserves that from you. • Behaving boldly means picking up the telephone. Most salespeople vastly overestimate the number of hours per week they spend on the phone because the majority of them hate phone work and seek to avoid it. So they think about it a lot instead of using it (the phone) a lot. In my studies, the average salesperson for a manufacturer or distributor spends about four hours per week on the phone. Four! Out of 40 to 50 hours per week. Guess what happens to sales when we double your weekly phone time? They shoot up. – Alex Goldfayn runs The Revenue Growth Consultancy and is author of The Revenue Growth Habit. Visit www.evangelistmktg.com. Alex Goldfayn The Revenue Growth Consultancy alex@evangelistmktg.com Building-Products.com

Cedar Creek Buys Thomas Nielsen

DEALER Briefs Five-unit Hilltop Lumber has broken ground on a new, larger showroom and Do It Best hardware store next to its existing branch in Ottertail, Mn. When the project is completed this spring, the current store will be used as a storage facility.

E&H Hardware Group is acquiring Newton Falls Ace Hardware, Newton Falls, Oh., anticipating a Jan. 9 changeover. Richard Kolovich, who co-founded the store with his brothers in 1973, is eyeing retirement.

Ace Hardware is building a new location in Lynn Haven, Fl.

Orchard Supply Hardware has opened its first four stores in South Florida—Dec. 20 in Coral Springs, Nov. 29 in Sunrise, Nov. 15 in Deerfield Beach, and Oct. 25 in Fort Lauderdale. Early this year, OSH will unveil locations in Naples, Winter Park, and a pair in Orlando. True Value Garden Center, Franklin, Tn., will be redeveloped into other retail uses. The neighboring True Value Hardware will remain, and the garden center will be relocated. Arrow Ace Hardware is liquidating its Miracle Mile store Rochester, Mn., with plans to close for good Jan. 14, to make way for retail and residential redevelopment. A search is underway for an 11,000-to-13,000-sq. ft. replacement location. Owner Dave Neiman bought the former Hardware Hank in 2003. All employees will transfer to his three other locations.

Cedar Creek, Oklahoma City, Ok., has acquired Kansas City, Ks.-based Thomas Nielsen Wholesale, with operations in Kansas City and Springfield, Mo. Cedar Creek will consolidate the Kansas City location into own local facility, but maintain the Springfield DC, despite having its own presence in town. “The Springfield space works well for us,” said Paul Wetmore, regional VP. “We had a need for additional indoor space in the area and it’s well positioned in other ways. It’s a natural fit.” Operations and staff should integrate seamlessly, since the two companies were already selling similar lines.

Maine’s Rufus Calls It Quits One of the oldest businesses in Maine—Rufus Deering Lumber Co. of Portland—closed its doors Nov. 30 after 163 years. The inventory, equipment and about three-fourths of Rufus’ 26 employees were picked up by competitor Eldridge Lumber & Hardware, which operates stores in Portland, York and Kittery, Me. Rufus’ 2.5-acre lumberyard has been sold to a residential development group.

GYPSUM ASSOCIATION is rolling out a new logo designed to reflect both change and its enduring commitment to members and consumers of drywall. The refreshed logo retains a flame, highlighting gypsum board’s established role as a building product that provides fire resistance.

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January 2017

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January 2017

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HDW Buys Handy Hardware World & Main, LLC, Cranbury, N.J., has sold its Houston, Tx.-based Handy Hardware division to Hardware Distribution Warehouses, Shreveport, La. “We are pleased to complete the strategic review of our Handy Hardware business. This divestiture is consistent with our focus on growing our core businesses and executing on our long-term strategic plan” said Bryan Yeazel, president and CEO of World & Main.

Charleston Loses Landmark Yard Hughes Lumber & Building Supplies closed its 128year-old flagship yard in downtown Charleston, S.C., Dec. 2, making way for mixed-use development. Its equipment and party rental business was transferred to Hughes’ Mount Pleasant, S.C., location. Third-generation partner John Burn said his family also owns two other acres in Charleston, but has not decided whether they will build a new hardware store there.

Competitor Buys Rochester Lumber William B. Morse Lumber, Rochester, N.Y., acquired three-unit Rochester Lumber Co., effective Dec. 31. The William B. Morse Lumber Company is a fifth-generation family owned company that has served the greater Rochester market since 1853. Rochester Lumber is a 107year-old family business with locations in Rochester, East Rochester, and Farmington, N.Y. Rochester Lumber’s East Avenue inventory will be absorbed and delivered out of Morse Lumber’s West Main Street location. Its East Rochester location will remain open as a building supply and hardware source. Windows,

doors, stairs and millwork products will be rolled into and delivered out of Morse Sash & Door in Henrietta. The Rochester Lumber truss plant in Farmington will continue supplying roof trusses and panelized walls under new owners, renamed NextGen Building Components.

Hood Takes Over Sales for Miles Mills Hood Industries has completed transitioning sales for production from the Joe N. Miles Lumber mills into its own operations, effective Jan. 3. All sales will now be coordinated and managed by Hood’s sales office in Hattiesburg, Ms. Hood acquired the Miles mills in Bogalusa, La., and Silver Creek, Ms., in December 2015 and for the past year sales for the facilities were managed by D&B Solutions.

New England Yards Join Forces Lenihan Lumber, Waterford, Ct., founded in 1988, has been acquired by Finetco. Finetco also operates West Haven Lumber and Welco Inc. in West Haven, Ct., and Coventry Lumber, Coventry, R.I. It plans on increasing Lenihan’s inventory in lumber, decking, roofing, framing and hardware, and adding K&D design services.

SUPPLIER Briefs Keener Lumber has expanded its southern pine reman plant in Smithfield, N.C., and placed Southmark Forest Products, Greensboro, N.C., in charge of managing its inventory and sales. Beans Lumber, Upper Providence, Pa., was destroyed by a Sunday evening fire Nov. 27. Officials are searching for a cause of the blaze that required 15 hours to extinguish. PrimeSource Building Products has added Wolf PVC decking to the product offerings at its Chicago DC, making the product now available in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana. PrimeSource has been distributing Wolf decking through parts of the Midwest since August 2016 via its Minneapolis distribution center. Bonded Building Materials, Scotia, N.Y., is now distributing Roofinox tin-plated roofing products throughout New York State. DW Distribution, DeSoto, Tx., has named door manuMasonite International its 2016 Vendor of the

facturer Year.

Epicor BisTrack is now integrated with Avalara’s software as a service offering for sales tax management. Viance LLC, Charlotte, N.C., has clarified and enhanced its existing Lifetime Limited warranties for residential preservatives, to highlight the acceptable use of above ground treated wood products. Fairway Architectural Railing Solutions, Mount Joy, Pa., was recognized as 2016 Outstanding Business Partner by the New Jersey Apartment Association. 24

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Find more details at www.LAT.org Email Craig@lat.org or call (512) 472-1194

THINKING Ahead By Court Robinson, Robinson Lumber Co.

Why comply? Meeting the demand and difficult regulations for sustainably produced products

1900, P RESIDENT William McKinley signed the Lacey Act into law, banning the trade of illegally procured wildlife, fish and plants. In 2008, an amendment to the act added timber and paper to the list of banned trade products. The amendment also included a requirement that the name, value, quantity and country of harvest origin be stated for some products. The aim of the amendment was to make sure that products were being brought into the U.S. from legal sources. It forces companies in N

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.

Building Products Digest

the lumber industry to work harder to verify legality and scrutinize their suppliers. But the Lacey Act isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the only check on the industry. Consumers are now more aware of the importance of compliance and are starting to demand sustainably produced products. Programs such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) are now more prevalent in the industry and, as such, some customers are choosing to only buy from suppliers that can provide products that are certified. The Lacey Act is the only decree companies must follow by law in the United States; the other certifi-

January 2017

cations are optional, but customers are increasingly more eager to buy certified products. The European Union has its own version of the Lacey Act called the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). The regulation requires the importers to prove that the timber was responsibly harvested and hold documentation that proves the full chain of custody.

Devoting Time and Resources While being sustainable is certainly the goal, complying with sustainability programs can often be difficult. Much time and resources need to be devoted to having a sustainability compliance program. Most large companies have at least

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A Special Series from North American Wholesale Lumber Association

one full-time employee who is dedicated to handling compliance. But, for smaller companies, that’s not always feasible. Customers are demanding more and more documentation to keep up with the regulations, and it is becoming more of an administrative burden to prepare these documents and administer a robust compliance program. At Robinson Lumber Company, we have developed a program whereby we collect documentation for each order that can prove the legality of the transaction. We have two people that spend part of their time on compliance programs and make sure the systems are being implemented company wide. We are FSC certificate holders, too, so we have to administer that program. We also spend a lot of time working directly with our suppliers and making sure they are procuring legally sourced products and that they have the documentation to prove it. In some cases, we have instructed our suppliers on what kind of documents they need to provide us in order to remain in compliance.

One Size Does Not Fit All However, every company is different. As such, each company’s program or system should be tai-

lored to their business and what type of products and transactions they do. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all system. If your company doesn’t have the time or resources, you still have to comply with the Lacey Act as it is the law, but it would be a good idea to have someone on staff devote part of their time to reading up on the rules and implementing a system. Ignorance is not something that the federal government will take as an excuse. The more you know about these laws, the better off your company will be. While it may be time consuming and difficult, it is much better to have a system rather than deal with reinventing the wheel every time. The system can be fairly simple if you are involved in simple transactions that are low risk, but a system should exist. The more robust systems will come into play for companies that import rarer species from countries that are of higher risk. So, what happens if your company isn’t in compliance? At some point, the federal government and/or one of the certification bodies will find out. If you are skirting the Lacey Act, then it’s likely that you will be fined and/or prosecuted. The other consequence, while not as severe, is that customers will likely

turn to other suppliers that can provide the documentation needed and provide certified and legal products. It pays to be in compliance! – Court Robinson is business development manager for Robinson Lumber Co., New Orleans, La., and a member of NAWLA’s marketing committee.

Lacey Act: A U.S. law that bans trafficking in illegal wildlife. A 2008 amendment added timber and paper.

European Union Timber Regulations: For sales to Europe, there is what’s called the EUTR (European Union Timber Regulations), which is similar to the Lacey Act but has some differences. These programs require the importers to prove that the timber was responsibly harvested and hold documentation that proves the entire chain of custody.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): An international nonprofit organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests by setting standards on forest products, along with certifying and labeling them as eco-friendly.

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC): An international nonprofit, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification.

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January 2017

Building Products Digest

WWPA Special Section By Frank Stewart, Western Wood Products Association

U.S. lumber markets continue to strengthen U

.S. LUMBER DEMAND grew to an estimated 45.69 billion bd. ft. in 2016 on the strength of a slowly improving housing recovery that bottomed out during the 2008 financial crisis. New home construction is expected to reach 1.23 million starts for 2016 driven by continued growth in the multifamily sector that will see 420,000 units built by yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s end. Single-family construction will finish the year with a modest improvement to 809,000 homes despite a slim housing inventory and rising home prices. Residential repair and remodeling (R&R), the largest lumber market by volume, continues to buoy lumber demand. R&R construction is expected to consume approximately 17.04 billion bd. ft. of U.S. production in 2016 and 2017 demand is forecast to increase to 17.49 billion bd. ft. New residential construction lumber demand is forecast to increase from an estimated 14.86 billion bd. ft. in 2016 to 16.48 billion bd. ft. in 2017. Single-family starts are forecast to increase to 920,000 starts, while multifamily are expected to see a slight decrease to 395,000 units based on reports of expected inventory overhang in a number of key markets. Interest rates are expected to rise in 2017 but home loan rates are predicted to remain affordable. High consumer confidence, coupled with steady job growth, improving take home pay, and continued slow economic growth, will contribute to mod-

Building Products Digest

est but sustainable gains in lumber demand for new home construction in 2017. U.S. lumber production is expected increased an estimated 4% to 47.95 billion bd. ft., compared to 45.69 billion bd. ft. in 2016, according to WWPA. Lumber production in the West is expected to climb from 13.9 billion bd. ft. in 2016 to 14.3 billion bd. ft. for 2017. Western Wood Products AssociaJanuary 2017

tion represents lumber manufacturers in the 12 Western states and Alaska. Based in Portland, Or., WWPA compiles lumber industry statistics and provides business information services to mills. The association also delivers quality standards, technical and product support services to the industry. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Frank Stewart is product services support manager for the Western Wood Products Association. Reach him via www.wwpa.org. Building-Products.com

WWPA Special Section By David Koenig

Quota marks Manufacturers size up state of softwood import duty conflict U

in the struggle to resolve the softwood lumber trade dispute with Canada, a coalition representing U.S. lumber manufacturers has taken their greviance to court. The day after Thanksgiving, the Committee Overseeing Action for Lumber International Trade Investigations or Negotiations petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to, in their words, “restore the conditions of fair trade in softwood lumber between the U.S. and Canada.” The petition alleges that Canadian provincial governments provide trees to Canadian producers for far below the market value of the timber, allowing Canadian lumber to be sold for less than fair value in the U.S. The petition details the injury suffered by U.S. industry and workers by reason of unfairly-traded Canadian softwood lumber imports. In the immediate aftermath of the expiration of the 2006-2015 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Trade Agreement, Canadian imports surged from 29.5% of U.S. total consumption in the third quarter of 2015 to 33.1% in the fourth quarter and to 34.1% in 2016. In the first eight months of 2016, Canadian imports were over 33% higher than in the same period of 2015. The petition reportedly also illustrated that the imports caused prices to fall, even while U.S. demand was increasing. The coalition is an ad hoc association composed of the U.S. Lumber Coalition, domestic softwood lumber manufacturers, timberland owners, and the carpenters union. The group claims to have the support of U.S. producers that account for nearly 70% of all softwood lumber produced domestically. Afforded the chance to speak confidentially, U.S. and Canadian manufacturers shared a range of opinions and hopes of how they would like to see the dispute resolved: PPING THE ANTE

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Western U.S. Manufacturer We filed the petition because Canada has been unwilling to do anything but extend the old agreement, which wasn’t working. In the last agreement, for example, Alberta could ship without limit, but had to pay a duty up to 22% if they exceeded their quota. They regularly paid 22%. It shows you how much of a subsidy they received. The U.S. industry wants an agreement that limits Canadian market share penetration to an agreed-upon percentage. That’s a quota, but it’s a volume quota, a percentage of U.S demand. As the volume of lumber used in the U.S. grows, so does the amount Canada can ship. Once the percentage is reached, any imports would be stopped at the border. If you go back to the 2001 agreement, the day after the deal ended, we filed suit contending subsidy and we filed on the threat of injury. We won on subsidy, but the way U.S. trade law works is, you first have to prove injury. So starting in 2006 we began collecting data, sales data, lost sales, so we would have a solid case around the injury positon. So this time around we feel very comfortable. We’ve never lost on subsidy and are 90% sure we’ll get injury, now that we have data to back it up. We are a little less confident on charges of dumping. We also asked for special circumstances—assuming we win on the preliminary ruling of injury. If we get special circumstances, it makes any tariff 90 days retroactive. We filed (in late November). A preliminary decison is due in early April. Meanwhile, the process marches on, actually two processes—the lawsuit continues and negotiations continue, along two separate tracks. It’s a government-to-government process. Canada has submitted several hybrid proposals. There’s lots going on behind the scenes. We hope for a negotiated agreement. Building-Products.com

Eastern Canadian Manufacturer Despite several disappointing developments, we are trying to remain optimistic. Any time there are discussions, it’s a positive. However, it’s a very stressful, uncertain time. We don’t know how high any quotas will be. Could they be 25% or perhaps, with a new Trump Administration, as high as 45%? We just would like the provinces to maintain their quotas. I know Quebec currently is fighting for an exclusion, which the Americans have never before accepted. We are hoping for stability. In the meantime, we have to focus on what we can control.

Western U.S. Manufacturer From our perspective, the Canadians have quite an advantage timberwise, merely by their federal government selling timber. If our government here did the same, the talk of tariffs would pretty much be a moot point. There are two things we’re concerned about. One, timber availability. We have plenty here in the U.S. We should just turn loose some of it. Two, the exchange rate, the 30% to 40% difference is a huge deal. It seems to be tied to the price of oil. If we could just get the price of oil up, it would make a difference.

live by it. The U.S. landowners will be the ones that see the greatest gains from the agreement, as Canadian export to the U.S. slows, lumber prices will come up, bringing the cost of logs up with them until a balance between is reached. U.S. lumber consumption is far greater that U.S. lumber production, and the economy needs the Canadian imports to remain strong. Whatever the agreement becomes, we will need to find a way to live with it.

Western U.S. Manufacturer We would really like to see a quota limit, as far as a line in the sand, nothing over so many board feet, not just a tariff. They seem to have the ability to just run right through a tariff. I just had a meeting with a railroad today and they stated their Canadian lumber business into the U.S. was up about 34% in 2016. That had a huge impact on U.S. mills. Log costs in Oregon have been extremely high. Oregon has a huge volume of timber, and we should be able to be competitive, but with how our federal government handles land and the Canadian imports, we are not able to create resources to fund our state with its own natural renewable resources.

Western Canadian Manufacturer

Western U.S. Manufacturer with Operations in Western Canada

As a smaller independent producer, we are expecting and preparing for the worst, and hoping for better. The agreement will be focused on and based on the large producers with little to no consideration for the smaller mills. Regardless of what the agreement is, we will have to

We have production facilities on both sides of the border. The reason this is complicated is because of the raw material: logs. Even though the Canadian process is more open and competitive than ever when it comes to logs, Canadian producers still have an advantage over most U.S.

We’re growing Colville, WA – Usk, WA – Midway, BC – Eagar, AZ

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January 2017

Building Products Digest

producers. The Canadian government continues to manage its forests through up and down markets. The price for those logs follows the market up and down, but for the most part, the flow of logs is maintained. Contrast that with the U.S. federal government, which barely manages its forests. This leaves state lands, tribal lands, and private lands for the remaining supply. If a company doesn’t have enough of its own lands to supply its mills, they rely on other sources. In many cases that’s private lands. The issue is the consistency of management. Many of these private landowners are managing for returns. When the market drops, many landowners just wait until the prices return. This puts mills in a very difficult spot, because reducing production raises costs, just when the companies can least afford it. Therefore, there are so few privately held mills left in the U.S. The other main issue with the Softwood Lumber Agreement is currency. That was never factored into prior agreements. Here’s the issue. Today the exchange rate is $1 USD = $1.33 CND and the price for lumber is $349/MBD U.S. dollars, according to Random Lengths. That means the price of lumber is $465.42/MBF in CND. Compare that to December 2012: Random Lengths Composite Average was $370/MBF USD. The exchange rate was $1 USD = $1 CND. That means that a mill in Canada is doing 25% better today than it was in 2012, while a mill in the U.S. is doing 6% worse. These are not insignificant swings. The impact is much more pronounced when the market drops. No one cares when the prices are high because companies are making money, but when prices are below breakeven in the U.S., Canadian mills can still make money shipping into the same market. If prices were at $270/MBF right now, Canadian mills would be seeing prices at $359/MBF CND. These are the scenarios that must be addressed, because at the end of the day the goal isn’t to put people out of work. When these mills go away, on either side of the border, jobs, communities and families are destroyed. That is what is at stake here. That goes much deeper than shareholder returns.

Southern U.S. Manufacturer Manufacturers in the Southeast spend millions of dollars a year managing, growing, harvesting and replanting an ever-improving crop of pine trees, while employing thousands. Raw material costs for U.S. producers are determined by the natural ebb and flow of the free market, and it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to remain viable regardless of market conditions. By controlling and manipulating the raw material cost and supply, the Canadian government gives its manufacturers an unfair competitive advantage. We are in favor of free trade between borders within the limits of a predetermined and reasonable quota that creates a relatively fair playing field, thus helping to protect our thriving industry and much-needed American jobs.

Western U.S. Remanufacturer As a manufacturer, the duty will have a negative effect on our business. We will be paying more for our raw mate-

Building Products Digest

January 2017

rial input to create our finished goods, which in turn gives the Canadian remanufacturers an advantage. Due to the duty-free tag on manufactured material from Canada, we will see more Canadian companies manufacturing finished products selling into our market.

Western Canadian Remanufacturer We don’t own any tenure. We are a remanufacturer of western red cedar that buys our timber from the large western Canadian producers. The charge is they receive access to timber at below market value, so in order to even the playing field for U.S. mills, Canadian exporters must pay a duty on any softwood lumber going into the U.S. But some of us don’t own any tenure. We already offer a pretty high-end product, which gets even more expensive when you add a 20% duty. The best case scenario would be an exemption for companies that don’t hold tenure, but the strategy of the (U.S.) Coalition is they don’t want any companies to circumvent the agreement. They want to include as many companies as possible. You could have a species exemption, but that’s unlikely and, if you exempted a particular species, then everyone would want to get into it, further driving up competition. A better option might be, if they won’t single out tenure holders, for companies that prove they don’t get any value from any government subsidies to be allowed to pay lower percentage. The U.S. is concerned about imports of SPF framing lumber, 2x4, 2x6, what competes with southern pine. They don’t care about cedar. It’s only about 3% of the market. As a cedar guy, we’d have to pass the cost on to our customers. The last time we went through this, the Department of Commerce temporarily reduced the duty from 27% to 17% for several companies that could prove they received no benefit from subsidies, but it only lasted for a year and a half. And right now the U.S. wants to cause some pain. We are very, very nervous where this is going to end up.

Southern U.S. Manufacturer We as a company are unique among southern pine producers. We have never supported the coalition fighting Canadian imports and honestly I don’t even pay much attention to what is currently going on regarding the trade agreement. That being said, we are also somewhat unique in that we are a SYP mill that produces no dimension lumber, so we are less impacted by whatever happens. I do wonder what the Canadian companies who now have so much production in the Southern U.S. feel about the issue.

Western Canadian Manufacturer We are in the cedar business and, in a perfect world, we’d continue the agreement that we have had. But this is not a fair world. There’s going to be some short-term pain. This is a business based on continuity and certainty—staring down at a nightmare scenario and trying to figure out ways to mitigate risk. The problem with a quota system is it’s so political with Building-Products.com

the mills, between the provinces, over tenure rights, first nation vs. second nation. It gets so complicated. Some of them have already announced they will be raising their log prices next year, so cedar will be more expensive.

But there’s no risk until the end of January. We have a window until January 30 until we have to worry about retroactive countervailing duties or dumping penalties. So right now we are shipping everything we have that’s finished across the border. This year we’ve done more forward business than we’ve ever done, and every year our cedar business is up 20%. Consequently, I’m pretty optimistic for the long term, duty or non-

duty. I suspect the American homeowners will be the ones left paying more.

Western U.S. Remanufacturer Because we are a secondary manufacturer, the softwood lumber agreement may have a positive effect on our U.S. customers and may have a negative effect on our Canadian customers. We attempt to be Switzerland at times like this, staying neutral and supporting all of our customers.

Portland to Host Annual Industry Conference The largest gathering of western lumber producers will return to Portland, Or., this spring with the Western Wood Products Association’s 2017 annual meeting. The meeting brings together leading manufacturers to discuss industry issues and hear the latest forecasts for the coming year. The conference will be held March 5-7 at the Embassy Suites in downtown Portland, drawing the lumber industry’s top professionals, ranging from senior-level executives to sales managers and production personnel. The annual meeting will kick off with the industry welcome reception on Sunday March 5. Monday morning sessions get underway with the industry forecast breakfast with the association’s outlook for 2017 lumber markets, before getting down to business with WWPA standing committee meetings, followed by the industry luncheon. The afternoon features guest speakers covering a range of topics important to lumber producers and their customers. The day will close with the chairman’s reception, which offers many opportunities to network. To register or get more information, visit ww.wwpa.org.

Building-Products.com

January 2017

Building Products Digest

USS ARIZONA Memorial renovation project in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor utilized Feeney, Inc.’s DesignRail aluminum railings with CableRail stainless steel cable infill. Due to the salt water exposure, Feeney also provid-

ed special isolation bushings made from engineered polymers to line the cable holes in the posts and eliminate direct contact of the stainless cable and aluminum post material.

Tenon Sells North American Units

mat distribution company, American Mat & Timber. St. Landry Parish, with its abundance of hardwood resources and its proximity to our branch locations, our customers, and rail and major waterways, is the perfect spot for us.”

New York-based private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners has acquired New Zealand-based Tenon Holdings’ North American operating business, which it will operate as Novo Building Products, LLC. The North American divisions include The Empire Company, Southwest Moulding Co., Ornamental Mouldings, Ornamental Products, and Creative Stair. Previous CEO Tom B. Highley has returned to serve as CEO of Novo. He had also served as president of Empire and, most recently, as president and CEO of Guardian Building Products.

New Start for Bayou Hardwood Mill Adobe Machinery Group has formed LeMoyen Mill & Timber LLC to purchase Bayou State Lumber Co.’s sawmill in LeMoyen, La. The firm will also invest another $2 million in upgrades, allowing the facility to saw boards and timbers for assembly into timber and laminated mats. It will employ 32. Adobe CEO Robert W. Latimer noted, “The mill, with its production capacity and immense hardwood lumber storage, brings tremendous integration opportunities to our

Building Products Digest

January 2017

DO IT BEST Corp. recently held an open buying day, welcoming prospective domestic and international vendors to the co-op’s world headquarters in Fort Wayne, In. The event enabled Do it Best merchandise managers to meet one-on-one with prospective vendors interested in doing business with the co-op and its member-owners.

Building-Products.com

PRODUCT Spotlight By Southern Forest Products Association

Southern pine industry plans for progress W

to the annual production of southern pine lumber, there have been more ups than downs lately in the cyclical business. For all of 2016, mills are on track to ship about 5% more lumber than they did in 2015 when the annual total was 16.70 billion bd. ft. Last year will mark the seventh consecutive year of production increases for an industry that is fully recovered from the recession and planning for more progress in the coming years. The lumber business has progressed to become a high-tech industry. Mills are upgrading to the latest equipment and technology to remain competitive, while maintaining safety in the workplace as a top priority. Many lumber dealers and distributors are noticing a smart, service-oriented industry that is often exceeding their expectations. That word “service” is the founding HEN IT COMES

motto of the Southern Forest Products Association, the regional trade association representing southern pine lumber manufacturers, treaters and allied businesses. Now in operation for more than 100 years, SFPA serves a global economy reaching markets that recognize southern pine’s top selling points —strength, treatability and beauty. SFPA delivers to lumber sellers the materials they need to sell more southern pine. It’s a relationship SFPA has fostered since 1915.

Foundations for Success Certainly, on any given day, dealers handle all types of customers— contractors and remodelers, the weekend DIYers, even amateur woodworkers. Projects most often revolve around the home and that’s just one market where southern pine materials deliver exceptional performance. Whoever thought of building a new

PRESSURE-TREATED southern pine piling and floor framing is ideal for building in coastal areas.

Building Products Digest

January 2017

home on a foundation of wood? The founding fathers of our country did. George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello both stand tall today on a raised wood foundation. No wonder their homes have the impressive looks of architectural masterpieces. It’s a homebuilding technique that has withstood the test of time and is more relevant today than ever before. The year 2016 will go down in America’s history as one of historic flooding. In Louisiana, five days of downpours—rainfall totals that might occur once every 1,000 years—resulted in the worst flooding in the U.S. since Superstorm Sandy back in 2012. More than 60,000 homes filled with the waters of overflowing rivers and creeks, with damage estimates nearing $15 billion. Hurricane Matthew left a deadly trail of flooded homes in the Florida and the Carolinas—more than $5 billion worth. Federal disaster assistance was needed in a long list of other states during the year: West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas and Oklahoma. Schools and businesses closed, roads and bridges were swept away, not to mention the impacts on daily life at home. The durability and versatility of southern pine lumber provides the solution for homebuilding in all of these flood-ravaged areas. And building above grade offers advantages beyond curb appeal and better protection against flooding. Improved energy efficiency, porches and decks score bonus points with homeowners and dealers alike—the raised floor home is more comfortable to live in and dealers can sell a third more lumber in the Building-Products.com

typical framing package by incorporating a raised wood foundation. The flooding of 2016 knew no boundaries—coastal, inland, areas that have never flooded before. Is this due to climate change? Who knows. One thing is for certain: for more than a decade, SFPA has promoted the merits of building new homes above grade. Its site RaisedFloorLiving.com is split into two portals, one for homeowners and one for building professionals to provide necessary information and answers to frequently asked questions.

SP Solutions Online As rebuilding efforts and a resurgent housing market are making progress across the country, southern pine materials are readily available in a range of sizes, grades and patterns. And information about the proper specification and use of these materials is just a mouse click away. SFPA’s family of websites is accessed from its gateway page—SFPA.org. Select the product promotion headquarters at SouthernPine.com and find every resource for acquiring and using quality southern pine products. Dealers can use the Product Locator to find suppliers for more than

Building-Products.com

A NEW HOME built on a raised wood floor foundation can boost curb appeal and energy efficiency in flood-prone areas.

400 items. Or, right from the homepage, they can complete a Lumber Purchase Inquiry for those hard-tofind items; inquiries are relayed to SFPA members for a response. Southern pine lumber has a proven reputation for long spans so, naturally, the page on the site listing span tables is one of the most popular. Here, deal-

ers can find all 46 span tables covering virtually every loading condition. Simplified span tables for southern pine lumber and glued laminated headers, beams and girders are also available, including size selection and allowable load tables. Dealers can keep a reference copy handy at their counters by visiting the

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Building Products Digest

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Publications page of the site and downloading free PDFs of Southern Pine Maximum Spans for Joists & Rafters and Southern Pine Headers & Beams. For use at the jobsite, SFPA offers its handy pocket span card—a dozen span tables listing the most popular loading conditions for joists and rafters, showing options for using visually graded, MSR and MEL. The card is a welcome handout to a dealer’s top customers. Order cards from SouthernPine.com.

southern pine remains the most cost-effective and durable solution for outdoor building projects. Fully 85% of all treated wood produced in the U.S. is southern pine; it has long been the preferred species for pressure treatment because of its unique cellular structure that allows deep, uniform penetration of preservatives. With the publication last July of the 2016 AWPA Book of StanBUILDING a raised floor home using pressure-treated southern pine brings value- dards, the proper uses for materials treated to added protection against termite attack and decay. Ground Contact retenSP Suits Every Room tions have been clarified. Treated lumber is being properly Southern pine’s inherent beauty and distinctive grain specified and retailers have determined the best inventory make it a preferred material of interior designers. Beyond to carry. flooring and paneling, southern pine specialty patterns “Some are stocking all Ground Contact-rated lumber, enhance the look of ceilings and cabinets. Semi-transparent while others are carrying Ground Contact for wide widths stains and other finishes are value-added sales opportunities and Above Ground retentions for decking, 2x4 and 2x6, for dealers, too. SFPA’s booklet Southern Pine Patterns providing consumers the flexibility to select a treated lumdescribes popular profiles and includes installation and finber product that best suits their project guidelines,” comishing tips. ments SFPA’s Eric Gee. Another 20-page booklet, Southern Pine Flooring, covThis year, SFPA’s Pressure-Treated Southern Pine will ers product selection, installation, finishing and maintebe revised and updated with the latest listings of preservanance—a comprehensive user’s guide to the proper applitives available and typical uses. Table 2 in this booklet is a cation of flooring materials for both interior and exterior simplified specification guide any member of the sales projects. Here are more helpful resources for sales team team can use to make sure a customer buys the right treated training; both publications are available for a free download wood for the job. from the Publications page of SouthernPine.com. Construction tips can be found in Southern Pine Decks & Porches, which explains the finer points of product Progress for Treated Wood selection, proper connections, plus finishing and maintenance. Both helpful titles are available as a free PDF downNothing can replace real wood’s natural beauty and verload from the Publications page of SouthernPine.com. satility for building outdoors. Consumers and builders alike enjoy the look and feel of real wood. And pressure-treated

Sparkman, Arkansas

Phone: (870) 226-6850 • (870) 678-2277 • Fax: (870) 678-2522 The White Family – Serving the Lumber Industry for Four Generations

High Quality Arkansas Southern Yellow Pine Boards, Pattern Stock and 5/4 Square Edge, Flooring, Beaded Ceiling, 105, 116, 117, 119, 122, 131, 139, 5/4x12 Nosing. 38

Building Products Digest

January 2017

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SP Design Values Thanks to an industrywide communications campaign, any customer buying southern pine lumber these days is aware of the design values that became effective back on June 1, 2013. For an extended period after that date, the values were tagged as “new” to call attention to the changes. No longer. Buyers and sellers alike have become accustomed to these southern pine design values—values that are comparable to other softwood species used in residential and commercial construction. Users also have the option to choose from a variety of visual grades and an increasing supply of mechanical grades (MSR and MEL) providing a wide range of dependable strength and stiffness properties to meet the needs of any project. And when it comes to density, southern pine has the highest specific gravity of all common structural lumber species, providing superior fastener-holding power and load-bearing capacity. Since all target audiences are well aware of the values now in effect, SFPA is updating its Lumber Library of publications to avoid confusion in the marketplace. For reference and educational purposes, SFPA retains a page of background information about the development of design values, available from the homepage of SouthernPine.com. That’s progress.

Progress through Research Progress for the southern pine lumber industry often relies on authoritative research. Studies currently underway at leading universities will help shape the industry’s future for decades to come. Lumber quality, durability and protection research is the focus at Mississippi State University’s Department of

Sustainable Bioproducts. Since 1964, the MSU forest products laboratory has worked closely with industry stakeholders; work related to southern pine products consumes the greatest share of its resources. Ongoing studies are looking for ways to better predict lumber strength and stiffness properties. Techniques developed provide a potential mechanism to valuate trees and logs based on the anticipated performance of the lumber made from them which, in turn, can influence the cost of the raw material. Also, in the ever-evolving world of wood preservatives and treatment standards, the subject of wood protection is earning a lot of attention among department researchers. At Auburn University, much research has been done to study acoustics as a means to reliably predict the stiffness of standing trees. Currently available systems are not always accurate; commercialization of the process has been hampered by calibration issues. Auburn researchers are working with the industry to solve this issue and develop a measurement system that is acceptable to those in the dis-

HOOD LUMBER

Silver Creek, MS

Metcalf, GA Waynesboro, MS Bogalusa, LA

Hood Industries operates four quality Southern Pine sawmills in Mississippi, Louisiana & Georgia, specializing in superior SYP Lumber, providing a full product mix of 2x4 thru 2x12, small timbers, & lengths up to 24’. “We go to great lengths to ensure your satisfaction” Phone 601-264-2559 Fax 601-296-4740

www.hoodindustries.com Building-Products.com

January 2017

Building Products Digest

tribution chain. The hope is that one day, using sound waves, a landowner or company forester can evaluate the stiffness of standing trees to better evaluate the quality of the wood and ultimately determine if it is suitable for lumber production. Over at Virginia Tech’s Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, research focused on improving mill efficiency, enhancing product quality, and developing new products. Evaluating energy consumption during the manufacturing process is helping identify areas for potential improvement, with the goal to enhance product quality and safety at sawmills. Faculty members are studying biological methods to break down wood fiber’s cellulose into carbohydrates for conversion into bioethanol. And the potential of prefabricated housing units for low income residents of Latin America is being studied, creating a promising new market for Ssouthern pine products. “The results of research at our universities play an integral part in the future advancement and productivity of the southern pine lumber industry,” notes SFPA’s Eric Gee.

LUMBER QUALITY, durability and protection research is the focus of studies underway at Mississippi State’s Department of Sustainable Bioproducts.

Progress in Technology Every two years, SFPA brings together the latest in sawmill equipment, technology and services. Since 1950, this event—the Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition— has showcased the newest manufacturing innovations for the entire wood products industry.

This year, it’s Expo 2017—for three days in June at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, attendees can look over the future of the industry. The products of some 200 exhibitors will be on display. Complete details, including a list of exhibitors, is available at SFPAexpo.com. Online registration to attend will be available soon.

Progress in Social Media The southern pine industry is broadening its reach to educate potential customers using social media. Follow SFPA on Twitter at @Southern_Pine, and stay informed about the latest association news, publication updates and industry trends. SFPA’s YouTube channel, southernpinelumber, is a collection of some three dozen videos—many are ideal for training purposes, demonstrating the features of raised wood floor foundations, porch construction, and how to install southern pine 1x4 flooring over a plywood subfloor, among other topics.

SFPA Begins 2nd Century One hundred years have passed since the founding of the Southern Pine Association, the original name of the SFPA. Today, the group has begun its second century of service to dealers and users, now operating in a global marketplace. There exists no better source of southern pine information, assuring buyers of durability and a high level of product performance that has withstood the test of time. Member mills produce nearly half of all southern pine lumber.

Building Products Digest

January 2017

Building-Products.com

MOVERS & Shakers Marco Oropeza is now GM of Huttig Building Products, Dallas, Tx. John D. Francis, former president and VP of Francis-Schulze Co., Russia, Oh., has retired after 45 years in the industry. Meagan McCoy Jones has been promoted to executive VP and chief operating officer for McCoy’s Building Supply, San Marcos, Tx. Newly promoted store mgrs. are Johnny Sellers, Greenville, Ms.; Leo Pena, Edinburg, Tx.; Corey Elmore, New Braunfels, Tx.; Sal Lopez, Kingville, Tx.; and Tommy Saunders, Beeville, Tx. Paul Burchfield, ex-Roof Depot, has joined BlueLinx, Atlanta, Ga., as multi-family sales mgr. for the Central Region Jason Ringblom has been promoted to executive VP and general mgr. of the OSB business of LouisianaPacific, Nashville, Tn. He succeeds Brad Southern, who is now chief operating officer. Neil Sherman is now executive VP and general mgr. of the siding business, replacing Brian Luoma, who is leaving LP to pursue other opportunities. Sales & marketing senior VP Mike Sims has added oversight of the EWP business. Craig Sichling is now VP of specialty sales & marketing. Patrick McGuiness has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of US LBM Holdings, Buffalo Grove, Il. He succeeds CFO Rick Kolaczweski, who has left to pursue other professional opportunities. Mark Brassard, ex-Huttig Building Products, is a new account mgr. for Trex, serving north Boston, Ma.; N.H.; and Maine. Jason Rastad has been promoted to regional director, engineered wood & specialty products for Sherwood Lumber Corp., Melville, N.Y., managing all aspects of the EWP & specialties programs throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Oscar Meraz, ex-BMC/Stock, was named general mgr. of Buffalo Framing & Truss, Pflugerville, Tx. Jerry Schaefer, ex-Forge Lumber, is now director of commercial sales for Carter Lumber, Cincinnati, Oh. Brian Edge, ex-Nichiha USA, has joined Jeld-Wen, as Miratec regional sales mgr. to Va., W.V., N.C., and S.C.

Building Products Digest

Don Stuard is new to outside sales with Gordon Lumber Co., Bowling Green, Oh. Marc Gattuso, ex-Florence Building Materials, has joined 84 Lumber as market sales mgr. in Riverhead, N.Y. Shannon Burnett is now with the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association as regional director for Eastern Building Material Dealers Association and Northeastern Young Lumber Executives. Tara Johnson is new to Johnson Lumber Co., Carthage, N.Y., in sales and operations. Shaun Nelson is now with BlueTarp Financial, as regional sales mgr. in the Midwest, covering the Mn., Ia., Ne., N.D., and S.D. Brian Smith, ex-Carter Lumber, is new to K.C. Company, Winchester, Va., in trade sales of Pella windows and doors. Angela Anderson is now with Universal Forest Products, Grand Rapids, Mi., as a category marketing specialist. Sara Knowles, ex-Firestone Building Products, is new to outside sales at Allied Building Products Corp., Indianapolis, In. Bill Cappuchio, ex-Liberty Roofing Center, has joined Plycem USA, as territory sales mgr. in Philadelphia, Pa., of Allura Fiber Cement. Dave Koester has been promoted to corporate training mgr. for Weather Shield Windows & Doors, Medford, Wi.

Matthew Daniel is new to sales at Guerry Lumber Co., Savannah, Ga. Matt Moldenhauer has been appointed president of Bellwether Forest Products, Columbia, S.C. Shingo Watada has joined Sto Corp., Atlanta, Ga., as product mgr.-coatings, specialty finishes, & reStore. Robert Rapp, ex-Lewisburg Builders Supply, is a new Lewisburg, Pa.based implementation specialist for ECiSoftware Solutions. Danny White, T.R. Miller Mill Co., Brewton, Al., and Furman Brodie, Charles Ingram Lumber, Florence, S.C., have been appointed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to three-year terms representing the U.S. South on the Softwood Lumber Board. Alden J. Robbins, Robbins Lumber, Searsmont, Me., will represent the Northeast and Lake States; Charles W. Roady, F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber, Bonners Ferry, Id., U.S. West; Don Kayne, Canfor, Vancouver, B.C, western Canada; and Francisco Figueroa, Arauco, Santiago, Chile, all other importing countries. Steve Boyd, president, Manufacturers Reserve Supply, Irvington, N.J., was profiled in the Nov./Dec. issue of Met Golfer. Bert Jones, owner of Mid-States Wood Preservers, Simsboro, La., and former LSU quarterback, was inducted Dec. 6 into the College Football Hall of Fame. Joy Ryder is testing the new vehicle fleet after hours at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., according to co-owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

LOUISIANA-BASED RoyOMartin has been recognized by the Louisiana Association of Business & Industry as the first-ever recipient of the Manufacturer of the Year Award for companies with 100 or more employees. At the award ceremony are (left to right) Natchitoches Community Alliance Foundation’s Mike Wolff, RoyOMartin president & CFO Roy O. Martin III, Alliance Compressors’ Ken Gardner, and RoyOMartin chairman & CEO Jonathan E. Martin. January 2017

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NEW Products

Expressive New Colors TAMKO Building Products has added several colors for its new Envision Expression line of capped composite decking boards: Harbor Grey, Caribou Brown, Canyon Ridge and Woodland Bark. The four color options were chosen after TAMKO reached out to its customer bases for feedback on preferences.

n TAMKO.COM

(800) 641-4691

The Right Connection Simpson Strong-Tie is now offering an innovative hanger that’s easy and intuitive to use for connecting rafters to hip/valley beams in roof framing. Its simple design of the field-adjustable jack rafter hanger makes installation simple and quick, resulting in lower labor costs. The hanger features a versatile hinged seat that easily adjusts to conventional rafter slopes. The gripper seat frees up a hand for the installer at the time of attachment.

n STRONG-TIE.COM (800) 999-5099

Tunes on the Job & on the Go Milwaukee Tool’s Wireless Jobsite Speaker provides unmatched premium quality sound and jobsite durability. Designed with six full-range speakers, the device is unmatched in clarity of sound, from booming bass to sharp high frequencies, which reportedly make it the industry’s loudest and clearest sound system on or off the jobsite.

n MILWAUKEETOOL.COM (800) 729-3878

Building Products Digest

January 2017

Building-Products.com

Join top industryy decision makers for insigghts to grow your business, your knowledge and your network.

MARCH 12-14

Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa Tucson, ucson AZ

Conﬁrmed presenters and sessions includee: • Jim Cline, President and CEO of Trrex Company • Dick Molpus, President of The Molpus Woodlands Group • Claudia St. John, Afﬁnity HR Group • “Legends of Lumber” Panel Leaders from across the forest products industry – including retailers buying groups retailers, groups, jobbers and otherrs across the supply chain – are inviteed to attend this NAWLA eevent!

Registration is Open! To learn more and register, visit www.nawla.org/leeadershipsummit

Efficient Anchors Simpson Strong-Tieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new, redesigned Drop-In Anchor is meant to provide easier installation into base materials. The displacement-controlled expansion anchors are easily set by driving the plug toward the bottom of the anchor using either the hand- or power-setting tools. DIAB anchors feature a positive-set marking indicator at the top of the anchor, helping you see more clearly when proper installation has taken place.

n STRONGTIE.COM (800) 999-5099

Impactful Wrenches Porter Cable launched its new 20V MAX Lithium Ion 1/2-inch Hog Ring Impact Wrench, an extension of the 20V Lithium Ion Get Linked system of tools. Engineered with residential contractors and mechanics in mind, the cordless tool features a variable speed trigger, plus a 1/2inch hog ring anvil, which provides 330 ft. lbs. of max torque for construction applications, lug nut removal, and quick, easy socket changes.

n PORTERCABLE.COM (866) 375-6287

Lightweight Lighting Aleddra's new CF-LED Ulamp is a patent-pending LED lamp that is stylish, lightweight and economical. The lamp uses a glass tube, which provides better heat dissipation than that of the plastic tube used with the LED corn light, thus resulting a longer lifetime and a better ROI. The lamp is certified and has a five-year warranty.

n ALEDDRA.COM (425) 430-4555

Building Products Digest

January 2017

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Westlake Adds in Wichita Westlake Ace Hardware acquired Williams Ace Hardware’s stores in Wichita and Andover, Ks. The stores are in the process of being re-branded as Westlake Ace locations. Michael Thornton will serve as GM in Wichita, and James Jaeger in Andover.

New OSB Plant on Track Work continues on RoyOMartin’s new $280-million OSB plant in Corrigan, Tx., set to open in fall 2017. Sitting on 158 acres, Corrigan OSB LLC is reportedly the only greenfield OSB plant currently under construction in the U.S.

IN Memoriam Camille E. Pepin, 91, founder of C. Pepin & Son Lumber, Woonsocket, R.I., died Dec. 5. After receiving a Purple Heart for his Army service during World War II, he founded the company in 1947, operating it with his wife for many years before passing it to his children. He was named Rhode Island Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association Lumberman of the Year in 1990. Cambron “Camo” Frost, 74, president and CEO of Frost Lumber Co., Thibodaux, La., died Nov. 9. As the fourth generation to lead the company, he took over for his father in the mid-1980s and leaves it in the hands of his daughter and son. Rodney Thomas Passig, 80, retired Iowa lumberman, died Nov. 16 After graduating from high school in 1954, he joined Eclipse Lumber Co., Welton, Ia., working his way up to manager. He transferred to manage Eclipse’s yard in DeWitt and later bought it, eventually adding a yard in LeClaire, Ia.

Demand Builds for Synthetic Roofing Increased homeowner interest in cool roofs and authentic-looking slate and shake roofing products will continue to spur the growth of polymer roofing products in 2017. Last year, DaVinci Roofscapes launched four new cool family colors for its EcoBlend polymer roofing. Each option was approved by the Cool Roof Rating Council to reflect sunlight and heat away from a home or

Phillip Earl “Sonny” Phinny, 90, longtime inside salesman for Gulf State Lumber Co., Tyler, Tx., died Dec. 8 in Tyler. A highly decorated veteran of the U.S. Army, serving as a rifleman in the infantry and stationed in Europe during World War II, he spent over 35 years with Gulf State before retiring. William J. “Bill” Campbell, 90, longtime manager of Madison County Lumber, Anderson, In., died Nov. 7. Building-Products.com

COOL COLORS are hot in polymer roofing.

commercial structure, helping the building or home stay cooler in the summer and helping to lower energy costs. The new color blends all meet Title 24 requirements for California. “We expect this trend will accelerate in 2017 as people across the country learn the value of energy-efficient synthetic roofing products,” says Ray Rosewall, president and CEO. “We’ve heard from distributors, roofers and builders that these polymer products are becoming more preferred to natural roofing materials. People desire the expected look of shake and slate, but they truly want the benefits that a manmade product offers.” DaVinci offers seven different lines of simulated slate and shake roofing in 50 standard colors and a multitude of color blend options. Slate Gray, Tahoe and Mountain blends continued as favorites in 2016 for both residential and commercial projects. “More than 80% of our product sales are driven by reroofing projects,” says Rosewall. “We often see people replacing their rotting real wood shake tiles or failing asphalt shingles with our product.

January 2017

Building Products Digest

ASSOCIATION Update Eastern Building Material Dealers Association on Jan. 1 officially became the 14th subgroup affiliated with Northeastern Retail Lumber Association. At its annual meeting Dec. 1, EBMDA welcomed its new chair, Eric Tucker, Beatty Lumber & Millwork, Upper Darby, Pa. Rounding out the board are treasurer Barry Scholtz, SSC Distributors, Chester, Pa.; secretary Mike Lippincott, Reeb Millwork, Bethlehem, Pa.; ERT chair Brent Hankins, H.H. Hankins & Bro., Bridgeton, N.J.; 1st past chair Angelo Quattrocchi, Construction Building Materials, Bristol, Pa.; and directors Tony Brunk, Peoples Supply Co., Hyattsville, Md.; Joe Facini, WOLF, York, Pa.; Neal Fruman, National Lumber, Baltimore, Md.; Scott Huguely, Galliher & Huguely Associates, Washington, D.C.; Rich Lender, Your Building Centers, Altoona, Pa.; Chad Miller, Eastern Engineered Wood Products, Allentown, Pa.; and Finola Patricelli, Heath Lumber Co., Ewing, N.J. EBMDA is holding a strategic planning session Jan. 12-13 at Osprey Point Inn, Rock Hall, Md. Northeastern Retail Lumber Association is ramping up for LBM Expo ’17 Feb. 15-17 at Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, R.I.

In the meantime, NRLA will host a seminar on performance through coaching and feedback Jan. 9 in Rensselaer, N.Y. Attendees will learn to use the Performance Continuum Feedback Method to assess performance, determine the actions required to optimize effectiveness, and script actionable messages. NRLA is also launching a next generation program along with the Lumber and Building Material Dealers Foundation Jan. 30-31 at NRLA headquarters. The program is specifically developed to meet the needs of the next generation of LBM family business owners. NRLA affiliate New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association will hold its annual meeting Jan. 10 in Bedford, N.H., while Retail Lumber Dealers Association of Maine gathers Jan. 19 at Macpage, Augusta, Me. Building Material Suppliers Association will hold its annual board and executive meeting Jan. 31 in Hickory, N.C., leading into a two-day basic blueprint reading & material take-off Jan. 31-Feb. 1. On Feb. 1-2, BMSA’s annual building products show will fill Hickory Metro Convention Center, supplemented by a roster of speakers touching on generational shifts, business culture, and market strategies.

Northwestern Lumber Association is looking forward to its annual Building Products Expo Jan. 16-17 at DoubleTree by Hilton, Bloomington, Mn. In addition to the show, the expo will feature a student career panel, contractor class, and seminars. Presenters will include Bill Sharp on “Counter & Inside Sales,” John McHugh with “Create a Workplace Culture that Brings Success,” and Jan Fedora on “Workplace Safety & OSHAE Compliance.” Mid-America Lumbermens Association is reminding members to set aside Jan. 6 for its Missouri winter meeting and Jan. 14-15 for its Kansas winter meeting in Hutchison, Ks. Lake States Lumber Association will have an election of directors and business meeting at its annual winter meeting Jan. 11-13 at Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, Green Bay, Wi. During the event, the Al Andersen Memorial Award and Carl Danielson Scholarship will be handed out. Missouri Forest Products Association kicks off the year with its annual winter meeting Jan. 10-11 at Capitol Plaza & Convention Center, Jefferson City, Mo. Sessions will cover forest health, governmental/public affairs, PAC, and education and technical services. Day two is the Missouri Forest Products PAC’s annual legislative breakfast.

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. Checks payable to 526 Media Group. Deadline: 18th of previous month. Questions? Call (714) 486-2735.

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Building Products Digest

January 2017

Building-Products.com

DATE Book

Woodworks – Jan. 11, Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Minneapolis, Mn.; (443) 531-9753; www.woodworks.org .

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

Lake States Lumber Assn. – Jan. 11-13, winter meeting, Radisson Hotel & Conference Center, Green Bay, Wi.; www.lsla.com.

Missouri Forest Products Association – Jan. 10-11, winter meeting, Jefferson City, Mo.; (573) 634-3252; www.moforest.org.

Guardian Building Products– Jan. 12-15, dealers show, Disney World Swan & Dolphin, Orlando, Fl.; www.guardianbp.com.

International Builders Show – Jan. 10-12, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fl.; www.buildersshow.com.

Mid-America Lumbermens Association – Jan. 14-15, Kansas winter meeting, Hutchison, Ks.; (800) 747-6529; www.themla.com.

New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association – Jan. 10, board meeting, Manchester Country Club, Bedford, N.H.; www.nrla.org.

New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association – Jan. 14-16, annual convention, Eugene, Or.; (707) 621-0485; www.nrla.org. Do it Best Corp. – Jan. 15-16, winter conference, Orlando, Fl.; (260) 748-5300; www.doitbestcorp.com.

ADVERTISERS Index

Northwestern Lumber Assn. – Jan. 16-17, building products expo, DoubleTree, Bloomington, Mn.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org.

AZEK [www.azek.com]

Surfaces – Jan. 17-20, Las Vegas, Nv.; www.surfaces.com.

ClearSpan Fabric Structures [www.clearspan.com]

CMPC [www.cmpc.cl]

Retail Lumber Dealers Association of Maine – Jan. 19, board meeting Macpage, Augusta, Me.; www.nrla.org.

Columbia Vista Corp. [www.columbiavistacorp.com]

National Kitchen & Bath Association – Jan. 19-21, annual show, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fl.; www.nkba.org.

Crumpler Plastic Pipe [www.cpp-pipe.com]

Northeast Window & Door Assn. – Jan. 25-26, winter education meeting, King of Prussia, Pa.; (609) 799-4900; www.nwda.net.

CT Darnell Construction [www.ct-darnell.com]

Everwood Treatment Co. [www.everwoodtreatment.com]

Green Bay Decking [www.greenbaydecking.com]

Hood Industries [www.hoodindustries.com]

International Beams [www.internationalbeams.com]

Jordan Lumber Co., LeeRoy [www.internationalbeams.com] 22 Kop-Coat [www.kop-coat.com]

Cover III

House-Hasson Hardware Co. – Jan. 26-28, dealer market, Opryland Resort, Nashville, Tn.; (800) 333-0520; www.househasson.com. Northeastern Lumber Association – Jan. 30-31, next generation leaders program, Rensselaer, N.Y.; www.nrla.org. Northwestern Lumber Association – Jan. 30, Future Lumber Leaders meeting; Jan. 31, Wisconsin lumber dealers convention, Wisconsin Dells, Wi.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org. Building Materials Suppliers Association – Jan. 31, board meeting; Feb. 1-2, building products show, Hickory Metro Convention Center, Hickory, N.C.; (800) 849-1503; www.mybmsa.org.

Lumbermens Assn. of Texas & Louisiana [www.lat.org]

National Assn. of Wholesaler-Distributors – Jan. 31-Feb. 2, executive summit, Fairmont, Washington, D.C.; www.naw.org.

Maze Nails [www.mazenails.com]

American Fence Assn. – Feb. 1-5, FenceTech/DeckTech, Music City Center, Nashville, Tn.; www.americanfenceassociation.com.

Norbord [www.norbord.com]

North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. [www.nawla.org]

Northeastern Retail Lumber Association [www.nrla.com]

South Dakota Retail Lumerman’s Assn. – Feb. 7-8, convention, Best Western Plus Ramkota, Sioux Falls, S.D.; www.nlassn.org.

Orgill [www.orgill.com.]

Budma 2016 – Feb. 7-10, International Construction & Architecture Fair, Poznan, Poland; (317) 293-0406; www.budma.com.

Potlatch [www.potlatchcorp.com]

Ray White Lumber [www.raywhitelumber.com]

Roseburg Forest Products [www.roseburg.com] Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]

Illinois Lumber & Material Dealers Assn. – Feb. 4, convention & expo, Paradice Hotel & Casino, East Peoria, Il.; www.ilmda.com.

Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Assn. – Feb. 8-9, convention & expo, Marriott Downtown, Indianapolis, In.; www.ihla.org.

Cover IV

Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association – Feb. 9-10, annual meeting, Jackson, Ms.; (601) 856-8465; www.mlmalumber.com.

Cover I

Florida Hardware Co. – Feb. 11, market, Doubletree Convention Center, Orlando, Fl.; (800) 372-2110; www.floridahardware.com.

Snider Industries [www.sniderindustries.com]

Southern Forest Products Association [www.sfpa.org]

Southern Pine Inspection Bureau [www.spib.com]

Swanson Group Sales Co. [www.swansongroupinc.com]

Tri-State Lumber [www.homanindustries.com]

Vaagen Bros. Lumber Inc. [www.vaagenbros.com]

Batibouw – Feb. 16-17, International Building Fair, Brussels, Belgium; www.batibouw.be/emn.

Versatex [www.versatex.com]

Orgill Inc. – Feb. 16-18, dealer market, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, La.; (800) 347-2860; www.orgill.com.

Cover II

True Value – Feb. 17-19, spring reunion market, Anaheim, Ca.; (305) 852-6126 www.truevalue.com.

Viance [www.treatedwood.com] Westervelt Lumber [www.westerveltlumber.com] Building-Products.com

Monroe Hardware Co. – Feb. 12, dealer market, Cabarrus Arena, Concord, N.C.; (800) 222-1974; www.monroehardware.com. North American Wholesale Lumber Association – Feb. 14, regional meeting, Providence, R.I.; (800) 527-8258; www.nawla.org. Northeastern Retail Lumber Association – Feb. 15-17, annual LBM expo, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, R.I.; (800) 292-6752; www.nrla.org.

January 2017

The Merchant Magazine

FLASHBack 55 Years Ago This Month

USING PLANS available from their local lumber dealer, contractors could build their own fallout shelters of lumber and plywood, providing 64 sq. ft. of living space—room for at least six persons.

• A miniature French poodle dyed bright green was the hit of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association’s annual expo in Chicago. The teeny dog— a four-month-old pedigreed male named Halle—drew attention to the booth co-sponsored by three Pacific Northwest mills and at the end of the show, was awarded to Mrs. C.E. Benson, wife of the executive VP of the Ohio Association of Retail Lumber Dealers, who made the closest guess as to the number of pieces of lumber sold at the booth during the show. • Well known San Francisco wholesaler Hobbs Wall Lumber Co. reorganized. Owners Al Bell and Lew Godard sold stock in a new wholesale company with the same name to Michael Coonan and Bill Johnson, and then changed the name of the old Hobbs Wall to Godard & Bell, Inc., which kept the mill sales agent contract for Willits Redwood. Both companies would operate from the same offices. • Vancouver Plywood Co. formed a wholly owned subsidiary, San Francisco-based Vanport International, to import plywood, veneer and commodities from around the world. The short-lived company apparently was unrelated to the Vanport International formed five years later by Vanport Manufacturing to export logs to Japan. That company continues operating to this day from Boring, Or.

In the fall of 1961, President John F. Kennedy advised the nation to consider building fallout shelters to guard against a nuclear attack—and the lumber industry quickly responded, according to the January 1962 issue of Building Products Digest’s sister publication, The California Lumber Merchant. The Douglas Fir Plywood Association, forerunner of the APA, in cooperation with federal authorities developed a series of practical, economical fallout shelters, with some of the designs simple enough for DIY construction. Plans for the three different models—underground, in basement, or above ground—could provide “a valuable sales aid for building supply houses planning to offer materials or panelized shelters.” Each resulted in an 8-foot-by-8-foot box assembled from pre-framed lumber and plywood. The material costs would run from about $250 for the least expensive basement model to $800-$900 for the underground. Contractors would charge from $400 up to $1,500 for an underground shelter complete with ventilating system. DFPA expected the basement model to be the most popular, providing at least five times the protection from a nuclear blast as that of an ordinary below-grade basement. The underground model, however, provided “protection from even the heaviest fallout concentration and will resist blast from a 20-megaton bomb dropped seven miles away.” Buried under 3 feet of earth, it would be strong enough to withstand the weight of cars parked on top of it and its joints were tested successfully in a laboratory to withstand a 10-foot head of water—“meaning it could be built 10 feet under water without leaking.” Also reported 55 years ago:

Building Products Digest

January 2017

FIFTY-FIVE years ago on the cover of The California Merchant, Rockport Redwood Co. marketed old growth redwood products from its Northern California timberlands. Those forests were aquired by Georgia-Pacific in 1967, spun off as part of Louisiana-Pacific in 1973, and since 1998 have been providing wood for the Mendocino Redwood Co.

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