BPD May 2024

Like the foods we buy, when it comes to decking, we want natural and real. Redwood is always available in abundance of options. So stock the shelves! Unlike mass-produced and inferior products, Redwood is strong, reliable and possesses many qualities not found in artificial products. They maintain temperatures that are comfortable in all climates.

Redwood Empire stocks several grades and sizing options of Redwood.

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BUILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is published monthly at 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. J3, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 4862735, 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®2024 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. Opinions expressed are those of the authors or persons quoted and not necessarily those of 526 Media Group, Inc. Articles in this magazine are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or business management advice.

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CLOSING A CHAPTER

------------

BY PATRICK ADAMS

I LIKE TO EXPLAIN life as if it were a book, and each phase is a “chapter.” Some are good, some are boring, some are bad. But this ends up being the story of your life that hopefully, when you get to the end of the book, everyone says, “That was a pretty good story.”

I’ve had many interesting chapters in my life so far. Some good, some bad, and very few that were boring. My best chapters have been since I found my wife 32 years ago and, certainly, the chapters that include our kids. If only we could capture the video reels that go on in my head struggling to figure out how best to raise these kids, to be a “role model” (whatever that is), and to build a foundation with them that serves them well into their adult lives!

So far, I think we’ve done pretty well. No visits from Child Protective Services. No calls to 911 (well, there was one when my wife thought our then-2-year-old daughter was choking on an apple slice). They are good kids, who love each other (most of the time), and get along with others without a ton of drama.

As you know from past stories, we try to surround them with “real” people, take them out of the “bubble” to see the real world, and get them out of their city life and into nature on our many camping trips. Past summers have been full of these activities and, honestly, my favorite is our extended camping trips. My soul is at home in the woods, in unspoiled nature where you must build a relationship with nature to survive. Granted, our camping trips now include a 32-ft. fifth wheel that is about the same size as the home I grew up in and far more luxurious. But each time we go, it only takes about an hour for the kids to adjust to their surroundings and suddenly, they become “kids.” Not afraid to get dirty, not afraid to wander off and explore, and highly observant of their surroundings. For me, they are their best selves when we are in the woods.

I sat down with my wife this weekend to begin planning our traditional summer fun. In my mind, I already had several trips and options on the plate to consider. But, as we started looking at the calendar that already had many summer entries, my hopes started fading. School lets out in

mid-June. Swimming lessons for my 7-year-old son, followed by a volleyball camp that is a byproduct of following his big sister around. Club volleyball doesn’t end until late June for my 13-year-old daughter, which goes into a church camp, two volleyball summer clinics, a clinic at a high school that is trying to recruit her, and a couple of business trips of mine.

Basically, there is one week available for camping this year. My daughter came down at the tail end of this discussion and, after listening, I could see she wanted to say something. My heart was hopeful that her desire for our camping traditions would outweigh a volleyball clinic or two. Her contribution was, “Do you think I can bring a friend camping, because it is getting kind of boring otherwise?”

And so there it was. With the thud of a large book full of interesting chapters, this one is coming to a close. She is a teenager now and her life is full of teenage things. She is a student, an athlete, and a friend. She is now interested in her wardrobe, and how her hair looks. Instead of tucking her into bed, she now says good night and goes upstairs herself. Indeed, the chapter of my “little girl” who was a tomboy and my little partner in crime has come to an end. In less than five years, she will be 18 and all that goes along with it. It’s hard to believe this chapter went so quickly, but like all good chapters, you wish there was just a little more.

So, we will camp for one week this summer while we experiment with new traditions that give my little guy all he needs, while not “boring” my young grown-up daughter! I guess it’s only the good things that you wish went on forever, so I know how blessed I am to be “complaining” about this. As many of you know already, it’s hard to let go, but also a source of pride that you gave them the tools to be independent and fearless.

I hope as we start summer that your chapter includes some amazing adventures that will add to your story. As always, I am humbled and grateful to be serving such an amazing industry.

PATRICK S. ADAMS, Publisher/President padams@526mediagroup.com

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5 BENEFITS OF SYSTEM SELLING DECK PROJECTS

YOU WOULDN’T BUY a Chevy truck and then put Ford bumpers on it, would you? The same philosophy applies to decking projects. Commonly referred to in the field as “system selling,” the concept of working with a single brand for multiple components offers a number of benefits to both your contractor and homeowner customers.

Based on conversations with Platinum-level TrexPro contractors, following are five reasons to embrace a monogamous relationship with your materials supplier.

1. Product Compability

Customers want their decks to look cohesive. They also don’t want to be overwhelmed with too many choices. Selling products from multiple brands for the same job may lead to confusion and compatibility issues that can negatively impact efficiency, productivity and customer satisfaction.

Conversely, partnering with a single brand that offers a full range of complementary products reduces risk and worry. By working within a strategically engineered product eco-system, contractors can alleviate concerns about component sizing and color matching and outfit entire outdoor spaces with components that are intentionally designed to be compatible.

“It’s natural to talk to customers about Trex railing and lighting when you’re already selling them Trex decking,” said Bruce Verblaauw, owner of NJ Decks and Railing in Mahwah, N.J. “Working with a brand that offers a comprehensive portfolio instills confidence with homeowners and our installers because they know the products will work well together.”

2. Time Savings

Efficiency is at the heart of any successful project. At the end of the day, time is money. Working with a mix

MYRIAD ADVANTAGES are in store for contractors who utilize multiple decking components from the same brand. (Photos by Trex)

of brands and suppliers means going through multiple distributors. It also means dealing with different warranties which can lead to major headaches. Having a single point of purchase allows less room for error. Products are easier to source and easier to replace if needed.

Working with a branded system also affords greater quality control for contractors and streamlines the installation process because components are purposefully designed to integrate. Case in point, the new Trex Hideaway Fastener Collection works seamlessly with Trex decking and railing to make the assembly process more efficient while delivering a clean, cohesive aesthetic. This gives channel partners a competitive advantage by allowing them to deliver end-to-end solutions from one supplier for a smooth, worry-free deck-building experience from the joists up.

“Working with one brand simplifies the entire process,” noted Verblaauw. “You have one supplier, one distributor, and one warranty provider. It just makes things easier.”

3. Warranty Coverage & Rewards

Speaking of warranties, this is an area where brand loyalty pays off—literally. Beyond backing their products, some brands also offer labor warranties that stand behind the installation and the installers. Trex offers a labor warranty on certain products that increases with a contractor’s status in the company’s TrexPro program as well as with the number of Trex projects and the number of Trex products used on each project. For instance, if a contractor uses both qualifying decking and railing for a project, the labor warranty automatically doubles.

Another way suppliers reward contractor loyalty is with marketing support, be it co-op funds, point-of-sale displays, branded merchandise or access to customizable advertising and public relations materials.

“Trex has a pretty robust loyalty program,” said Tim Kidd, owner of Decks by DAK in Charlottesville, Va. “If you do a good job of registering your decks, it’s good for you and for your customers as well. We’ve earned enough reward points to outfit our entire crew in branded gear. We also give branded gifts to all of our clients. If you play your cards right, you can cover your entire marketing budget with warranty registration-based reward funds. This is added incentive for me to use as many Trex products as possible.”

4. Service & Support

Building a relationship with a supplier offers more than just convenience and financial rewards. It nurtures trust and leads to shared success. Brands and distributors are likely to take care of contractors with more skin in the game, make them a priority when issues arise and support their business objectives.

“I have a strong relationship with Trex and also a good relationship with our distributor (U.S. Lumber). I know all the players personally and they know me and my team,” explained Kidd, whose crews build more than 100 decks each year, mostly in the $20,000-$30,000 range. “By working with one supplier, we are able to leverage our position and volume to get distributors

to stock the products we want. We also get a good percentage of our leads from Trex due to our status in the TrexPro program, which ranks us high in the dealer locator on the Trex website. It’s a true partnership where everyone has everyone’s back!”

5. Increased Profit Potential

A beautiful backyard consists of more than just a deck. In fact, it’s accessories like railing and lighting that truly bring a client’s vision to life. A comprehensive outdoor living brand allows contractors to optimize profit potential by providing a one-stop showroom and shopping resource. Additionally, resources like the Trex AR Deck Visualizer, Color Selector, Deck & Railing Duos and Online Deck Designer allow builders and homeowners to experiment with different decking materials, profiles and configurations in an organic way that highlights extras without coming across like a hard sell.

“We know we are not just building a deck, we are building the deck for our customers,” said Kidd. “We bid the system based on their total vision. That means decking, railing, lighting, drainage, pergola, outdoor kitchens, fencing, you name it. It’s important to discuss the full scope of a project from the outset so expectations are aligned and there are no costly surprises along the way that might impact customer satisfaction.”

“If you’re not system selling with your customers, you’re missing out on a critical opportunity to maximize profit, grow your business and better serve your clients,” Verblaauw added. “With the tiered decking offerings and the robust line of complementary products and tools offered, it’s easy to upsell based on customer preferences and budgets and offer clients complete outdoor living solutions.”

As with any good relationship, commitment can be incredibly rewarding. Look for companies that share your values and truly care about your success. By partnering with a full-service supplier and mastering the art of selling the system, your contractor customers can enhance efficiencies, leverage their loyalty, and drive incremental business. BPD

MANY COMPOSITE decking lines have complementary fastening systems specially made to coordinate with their sizes, shapes and colors.

9 OUTDOOR LIVING TRENDS FOR SPRING DECKING SEASON

SPRING SELLING season is underway, bringing with it growing demand for decking and other materials that help homeowners embrace the outdoors. To help dealers prepare, Envision Outdoor Living Products offers a look at some of the hottest trends this year, including a few familiar favorites and some emerging must-haves.

1. Outdoor Living Remains Strong

It’s no secret that outdoor living has been one of the hottest trends in home design since the pandemic, and the demand continues as homeowners seek more space to gather, relax, and entertain. This is particularly true for homeowners who aren’t able to buy a larger home due to interest rates and therefore are looking to enhance and/or expand their existing footprint. We don’t anticipate this trend stopping anytime soon, especially when there are so many versatile ways for homeowners to create outdoor living experiences that meet their needs, their space, and their budget.

2. Bringing the Indoors Out

Seamless connections from indoors to out has been an ongoing trend for a number of years, particularly with the rise of larger doors, multi-panel sliders, and opening glass walls. The demand continues with colorand texture-coordinated flooring and decking that make

the transition even smoother. In addition, homeowners want their outdoor spaces to reflect their interior life and style, including furniture that looks like indoor models yet withstands the exterior elements as well as décor elements, lighting, and entertainment.

3. Ready-for-Anything Modular Furniture

Speaking of furniture, expect more modular options that can be rearranged to accommodate almost any outdoor living space—furniture that contours to the other features on the deck instead of the other way around. Not only does this provide more flexibility, it can save homeowners money as their tastes and activities shift or as they make changes to the size or scope of their outdoor living space.

4. Designated Spaces

As the outdoors continue to emulate the interior, that includes designing for everyone and every task—areas for group gathering around a fire pit, a relaxing space to read or nap, an outdoor dining space and kitchen, etc. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, including designing composite decks with different-color inlays, picture framing, and borders to visually separate spaces. Large planters, fire features, rugs, and furniture placement can also serve that function.

5. Edible Gardens

While gardening has always been popular, this year green thumbs are turning toward growing more of their own food. Even with one planter box, homeowners can grow enough vegetables, fruit, and herbs to use in cooking at least once a week. Along with pre-made metal structures, pros and DIYers can craft raised beds or planters using Envision composite deck boards that will absorb little to no moisture while matching the rest of their deck.

6. LED Lighting

The importance of creating the right atmosphere continues this year, and we expect adjustable LED lights to be quite popular. LEDs allow homeowners to easily change (and sometimes pre-program) the brightness and/or color of outdoor lights, so they can set the right mood for almost any outdoor living activity while extending the usability of the space well into the evening hours.

7. Low-Maintenance Materials

Every outdoor living space comes with some degree of maintenance, thanks to weather and debris. But as homeowners clamor for low-maintenance options, manufacturers continue to deliver. Two options to consider are composite deck boards, which require far less maintenance than traditional wood, eliminating the need for regular staining or replacing rotted boards, and aluminum deck railing, which is known for its durability and low-maintenance qualities. There also has been a recent increase in demand for outdoor furniture without cushions.

8. Entertaining Details

With outdoor spaces a prime spot to host friends and gatherings, small touches that enhance the experience for partygoers are a must. This includes a drink rail that provides a convenient place for beverages and small plates. Other growing musthaves include outdoor heaters, for which we’re seeing a growing number of options with sleeker designs, as well as built-in speaker systems and programmable mood lighting.

9. Quality Over Price

Whether fashion, housing or anywhere in between, Americans are realizing that investing in higher-quality materials can save them money in the long run and are “deinfluencing” from the trend of always buying the cheapest option. For the outdoors,

this not only includes choosing a low-maintenance alternative to wood decking, but also choosing a manmade material that is more durable than cheaper options. Capped composite decking, for example, is more durable and less likely to fade compared to traditional, less-expensive composites. BPD

Hydro-Thermo Modification

CONSUMERS increasingly demand low-maintenance materials such as composite decking aluminum railing. Show here: Envision Distinction Decking in Spiced Teak with Fairway A210 black railing.

HIGH-TECH ADD-ONS FOR YOUR DECK BUILDERS

SAVVY DEALERS that keep up with the latest hightech add ons that customers are looking for should be aware of the type of products builders are turning to. This includes outdoor lighting, privacy glass, video and sound, all of which can be controlled remotely.

Outdoor Lighting

When it comes to elevating the outdoor space, homeowners are using lighting to create ambiance and to express their personalities.

One type of lighting that customers are turning to is Tru-Scapes deck lighting system because it offers everything from the transformer and wiring to a wide array of lighting options for all areas of the railing deck, stairs and landscape space. Clint Webb, Webb Decks, Godfrey, Il., says his favorite Tru-Scapes product is the array of post cap lights that fit a wide variety of railing brands that he most commonly installs. While Webb says he’s been working on getting Tru-Scapes products stocked through his local supplier, he relies on his local lumberyard, R.P. Lumber, and online retailers, such as D.I.Y Home Center and Decks Direct, for other products and materials he uses in his deck projects.

Another brand growing in popularity is DEKOR. The RGBW color-changing lighting system is a customer favorite. The system’s tiny, waterproof dots install flush with the installation surface, and can be controlled with DEKOR’s WiFi controller. Customers also turn to their L’Accents line of premium, eco-friendly lighting that is designed for aluminum or metal railing.

Privacy Glass

A high-tech product that might find itself in more stores in the next few years is smart glass. Smart glass allows transparent glass to be switched to an opaque

film. It is currently being used in residential applications as a privacy film when window coverings won’t work, and in commercial applications as a rear projection screen for marketing purposes.

“Smart glass and smart film are becoming more and more common in residential settings,” says Klara Johanna, marketing director, Smart Glass Country, which develops smart glass and film for both interior and exterior usage.

As a rear-projection screen in a residential setting, this typically involves a smart glass home window or smart glass room divider being used as a projection screen under dark light conditions. In cases where the home window faces the back patio, the glass window or glass staircase railing could be used as a projection screen from both the patio and outdoor space as well as inside the home.

Sights and Sounds

Another growth area is outdoor entertainment. Whether it be an outdoor TV, projection screen, or surround sound, homeowners have made it clear they want their high-tech extras to blend seamlessly with the rest of their outdoor living space. That’s why some builders are purchasing matching materials to tie their decking and other building materials with the materials needed to disguise these extra features.

“Our team recognizes the importance of proximity to hot tubs, pools or general outdoor living areas, ensuring that viewers will have an immersive experience no matter where they are within the space,” says Ted Tidmore, owner of Holloway Co., Dulles, Va.

By seamlessly incorporating outdoor TVs beneath elevated decks, they create visual focal points without obstructing views. BPD

HELP DECK builders take projects to the next level with high-tech upgrades like programmable lighting (left, photo courtesy Webb Decks) and retractable TVs (right, photo courtesy Renovation Station LLC).

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RECIPE FOR LASTING SUCCESS HOME COOKING WITH

------------ BY SARA GRAVES

AT 102, northern Michigan’s Barden Lumber has learned a thing or two about what it takes to stay current, without losing sight of the principles that has made it a success for over a century.

“We stay current from listening to our customers,” explains president Paul Barden. “I always tell everybody here that means if somebody comes walking through that door with products that we’re not familiar with, then write it

MICHIGAN’S BARDEN LUMBER

down, and let’s get familiar with (those products). A lot of times, people, when they come in the door, they are more familiar with what they want than we are because of the Internet. They’ve done their research.”

It’s this open mindedness that has allowed the fourth-generation, Boyne City, Mi., drive-thru lumberyard to remain competitive despite being surrounded by box stores within 20 minutes of it.

When asked how his yard stays competitive, Paul replies, “I stopped trying to compete (with big box stores) because when I did, I lost track of what it took to run this business and live in this community.”

He adds that although he competes with other independent yards north of them, it remains friendly competition. Ultimately, he said, there’s always going to be a certain number of customers “that are going to spend a dollar’s worth of gas to go north to save a dime on materials. That’s just their nature.”

But it’s the customers that are on a first-name basis with the Barden staff, who have remained loyal to the yard, that have made it all worthwhile, Paul says. Customers like Jim Kuhn, who has since passed, who always walked in with a smile on his face. “I have a special place for the ones that after we service them or did business with them for years...they would come up to us later in life and say, ‘It’s because of what your Dad did, which allowed me an extra month or two when things were tight.’ It’s stuff like that that really resonates and keeps you going. That happens quite often in a small community.”

FOURTH-GENERATION Barden Lumber in Boyne City, Mi., was founded in 1922 by F.O. Barden and is currently run by Paul Barden.

It’s the same commitment to his customers that causes Paul to go the extra mile, often opening the yard on the weekends when it’s closed. “We know all their names when they come in the front door.”

It’s also why Barden Lumber will open its doors this month to celebrate

nearly 500 of its customers. The company will once again host its annual customer appreciation event in which vendors are brought in to showcase their latest products to Barden Lumber’s customers. “It’s not like we’re stagnant doing the same thing,” says Paul. “We’re trying to evolve and show

our customers new products so they can share those with their customers.”

That same commitment to offering the latest products to its customers is why the company offers a wide selection of lumber and building products for its customers, including Milwaukee tools, Deckorators decking, RDI Railing, Versatex PVC trim, and CAMO fastening systems.

Paul says they carry roughly 20% different products than what the local box stores carry. “The goal is not to send people anywhere else. Give them what they can’t get anywhere else,” he adds. ”We just try to keep it like an old-fashioned hardware store.”

Barden Lumber’s recipe for success is still working. “We’ve got a very good customer base. We’ve been doing a great job of servicing them, and we can relate to them. We just need to keep taking care of what we’re doing here because the customer base seems to increase every year,” Paul asserts.

“We know our customer service is second to none, and we know most of our customers by name,” he emphasizes. “We’re just a good old-fashioned yard.” BPD

BOYNE CITY, located on the eastern end of Lake Charlevoix, Michigan’s largest inland lake, has a population of more than 3,800 people, which more than doubles during summer months.

SAY WHAT YOU MEAN AND MEAN WHAT YOU SAY

------------ BY JAMES OLSEN

SPEAKING SHOULD COME naturally. Most of us start talking between 12 and 18 months and keep talking every day after. There are some silent monk types who don’t speak much, but on average most people speak 15,000 to 16,000 words a day. That’s a lot of words by the time we start working.

Why Sales Speak Is Different

The fundamental difference between sales speak and talking about the weather or last night’s ball game is in sales we are moving people to action. Pericles, a Greek orator speaking of another orator, said, “When Pericles speaks they say, ‘How well he speaks.’ When Demosthenes speaks they say, “Let’s march!” In sales we are in the “Let’s march” business.

It’s not merely the words we use, but how we use them. Tone, pace, volume and demeanor of the salesperson all matter. And all of these need to be calibrated to our audience. When in Rome, speak Italian. In Paris, speak French. If a customer is the jovial type, we will want to keep our demeanor light. If they’re the serious type, we’ll keep our conversation a bit more serious. If we’re selling to a highly educated person, we can let our vocabulary flow, but most newspapers are written at the tenth-grade reading level, so in most cases when selling we don’t have to “dumb down” our speech, but we don’t want it to be too highfalutin!

Uncomfortableness & Pressure

Create Garbled Speech

Between expectations (our own

and our boss’), competition (inside and outside our company), and dealing with new customers, there’s a lot of pressure in sales. Pressure makes the simplest things (talking, for example) difficult. Below are some of the verbal hiccups I spend a lot of time unteaching my students:

Ums and Uhs. When we are trying to convince someone to do something, we must sound confident. Sales is a transfer of emotion. If we sound unsure or nervous our customer will be reluctant to go with our proposal. Many salespeople “um” and “uh” after every sentence. Customers may not even consciously hear it, but subconsciously they do, and it breaks rapport and does not inspire trust.

Beat-Around-The-Bush-Itis. “Good day, my name is John from, uh, ABC Lumber Co., and I was just wondering, I don’t want to bother you and this will just take a moment, if you have the time, I was just wondering if it would be possible to talk to the person who does, if they’re in, to talk to the person who does the lumber buying, possibly.”

You may think the above example is an exaggeration, but I assure you it is not. Simple is professional: “Good day, this is Rebecca Johnston from ABC Lumber out of Spokane, Wa. Could you tell me who does your lumber buying, please?”

Filler Words are any that are unnecessary. “Kinda,” “you know,” “maybe,” “might,” “possibly,” “like” and “literally” are some of the most common.

Repetitions. “One coat of paint

and ask for the order” is what I tell my students. “We see this market moving. It really looks strong, and inventories are very thin. In our morning meeting we all agreed that the market is going to move up and we see it staying strong. Inventories are thin and it doesn’t look like there will be a slowdown anytime soon. We are selling really well, and customers are buying. So is there anything you need today?” Happens more than you think.

Simply and Directly Ask for the Order. Eighty percent of salespeople do not ask for the order. They present products and wait for the customer to buy. Unfortunately, this works. It just doesn’t work as well as asking for the order. Short term we will get more business if we ask for it. Long term, and for me more importantly, we will create relationships with customers so that they know we are going to present them with products and solutions and ask for the order and they will begin to expect it.

Talk To Them Like a Brother. My first boss, Terry Lane, said, “James, relax and talk to them like a brother.” The more relaxed and natural our speech is, the more we will sell. BPD

JAMES OLSEN

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THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP COACHING

------------ BY LIZ WHISLER

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP is essential for organizational success in today’s dynamic and fast-paced business environment. However, even the most experienced leaders can encounter challenges and areas for improvement in their leadership skills. This is where leadership coaching comes into play, offering a personalized and transformative approach to leadership development.

What’s leadership coaching and how does it work?

At its core, leadership coaching is a collaborative process and partnership between a leader and a trained coach, where both parties work to reach shared destinations and goals. It aims to unlock the leader’s full potential, enhance performance, and achieve professional and personal goals. Unlike traditional training programs, which often focus on imparting knowledge and skills in a one-size-fits-all manner, leadership coaching is highly individualized and tailored to each leader’s specific needs, strengths, and aspirations.

The benefits of leadership coaching

Deepen your understanding. One of the essential benefits of leadership coaching is its ability to provide leaders with valuable insights into their strengths and growth areas. Through reflective questioning, active listening, and constructive feedback, coaches help leaders gain a deeper understanding of their leadership style, behaviors, and impact on others. This self-awareness is the foundation for meaningful growth and development as a leader.

Practical tools. Moreover, leadership coaching equips leaders with practical strategies and tools to enhance their effectiveness in areas of leadership, such as communication, decision-making, performance, and team building. By identifying and addressing specific challenges and opportunities, coaches empower leaders to implement positive changes and achieve better outcomes.

Continuous learning. Another significant advantage of leadership coaching is its focus on continuous learning and improvement. In today’s ever-evolving business landscape, leaders must adapt and grow to meet new challenges and seize emerging opportunities. Through ongoing coaching sessions, leaders can refine their skills, experiment with new approaches, and stay ahead of the curve.

Open communication and support. Furthermore, leadership coaching fosters a supportive and confidential environment where leaders can openly discuss their concerns, explore innovative ideas, and seek guidance without fear of judgment or repercussion. This safe space encourages leaders to step out of their comfort zones, take calculated risks, and confidently pursue ambitious goals.

Group benefits. In addition to individual leadership coaching, organizations can benefit from implementing coaching programs at the team or group level. Team coaching focuses on improving collective performance, fostering collaboration, and aligning team members around shared goals and values. Team coaching can drive greater productivity, innovation, and employee engagement by enhancing team dynamics and communication.

Leadership coaching can have a ripple effect throughout the organization. As leaders develop and refine their skills through coaching, they become role models and inspire others to continue learning and growing. This cascading effect can improve employee morale, higher retention rates, and, ultimately, better business results.

A Fortune 1000 Survey found that 1:1 coaching:

• 77% of supervisors reported a more effective working relationship with direct reports

• 61% felt increased job satisfaction

• 81% reported they had better time management and more work/life balance

• 52% have an increase in self-confidence

It’s worth noting that leadership coaching benefits extend beyond the professional realm and can positively impact leaders’ personal lives as well. By enhancing their self-awareness, resilience, and emotional intelligence, leaders can cultivate more fulfilling relationships, achieve a more excellent work-life balance, and experience overall well-being.

Leadership coaching mindset requirements

Leaders must be interested in growth. It is only possible to successfully coach people who are willing to be coached. Often, those who are assigned coaches are the very individuals who have little interest in improving themselves, which may explain the need for coaching in the first place. You cannot desire more for someone than they have for themselves. Regardless of your efforts, if they are not interested in self-improvement, it will not matter. Therefore, it is important to invest in leaders who have expressed a desire to continue learning and growing.

Leaders must be open to change. Leaders who lack self-awareness and are not open to change can be challenging to work with. Even if they are given feedback, they may refuse to consider it. Self-awareness is a crucial quality that cannot be taught by a coach. No matter how much time or effort is invested in helping a client become more self-aware, there may still be significant barriers.

The boss must be engaged. The leader of the client plays a vital role in the coaching process. It has been observed that when the boss is actively involved in coaching, the likelihood of success increases significantly. On the other hand, when the boss is not involved, the person being coached tends to struggle. Therefore, before investing in coaching, it is essential to ensure that the boss of the individual to be coached is fully committed and supportive of the coaching process.

Although some individuals are likely to not get anything out of coaching, when someone in your organization asks for coaching, it indi-

cates their readiness for a successful coaching engagement that can yield long-term benefits.

In short, leadership coaching is a powerful and transformative tool for unlocking leaders’ full potential and driving organizational success. By providing personalized support, practical guidance, and a safe space for reflection and growth, coaching empowers leaders to become more effective, confident, and inspiring agents of change. As businesses continue to navigate the current complex

and competitive landscape, investing in leadership coaching can yield significant performance, innovation, and employee satisfaction returns. BPD

LIZ WHISLER

ARE YOU A WOOD GEEK?

------------ BY JEFF EASTERLING

“I LOVE WOOD because I can shape it to almost any purpose. Wood makes sense for the vast majority of home building. Sustainable forestry practices mean we’re no longer using lumber faster than it can be replaced, so lumber will be the go-to structural material for the foreseeable future. In terms of finish materials, although there’s competition from a variety of sources today, nothing else looks like wood.”

CLT Press

Breakdown hoist and chains for transverse boards

Assembly plate 10’ x 42’ USNR Pneumatic press

“(Wood) is just natural. It’s an appreciation for American history and the lasting quality of wood. All you have to do is look at old public buildings, or look at a piece of furniture that’s been passed from one generation to the next to see the value. New England has fabulous architecture

Roll cases to hold panels at infeed and outfeed

Hydraulic pump & jacks for side pressure

Electrical components for press

Various spare parts – chain, bags, gears, etc

FOR SALE

that dates back from the early days of our country; it’s all wood, and it’s still here.”

“The great thing about wood is that every part of it can be used. Cuts and scraps can be bagged up and used as kindling for a wood stove. As building products move to more composites and chemically engineered materials, the byproducts and waste are not easily disposed of and most end up in landfills. There is a noticeable difference at the end of the workday between cutting vinyl siding and pine clapboard siding.”

CNC CLT Press

• Breakdown hoist/chains

• Assembly plate

CNC

• 10”x42’ USNR pneumatic press, and much more!

Utilizes circular

Hundegger PBA D-Machine #7091

• Large format/sawdust pusher/

• Multiple saws & bits

“… being around natural products makes you feel better and healthier. Wood does that for me. Recently I’ve been intrigued that we can help mitigate climate change by using, and then regrowing, a lot more wood. Fancy term: carbon sequestration. Sequester comes from the Latin word to kidnap. Kidnapping carbon… I like the concept.”

Hundegger PBA D – Machine #7091

Large format gantry CNC

Utilizes circular saw, chainsaw, two milling heads two drill bits

Sawdust pusher to move sawdust to one end of CNC

Safety Photo eyes

Does come with blowpipe for dust ventilation Can be plumbed to baghouse Software is Cambium We created machine files in Cadwork to upload into Cambium

There is a rollcase on the CNC bed, although it was never activated at DRJ This piece of equipment is complete and does come with some spare parts, mills, blades, chain, etc

Above are a small selection of quotes about the power and beauty of wood as shared with us by a few people we like to call Wood Geeks. Check out our website at www. nelma.org/wood-geeks and you can meet each of our Wood Geeks and learn from them what they value most about working with real wood. From the authenticity to the historical nature of wood, each of them come at wood from various angles, but they all love the product, and love working with it.

• Cambium software/CADwork

A Y

chainsaw, two milling heads, two drill bits

Sawdust pusher to move sawdust to one end of CNC

Safety Photo eyes

• 32,000 acfm

Does come with blowpipe for dust ventilation Can be plumbed to baghouse Software is Cambium. We created machine files in Cadwork to upload into Cambium.

• Blow-pipe/motors/dust collection bags/fire-suppression system

• SATOS-32K Dual Head

There is a rollcase on the CNC bed, although it was never activated at DRJ. Th t is complete and do spare parts, mills, bl

541 643 8924

jodiw@drjlumber com drjwoodinnovations com

Are YOU a Wood Geek? We’d love to feature you and your story in the coming months. Is wood your favorite building product? Do you experience the biophilia (look at our March column for more on that big word) of being around a natural building product? We’d love to hear from you and share your thoughts and ideas.

Reach out to us at info@nelma.org and use the email subject “Wood Geek.” We’ll get back to you ASAP and pass along a few questions to get the ball rolling. Hope to hear from you soon! BPD

• Top & bottom sanding/oscillating heads/auto feed/spare sandpaper

Watkins Sawmills is one of the largest manufacturers of cedar siding and roofing in North America. Family owned and operated since 1947 the Watkins Group employs over 100 people across their operations including Fire Smart Roofing [FSR] in Maple Ridge BC, Canada and SaferWood with Thermex-FR by Chemco in Ferndale WA, USA.

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

CORNERSTONE BUYING HARVEY

Cornerstone Building Brands, Cary, N.C., reached an agreement to acquire Harvey Building Products, a manufacturer of windows and doors, and its portfolio of brands: Harvey, SoftLite and Thermo-Tech.

Based in Waltham, Ma., Harvey has approximately 1,200 employees at four manufacturing facilities in the Northeast and Midwest. Harvey specializes in premium, custom windows and doors primarily serving the Eastern United States.

“Harvey Building Products has a strong reputation as a premium R&R manufacturer and is an ideal addition to Cornerstone Building Brands as we forge ahead in our journey to be a premier exterior building products company,” said Rose Lee, president and CEO of Cornerstone. “This transaction will strengthen our presence across the Northeast and the Midwest with key leading brands. It will also enable us to be a stronger partner of choice for our customers and to better serve them.”

Justin St. Hilaire, president of Harvey Building Products, added, “We are thrilled to be joining Cornerstone Building Brands as this new partnership will mark an exciting chapter in Harvey’s growth journey. The company’s strong customer focus, deep channel relationships and extensive product breadth make it a perfect partner to accelerate our future growth while continuing our mission of delivering a quality experience to our internal and external stakeholders. We are immensely thankful to our previous owner, Dunes Point Capital, for helping us reach this stage of development.”

The deal, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.

HOOVER REBRANDS WITH NEW LOGO

Hoover Treated Wood Products has rebranded with a new logo and an updated website.

The updated website at www. frtw.com showcases the company’s new branding and serves as a one-stop shop for information on fire-retardant-treated wood.

Replacing its ages-old “dragon logo” was a trickier matter. The branding team had to decide

whether to retain the iconic dragon or adopt something new altogether. After much feedback, both internally and externally, they were convinced the dragon had to stay, albeit with a modern look.

According to Hoover, “It’s not just another logo. The new dragon represents a deeper meaning, including the direction it faces. It embodies protection, strength, authority and good fortune. These qualities all come together to make it a strong and meaningful choice for representing our brand, aligning seamlessly with what Hoover stands for and aims to achieve.”

RP LUMBER BUYS GOLDEN RULE LUMBER OF ILLINOIS

R.P. Lumber Co. has acquired 33-year-old, family-owned Golden Rule Lumber, Ottawa, Il.

Already operating a retail location in Ottawa, R.P. Lumber aims to extend its service across a wider swath of LaSalle County and its neighboring communities by merging the two locations.

“Paul Pike isn’t just the owner of Golden Rule Lumber,” said Robert L. Plummer, president & CEO of R.P. Lumber. “He’s been an advocate for Ottawa’s growth and development, deeply ingrained in the fabric of LaSalle County as a community pillar.”

According to the Pike Family, “Since opening in 1991, Golden Rule Lumber has proudly served the Ottawa area and beyond. After 33 years of service, we would like to announce the sale of the business to R.P. Lumber. We are confident that R.P. will provide the same level of professional care and service to our customers.”

Plummer added, “We’ve had a location in Ottawa since 2014, so we’ve always considered Golden Rule Lumber a friendly competitor. Their family values and sun-up-tosun-down work ethic are identical to ours, and we’re excited to expand our team and services.”

------------| DEALER BRIEFS

Fence & Deck Direct, Baltimore, Md., is now a Decks & Docks Lumber branch.

GR Mitchell Inc., Willow Street, Pa., acquired Ironstone Building Supply, Lancaster, Pa., from Dave O’Connor, who is retiring.

Wharton Feed & Ace Hardware, Wharton, Tx., held a grand opening event April 5-6 (Richard Lockley, owner).

Lumber Plus, Miami, Fl., has opened a branch in Ronkonkoma (Long Island), N.Y., headed by Carlos Kuhl Nogueira.

Associated Buyers True Value, Fremont, Oh., is closing after 75 years, with the retirement of owner Ed Schultz.

Curt’s Ace Value opened store #9 in Marion, Va.

Maximus Building Supply has renovated its Olive Branch, Ms., location.

Great Lakes Ace Hardware, Shelby, Mi., showed off its recent remodel during an April 19-21 grand reopening celebration.

Costello’s Ace Hardware is up to 49 locations after acquiring Warrenville Paint & Hardware, Warren, N.J., from Bill and Michele MacDonald. Bill will remain on staff, serving commercial accounts.

Northfield Ace Hardware, Northfield, Mn., reopened March 18 under new owners Joe and Kathryn Donahue, following an 11-week remodel. Dave Neiman, who owned Arrow Ace Northfield for 20+ years, is retiring.

Aubuchon Co. is buying sevenunit Bibens Ace Hardware from Rick Bibens, with stores in South Burlington, Burlington, Springfield, Colchester, Essex, Brattleboro (Brown & Roberts), and Woodstock (Woodstock Home & Hardware), Vt. All will retain their current names.

HOOVER TREATED Wood Products’ new logo.

HOUSE-HASSON ACQUIRING BOSTWICK-BRAUN

Wholesaler House-Hasson Hardware, Knoxville, Tn., agreed to purchase Bostwick-Braun Hardware, Toledo, Oh. The deal will include warehouses and inventory.

“When completed, this acquisition doubles the number of our distribution centers, grows our inventory, and puts us in an even stronger position to provide everything our dealers need,” said Steve Henry, president and CEO of House-Hasson.

House-Hasson’s main warehouse is at its Knoxville corporate headquarters, with a second warehouse in Prichard, W.V. With the addition of Bostwick-Braun’s West Helena, Ar., and Ashley, In., warehouses, House-Hasson will have more than 1.1 million sq. ft. of warehouse, receiving and shipping space.

“Bostwick-Braun has a remarkable history, and, to its leadership’s credit, they recognized that now is a good time to partner together to better serve our combined customers,” Henry said.

CEO Pete Richichi said that Bostwick-Braun has a nearly 170-year history of working for customers throughout the U.S. Midwest.

There are 110 employees working in Bostwick-Braun’s two warehouses; House-Hasson plans to try to retain as many employees as possible. House-Hasson’s staff currently numbers 465 employees in Knoxville and Prichard.

The 56,000 SKUs in BostwickBraun’s warehouses will be incorporated into House-Hasson’s system. House-Hasson presently has 55,000 SKUs in its two warehouses.

HOME DEPOT PURCHASING SRS DISTRIBUTION

The Home Depot has agreed to acquire SRS Distribution, McKinney, Tx., for $18.25 billion

Under the terms of the deal, SRS Distribution will operate as an independent business unit within The Home Depot, focused on accelerating growth in the pro market.

Over the past 16 years, the SRS family has become one of the fastest-growing building products distributors in the U.S.

The proposed acquisition will clear a pathway for accelerated growth with the residential and commercial professional customer by expanding Home Depot’s pro capabilities, combining online, retail, and wholesale. The combined platform will open new opportunities for existing suppliers and partners by providing access to SRS’ expert workforce focused on specialty verticals, as well as Home Depot’s cross-project expertise, product mix, network, and digital assets.

Under the deal, the SRS senior leadership team will remain with the company to guide its ambitious growth plans. Dan Tinker, president and CEO of SRS, will continue to lead SRS operations under this new structure.

“SRS’ ability to build leadership

positions in each of its trade verticals while generating significant revenue growth is a testament to its strong vision, leadership, culture, and execution,” said Ted Decker, chair, president and CEO of Home Depot. “SRS’s branch network, coupled with The Home Depot’s 2,000+ U.S. stores and distribution centers and comprehensive product offering provides the residential and commercial pro customer with more fulfillment and service options than ever before.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of fiscal 2024.

Founded in 2008, SRS currently operates under 46 local brands encompassing over 760 locations across 47 states, including Acorn Roofing Supply, Advanced Building Products, American Roofing Supply, BL, Kohl Building Products, Marsh Building Products, Metro Roofing & Metal Supply, Midwest Roofing Supply, River City Wholesale, Suncoast Roofers Supply, and Wimsatt Building Materials.

With the purchase, Home Depot estimates its total addressable market is approximately $1 trillion, an increase of approximately $50 billion.

Do it Best/United Hardware merger has been approved.

Do it Best has begun stocking Paslode nailers, staplers and fasteners in its warehouses.

U.S. Lumber lost its Claysburg, Pa., distribution center in a massive blaze on March 18. Investigators are seeking the cause.

Neiman Enterprises is instituting layoffs and production cutbacks at its Spearfish Forest Products mill in Spearfish, S.D., due to reductions to the Black Hills National Forest timber sale program.

White Cap acquired Crimson Steel Supply, with distribution/ steel fabrication yards in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Muskogee, Ok.

Jeld-Wen is closing its wood window plant in Hawkins, Wi., and will consolidate production at its facility in Rantoul, Il.

Lansing Building Products added a branch in Greenville, S.C.

Beacon opened branches in Fort Myers and Milton, Fl.; Spring Lake Park, Mn.; and Saginaw, Mi.

Sterling Lumber has consolidated operations from three plants at a single 60-acre complex in Phoenix, Il.

MITER Brands completed the acquisition of PGT Innovations.

Carolina Atlantic is now distributing Vista Railing Systems from Greenville, S.C., in addition to Calhoun, Ga., making the aluminum, glass and cable railings available in South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western Alabama, and northern Georgia.

K+R Building Materials, Jefferson City, Mo., has begun distributing New Castle Steel framing products in the Midwest.

Keim, Charm, Oh., is now distributing Accsys’ Accoya, Tricoya and Accoya Color modified wood products across Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia.

Bluegrass Wood Products, Gamaleil, Ky., is the latest company to earn NWFA/NOFMA mill certification from the National Wood Flooring Association.

MidSouth Tag & Label, Birmingham, Al., reached a milestone by producing over 1 billion tags and labels for the fourth consecutive year.

LET’S GET GROWING

With Do it Best, we can expand our vision without limits.

Do it Best gives Kenny Trujillo and Richie Tabet the power to quickly and efficiently deliver building materials to customers across a vast 122,000-square-mile service area.

Our incredible buying power and logistical strengths have transformed RAKS Building Supply into New Mexico’s best and largest independent building materials dealer.

Join the company with a team of industry experts who are committed to take your business beyond your vision.

Read Kenny and Richie’s success story at doitbestonline.com/RAKS.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Eric Dolloff has been promoted to regional general mgr. for Hancock Lumber, Casco, Me., covering the greater Portland, Midcoast and Capital area regions. Mike Boulet is now general mgr.-retail manufacturing. He will continue to oversee Mainely Trusses, Fairfield, Me., along with adding wall panel manufacturing in Windham, Me.

Jesse Levin is new to contractor sales at Hingham Lumber Co., Cohasset, Ma.

Drew Wilson has joined Outdoor Living Supply, Charlotte, N.C., as a territory sales specialist.

Mike Ocker, ex-Do it Best, has joined Eastern Engineered Wood Products, Bethlehem, Pa., as outside sales representative in the Carolinas. Marcus Dixon has been promoted to operations mgr. for EEWP’s new distribution center in Pelzer, S.C. Controller Nancy Dixon is taking on a newly defined role as director of administration and will also be relocating to South Carolina.

Marcus Erickson, ex-Midland Garage Door, has moved to the inside sales team at Lyman Lumber/US LBM, Chanhassen, Mn.

Mike Wilson has been promoted to chief commercial officer for BlueLinx, Atlanta, Ga. Leo Oei succeeds him as VP of product management. David Sherwood is now regional VP-North Region, Minneapolis, Mn.

Sam Lakey is now with Barrette Outdoor Living as territory sales rep for St. Louis, Mo.

Bryan Baker has joined LBM Advantage, as member sales mgr. for the Southwest region, covering Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. He takes over for Barry Brooks, who will now serve Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Cody Grein has joined the inside sales team at Snavely Forest Products, Oklahoma City, Ok.

Gyorgy Fulop is now mgr. of Contract Lumber, Houston, Tx.

Shane Green has been appointed president of Sterling Lumber, Phoenix, Il.

Matt Rudy has been named incoming general mgr. of Erie Materials’ Auburn, N.Y., branch, to succeed Randy Moore later this year. Brian Moran is a new territory mgr. in Scranton, Pa. New to inside sales are: Jose Cartagena, Scranton; Josh Cady, Binghamton, N.Y.; Mitch DeVito, Watertown, N.Y.; and Tony DiMassimo, Williamsport, Pa. Justin Walker was named warehouse mgr. in Syracuse.

Jeremy Napolitano has been named mgr. of Riverhead Building Supply, Riverhead, N.Y.

Branden Shuler, ex-Guy C. Lee Building Materials, is now plant mgr. for Fortress Wood Products, Elizabeth City, N.C.

Jason LeBright is new to BOLD–Best Outdoor Living Design as N.Y.-based business develoment mgr. for the Northeastern U.S.

John McKinnon is now in outside sales with ABC Supply, Pooler, Ga. Seth Monty is new to outside sales in Richardson, Tx.

Steven Kukulka, Decks & Docks Lumber Co., has been promoted to Charleston, S.C.-based VP for the mid-Atlantic. Alan Butterfield, ex-The Deck Store, is new as VP for the Northeast.

Doug Johnson, COO, Classic American Hardwoods, Memphis, Tn., has retired after 30+ years in the industry.

Thomas Ashley was promoted to outside sales at Carter Lumber, Charlotte, N.C.

Evan Ippolito was appointed co-mgr. of 84 Lumber, Allentown, Pa.

Tyler Bryant, Ace Hardware Corp., has been promoted to Greenville, S.C.based district mgr. over Virginia, West Virginia, and the Carolinas.

Nathan Harmon is now San Antonio, Tx., territory mgr. with Anlin Windows & Doors.

Rob Williams was promoted to forest products divisional purchasing mgr. for Do it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, In. Also promoted were: LBM product sales mgrs. Jim Knepper, Steve May, Kevin Riley, John Trowbridge (SYP), and Zach Vanlandingham (western species); Ronnie Thomas, associate merchandising mgr.-hardware; Brittany Peavler, associate merchandising mgr.; Arron Enyart, merchandising supply planner; and Bill Habegger, IT divisional mgr. of operations. Abeer Saeed is new as home décor, lumber & building materials merchandise mgr., and Craig Thacker, merchandising category management planner.

Jeff Dyer is new to B2B sales at Horizon Forest Products, Houston, Tx.

Raphael Watson is the new distribution mgr. at PrimeSource Building Products, Kansas City, Mo.

Truss Beasley, Beasley Forest Products, Hazlehurst, Ga., was elected Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association president during the group’s recent

annual meeting in Charleston, S.C.

Mike Shook, Norcross Supply Co., Peachtree Corners, Ga., is the new VP.

Rebecca Massey has joined the Building Material Suppliers Association staff as director of conferences & events. Kelly Franklin was promoted to VP and secretary.

Dave Fisher, Pittsburgh area mgr., 84 Lumber, was named the chain’s 2023 Area Manager of the Year. Dan Jones, north Charlotte, N.C., was honored as Manager of the Year; Brennen Byers, Dallas Door Shop, as Manufacturing Manager of the Year; and Andrew Boyd, operations mgr. in Charlotte, as Rookie of the Year.

Matthew Netterville, Fred Netterville Lumber, Woodville, Ms., was elected Hardwood Manufacturers Association president during the group’s national conference in Charleston, S.C. He succeeds Tommy Petzoldt, East Perry Lumber, Frohna, Mo. New VP is Brian Schilling, Pike Lumber, Akron, In. They are joined on the executive committee by Scott Cummings, Cummings Lumber, Troy, Pa.; Tripp Josey, Josey Lumber, Scotland Neck, N.C.; Wayne Law, New River Hardwoods, Beckley, W.V.; Geoff Henderson, Anderson-Tully Co., Vicksburg, Ms.; and Jason Dallas, Stella-Jones, Pittsburgh, Pa. Elected to the HMA board were: Nancy Tuck, Gates Milling, Gatesville, N.C.; Thomas Battle, Battle Lumber, Wadley, Ga.; Scott Ferland, Maine Woods, Portage, Me.; Kirby Kendrick, Kendrick, Inc., Edgewood, Ia.; Steve James, Frank Miller Lumber, Union City, In.; and Jeff Lisk, Wagner Millwork, Owego, N.Y.

Sarah Billig, ex-Mendocino Cos., is the new president of Forest Stewardship Council U.S. She succeeds Stuart Hale, forestry program mgr. for the U.S. and Canada carbon markets team at the Nature Conservancy, who was serving as interim president while co-chairing the board of directors.

Aaron Cox, mgr., Higginbotham Bros., Midlothian, Tx., was honored with US LBM’s Humanitarian Award, earning a $10,000 grant to the Midlothian Independent School District Education Foundation.

Isabelita “Lita” Abele, president and CEO, U.S. Lumber, Woodbury Heights, N.J., was honored as 2024 Small Business Person of the Year for New Jersey by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Lisa Kwipment has joined the rental department at Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus

GET TO KNOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF NAWLA

GET TO KNOW the individuals behind NAWLA by getting to know our Young Emerging Lumber Professionals (YELP) members. NAWLA’s YELP program seeks to identify opportunities to strengthen the future of our industry and recognize the achievements of young professionals in the workforce. YELP emerged in 2021 with the mission of creating opportunities for the next generation to learn about NAWLA and to help them grow their professional networks.

Tiffany Richardson Empire Building Materials, Bozeman, Mt.

Currently, a co-leader of the CFO 10 Group and a member of YELP, Tiffany Richardson has become fully immersed in NAWLA programs after joining the lumber industry four years ago.

Tell us about yourself. What is your background and how did you get involved with wholesale lumber?

I was born and raised in Helena, Mt., and eventually made my way back so that I could raise my three kids surrounded by family. I got my degree in Business Management from MSU Bozeman, an MBA from the University of Montana, Missoula, and a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul University in Chicago. I am a CPA, but I never wanted to work in public accounting. I love helping private businesses understand their financial statements and how to use them to continue to grow.

I fell into the lumber industry when I applied to an ad for a corporate controller posted by Empire Building Materials in Bozeman, Mt. It has been a whirlwind learning everything that this industry encompasses, but I have never loved what I do more than now.

What motivates you to continue on this career path and be a part of the wholesale lumber industry?

The lumber industry is an old one with mounds of amazing history. I love the authenticity of this industry as well as the vendors and customers I get to work with. My motivation to continue in my career path lies in my desire to continue to push the industry forward. My passion combines finance and technology which allows my incredible staff to improve processes, create efficiencies, drive sales, and provide killer customer service. To continue to grow in all facets, we can’t stand still.

In what ways have you seen the lumber industry evolve over the years?

My time in the lumber industry has been a wild ride! I was hired in 2020 shortly after COVID ravaged our country, but surprisingly not our industry. So far, I haven’t known anything but gangbuster sales, solid growth, and a future that is almost impossible to predict. I don’t have enough years under my belt, but I see very exciting things evolving in the industry moving forward.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far? Are there any “wow” moments that particularly stand out to you?

The people and the endless opportunities are by far the greatest part of my job. Not only do I get to work with an incredibly talented pool of coworkers, but I have never met harder-working and more passionate people than those who work in and own the lumber yards we service.

I think the biggest “wow” moment I have had was seeing the price that OSB hit during COVID!

Tell us about your involvement with NAWLA. How long have you been a member and what made you want to join?

I joined NAWLA on the advice of my boss, Anthony Tangaro, when I first joined Empire in 2020. I was hooked after attending my first Traders Market in Louisville in November of 2021. I am a co-leader of the CFO 10 Group and was nominated as a YELP-er last year. I have attended every Traders Market and Leadership Summit since Louisville and wouldn’t want to miss one.

What advice would you give to a new NAWLA member?

I think I have heard it a million times, and for good reason, “get involved!” As a member, you only get out of NAWLA what you put in. Get involved, meet new people, push yourself out of your comfort zone, attend events, and show up to every event ready for something new.

What’s been your favorite NAWLA moment?

I don’t have just one since my favorite NAWLA moments stem back to meeting a handful of people that I now consider close and lifelong friends. I am grateful, daily, for these relationships.

Anything else you would like to share?

I am super excited to be assigned a mentor through the Young Emerging Lumber Professional program! I look forward to having an expert in the industry that can guide me to be better and do better in my current position and help prepare me for all this industry has in store!

Mike Andrew Nicholson and Cates, Burlington, Ontario, Canada

After shifting from a career in real estate, Mike Andrew found his home in the wholesale lumber industry. Now working at Nicholson and Cates, he is an active member of NAWLA and a member of the 2023 Young Emerging Lumber Professional class.

Tell me about yourself. What is your background and how did you get involved with wholesale lumber?

I have been in sales for over a decade but completely pivoted my career when my wife and I started growing our family. I was a full-time real estate agent running a successful practice but started to tire of the evening and weekend hours. I was always on call and missed so many planned classes and events with my oldest son to run out on showings, take a listing appointment, or

write up offer paperwork. This really wasn’t the kind of father I wanted to be. My wife and I had been discussing a career change for a while when a family friend that worked for Nicholson and Cates reached out and mentioned an opportunity in the lumber wholesale industry. I made the switch a few months before my wife and I had our second boy, and haven’t looked back since!

What motivates you to continue on this career path and be a part of the wholesale lumber industry?

This is an easy one, the people in the industry. I work on an amazing team at Nicholson and Cates, and the people I get to work with every day have become some of my closest friends. Many of the people I meet and get to do business with on a regular basis have become more like friends than customers.

In what ways have you seen the lumber industry evolve over the years?

I am still relatively new in the industry—having started in 2020—so

I haven’t experienced as much evolution as other seasoned vets, but I am always amazed when I go into a new shop or factory and see the levels of automation in a company’s production process. On a social level, I have definitely seen an influx of young, talented people come into the industry. I am excited to see how the industry evolves and becomes more diverse from where it is today.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far? Are there any “wow” moments that particularly stand out to you?

There are many rewarding aspects to this career. On a business level, being able to work together with my customers and help one another grow our respective businesses makes every day rewarding. On a personal level, I love the work/ life balance I have now. My office is seven minutes from my house and the time I get with my three kids is absolutely priceless.

One big “wow” moment was when I had the honor to speak and introduce a panel at the 2023 Montreal Wood Convention/NAWLA Montreal regional meeting. I was introducing Fred Lebel (Groupe Lebel), Bart Bender (Interfor), and Khara Julien (Specialty Building Products), and was blown away by how friendly all of them were and how these high-level industry executives made themselves so available for the benefit of others in our industry. I felt that it really spoke to the character of the people in the industry and how willing most people are to help teach and advance other’s careers.

How long have you been a NAWLA member and what made you want to join?

I have been a NAWLA member since I joined Nicholson and Cates in 2020. I attended a Wood Basics event in 2021 and made some very strong connections with others in the industry that I still keep in touch with today. The knowledge and connections I gained from that made me want to get more involved with the organization.

Patrick Lumber Company

Over 100 Years in Business

What advice would you give to a new NAWLA member?

Get involved and be a sponge! There are so many people that are

willing to teach you things about this industry and the connections and friendships you can make through NAWLA are invaluable.

What’s been your favorite NAWLA moment?

If I have to pick one, my favorite NAWLA moment was being nominated and accepted into the 2023 Young Emerging Lumber Professional Program class. We had a fantastic time at the retreat in Chicago and I have been able to learn so much from other young and ambitious people in the industry.

Anything else you would like to share?

Join a 10 Group. This is such an under-utilized part of NAWLA that can benefit so many people in lumber. It is such an easy way to start meeting new people and make connections with other like-minded professionals in the industry!

Mason Fuller Mason Forest Products, Hattiesburg, Ms.

After transitioning from HVAC to a sales career in the lumber industry, Mason Fuller shares his experience joining the family busi ness and working at Mason Forest Products.

Tell me about yourself. What is your background and how did you get involved with wholesale lumber?

I started my sales career with Mason Forest Products in 2021. Briefly, I was in HVAC and realized that I had an interest in the sales side of the business. Wanting to step it up a notch, I decided to try my hand at sales. I was graciously given the chance to start at Mason Forest Products, founded by my grandparents. I can easily say that I have found my passion, and hopefully a lifelong career!

What motivates you to continue on this career path and be a part of the wholesale lumber industry?

I’ve learned that the market will always throw you a curve ball, and you have to be ready to adapt and figure out how to stay one step ahead of it when you can. Our customers count on us to be “one step ahead” so we can better serve them and pull through when they need us. Being a little bit better every day and giving my maximum effort to everybody who has trusted me with their product needs is not something I take lightly. My biggest motivation comes from presenting a solution that positively impacts my customers and seeing the results of going the extra mile.

In what ways have you seen the lumber industry evolve over the years?

In the few years that I have been in the business, I’ve seen tremendous advances in software, process automation, and a steady stream of new faces that I hope to meet at future Traders Markets!

What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far? Are there any “wow” moments that particularly stand out to you?

The most rewarding part of my career has been the knowledge I’ve gained from leadership both inside and outside of Mason Forest Products. The industry is incredibly dynamic, so I’ve been able to take a lot of wisdom from previous and current generations and implement it into my life. I’ve had both really good and bad “wows.” One that stands out was winning a cooler at Phoenix Traders Market. I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff!

Tell us about your involvement with NAWLA. How long have you been a member and what made you want to join?

Mason Forest Products has been a NAWLA member for many years before me, so I can only speak about my positive experience. I’m thankful to have a place to get

an insight into what’s going on in the industry.

What advice would you give to a new NAWLA member?

My best advice is to stay open to all opportunities! There are several, and I’ve enjoyed everything I have said yes to.

What’s been your favorite NAWLA moment?

My favorite NAWLA moment so far was attending the YELP meeting. I feel blessed with the opportunity to have met some outstanding representatives from states all over the country that I wouldn’t ordinarily get a chance to meet in person.

Tricia Dauzat RoyOMartin, Alexandria, La.

An inaugural member of NAWLA’s Young Emerging Lumber Professionals program and current sales representative at RoyOMartin,

Tricia Dauzat has been in the wholesale lumber industry for over seven years.

Tell me about yourself. What is your background and how did you get involved with wholesale lumber?

I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration. I’m married to a general contractor, and we have a 3-year-old little girl. Being that my husband is self-employed, I was searching for an employer with good benefits and that was well established. I found that and so much more when I joined RoyOMartin over seven years ago.

What motivates you to continue on this career path and be a part of the wholesale lumber industry?

I love the company I work for and could not imagine being anywhere else. I’ve made lasting friendships in this industry all while being successful.

In what ways have you seen the lumber industry evolve over the years?

The biggest change I’ve seen in

this industry is the consolidation of companies. Our customer base has shrunk significantly, and I believe this will continue to be a trend for the future.

What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far?

The most rewarding part of my career is being able to be part of a team that is like family—I enjoy walking into work every day. I also love the selling aspect of my job. I still get really excited to make a sale!

Tell us about your involvement with NAWLA. How long have you been a member and what made you want to join?

My company, RoyOMartin, has been a NAWLA member for over 20 years. I attended my first NAWLA conference two years ago and being able to meet so many customers in one spot was so much fun.

I was then nominated to be part of YELP, which has been a great introduction to people my age within the industry.

What advice would you give to a new NAWLA member?

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DEEPEN INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS AT UPCOMING NAWLA EVENTS

NAWLA’S MONTREAL regional meeting returned in April, kicking off the association’s many regional meetings and educational events for the summer. Be on the lookout for invitations from NAWLA on the upcoming events as you plan out your own 2024 calendar.

Regional Meetings

Join NAWLA locally as it tours across various regions across the U.S. and Canada. Each year, NAWLA regional meetings provide opportunities for networking and education with wholesale and manufacturing professionals in the forest product and lumber industries. They include:

Vancouver Regional Meeting

Wednesday, May 22 in Vancouver, B.C.

Portland Regional Meeting

Thursday, June 6 in Portland, Or.

Southeast Regional Meeting

Thursday, June 20 in Biloxi, Ms.

Minneapolis Regional Meeting

Summer 2024 in Minneapolis, Mn.

Texas Regional Meeting

Monday, Sept. 23 in Arlington, Tx.

Northeast Regional Meeting

TBA

Wood Basics

Hosted twice a year, NAWLA’s Wood Basics Course provides companies and employees the chance to invest in the future.

NAWLA Wood Basics started in 1981 to educate and develop a skilled workforce for the forest products industry.

More than 1,500 professionals have graduated from the course since it began, representing a broad cross-section of the industry. Since that time, the curriculum has evolved with the industry, in areas such as technology and global trade. Today, Wood Basics companies and employees have the chance to invest in the future. Whether it is a new employee just starting in the industry or a veteran who is moving into a new field, the course will provide the student and company with the resources to succeed.

Wood Basics is a four-day immersion class that includes both classroom training and field operations. The curriculum encompasses the entire spectrum of the forest products industry: from seed to tree, from production to sales. Spring Wood Basics is taking place May 6-10 in Corvallis, Or., and registration for Fall Wood Basics opens soon.

2024 Traders Market

Since its inception in 1996, Traders Market has held a unique position among lumber and building material tradeshows as the only one focused almost exclusively on the lumber supply chain. Unlike other shows, the exhibitors are almost always manufacturers of lumber and lumber-related products, not machinery or other equipment providers.

Traders Market returns for 2024 in Phoenix, Az., with eight hours of tradeshow floor time to buy, sell, and network, and several hours of industry education. Registration opens in June so make plans to join NAWLA in Phoenix this November!

Find out more and register for upcoming events at nawla.org. BPD

NAWLA has a full slate of events planned in the coming months, providing lumber industry professionals with vast opportunities for networking and career development.

IT STARTED IN 1848 WITH

A SINGLE SAWMILL

Today we are a seventh-generation, family-owned integrated forest products company, passionate about our people-fi rst and values-driven culture. Our operations have grown to include four high-efficiency sawmills, 11 lumberyards, component manufacturing facilities, nine full-service kitchen design showrooms, and over 6,000 acres of timberland ownership.

With respect for the past and a commitment to the future, we invite you to become part of our journey!

NAWLA WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

THE NORTH AMERICAN Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA) is proud to welcome their new executive director, Matt Bruno, who stepped into the role on January 1, 2024.

Bruno comes to NAWLA with a strong tenure and decade-long track record in supporting professional and trade associations. Much of his career has been spent in forest product, print, distribution and manufacturing-based organizations including his most recent post serving as executive director of the National Paper Trade Association.

“I’ve been met with a warm welcome from the NAWLA community and its members,” shared Bruno. “I am honored for the opportunities unique to NAWLA and its rich, 130-year history, and to help shape the future for the next generation of the industry.”

Bruno now serves as chief executive for the organization which is headquartered in Chicago, Il., and oversees the association staff team instrumental in delivering NAWLA’s landmark, regional meetings, yearround education and other key benefits designed for NALWA members. Bruno’s background and expertise in strategic planning are ideal for the

innovation and evolution currently underway for the association.

Member organizations of NAWLA are dedicated to growing and nurturing every aspect of the lumber industry, from the careful stewardship of forest resources to the harvesting and distribution of lumber products, to championing wood’s role in a greener economy and a healthier planet. You can find more information about the organization at nawla.org. BPD

KILLGORE RECEIVES MULROONEY AWARD

In 1980, the North American Wholesale Lumber Association established the John J. Mulrooney Award to commemorate the life and career of a career lumber wholesaler who served as NAWLA’s chief executive for nearly 20 years until his untimely death in 1979.

This year’s John J. Mulrooney Award recipient is Steve Killgore.

With more than 45 years of professional expertise and success, Steve Killgore is by definition “a service to the industry.” During his time in the lumber industry, he has held various senior leadership po-

sitions across sales, marketing and company operations for numerous leading manufacturers including McKenzie Forest Products, Roseburg Forest Products, and Willamette Industries. Currently, Steve serves as vice chairman for Timber Products, as an educator at Oregon State University, and has recently joined PWT’s board of directors.

The presentation of the 2024 John J. Mulrooney Award was held at the 2024 NAWLA Leadership Summit event on March 11 in Tucson, Az.

MATT BRUNO

STEVE KILLGORE

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5 ACTION STEPS TO GET PEAK PERFORMANCE FROM EMPLOYEES

BY JIM BOUCHARD

PEOPLE PERFORM at their best when—and only when—they know their leaders care, their work has meaning, and they have the chance to learn, grow and develop. You must inspire them, empower them, and guide them. Let’s focus on the first discipline.

“Inspire” is defined as reaching people’s hearts. Contrast that with “motivation,” which is really appealing to people’s heads. Rather than trying to create transient, material reasons to reach expectations, focus on connecting on a deep emotional level to inspire people to blow expectations out of the water and embrace a continual process of learning, growth and higher levels of performance.

The biggest challenge encountered in guiding leaders on how to inspire others is the false assumption that to inspire, you need to do something grand. Too often you look for that uplifting speech, compelling memo, or occasional heroic act. All of this is fine when it happens, but inspiration should be a daily practice—and it more often takes on an unassuming form and is often unnoticed in the moment.

#1 Lead by example. There’s nothing more inspiring to others than your example. It can mean you made a great speech or did something amazing, but more often it is what you do every day. What you do that people can count on.

Simply put, model the behavior you expect from others. “Do as I say, not as I do” does not work on children, nor with the people who look to you for leadership. Make a list of the most important characteristics, behaviors, expectations and traits you expect from your people. Make sure you check all the boxes on that list yourself.

#2 Show them you care. And frankly, if you don’t care, don’t bother! Do you take the time to show a genuine interest in the people you serve? This means understanding their personal goals, interests, challenges and concerns. Carve time into your schedule to meet with reports—not just to talk business, but to develop a deeper understanding of them as human beings.

#3 Express appreciation. How did you feel the last time someone thanked you for a job well done? On the flip side, studies show that a lack of appreciation, real or perceived, is one of the most common reasons given for disengagement or leaving a job.

Even the smallest expression of gratitude can elevate a person’s mood and performance. Public recognition and acknowledgment can inspire them to unimagined levels. Too often leaders lose the opportunity to share gratitude simply because there are too many other priorities at any particular time. Gratitude must be a discipline.

#4 Share. Leadership is sharing. A leader shares. If you want to touch people’s hearts, there are some essentials you must share unconditionally. Respect. Trust. Loyalty. By unconditionally, it’s meant with no expectation of return. Too often you’ll hear, “I’ll show respect when that person deserves it.” No. you’re a leader—you go first.

Respect, trust and loyalty are a leader’s most important assets. What can you possibly accomplish without the respect, trust and loyalty of the people you serve? Now to get these things, you’ve got to give. You’ll not always get a direct return on your investment. But as you make sharing a discipline, you’ll inspire others to feel empowered. And in those cases where there’s no return, you will inspire people with your consistency, generosity and courage.

Two other things that inspire people when you share: Power. Authority. These may not be unconditional. You need to manage how much power and authority you share, not to be proprietary, but to ensure that you don’t set people up for failure if they’re not yet ready to take on more. Having said that, power and authority only expand through sharing—unless you’re working all by yourself! The very act of trusting others with more power and authority is incredibly inspirational. Make a list of what you’re willing to share and with whom. Then—do it!

#5 Give them time. Everyone knows the most precious commodity we have is time. Any moment you give another person can inspire not only that person but others as they see your willingness to share your time.

Make sure it’s sincere. Use this time to implement any or all of the other action steps on this list. More often than not, have an objective or goal in mind—though it’s not bad once in a while to focus more on showing a personal interest or just see what happens in the moment. BPD

– Jim Bouchard is founder of The Sensei Leader Movement, speaker (armstrongspeakers.com), and author of eight books.

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SPEND SALES DOLLARS WISELY USING KEY

ECONOMIC MEASUREMENTS TO TRANSFORM YOUR SALES SYSTEM

BY DAVE KAHLE

OVER MY CAREER as a sales expert, I’ve personally and contractually worked with over 500 sales organizations. I’ve learned some things. Here’s one: Very few chief sales officers have a good handle on the economics of the sales force. And very few entrepreneurs think about the economics of a sales system.

Almost everyone can tell you what the amounts of the various categories on a P&L statement indicate. So, sales salaries, expenses, advertising costs, etc., are readily at hand. However, very few decision-makers dig deeper. And that means that significant information is never uncovered, and decisions are made on the basis of superficial, and often flawed, information.

If you make decisions about your sales force, or you manage your sales system, you’ll need a deeper understanding of the economics of sales efforts to make wise decisions going forward.

Kahle’s Kalculation

Let’s begin with a measurement that only a handful of sales leaders understand: Sales Productivity. One way to define productivity is to compare the cost of a unit of labor versus the output. It is an important measurement for every other job title. For example, an order-entry clerk who inputs 100 lines an hour is more productive than one who inputs 80 lines, at least on the surface. If, however, clerk A (100 line) costs you $50 an hour, and clerk B costs you $25 an hour, the equation changes dra-

matically. Now, by driving down a bit deeper, we discover that clerk A costs you $.50 per line, while clerk B is more productive, costing you $.31 a line. So, in business, productivity is measured by the output per dollar of cost.

When we apply that to sales forces, it takes the form of something we call Kahle’s Kalculation of Sales Productivity. It’s a formula I created decades ago to measure sales productivity.

Basically, we compare all the direct costs of a salesperson (wages, fringes, expenses, etc.) to the gross profit produced by that person in that period of time. Having arrived at those two numbers, we then divide the total gross profit into the total costs. The result is a percentage. That percentage is a measurement of the productivity of a salesperson. Here’s an example. Salesperson Susan produced a total gross profit in her territory of $560,000 last year. She cost the company $102,000. Her productivity measurement is 18.2%.

Now that you have that measurement, you can use that information to inform your management decisions in a number of ways.

1. Compare the KK (Kahle’s Kalculation) number to a set of benchmarks we have created over the years. So, for a B2B salesperson, the acceptable KK range is under 20%. Specifically, 13–19%. So, a salesperson who costs you 25%, for example, is probably not profitable. Regardless of how much gross profit he/she produces, the ratio of cost to gross profit just doesn’t allow enough

to pay all the other costs of running the business and produce a profit.

This gives you a more accurate and specific measurement that will allow you to make informed decisions about individual salespeople, so that you can work with individual salespeople to improve their productivity.

2. Compare one sales team with another. You can modify the measurement a bit (see Kahle’s Kalculation for details) and create a measurement of the productivity of a sales team. And then compare one team with another to discover best practices and to make changes. This is particularly helpful to compare one branch to another, for example, or to more closely analyze a specialist sales team.

3. You can modify the number a bit and measure the productivity of the entire sales and marketing system for a company. Our benchmarks indicate that the acceptable range is 26-34% for a company under around $20 million in annual sales, and incrementally smaller as the size of the business increases. If your KK at the system

level is 40%, for example, you are not as profitable as you could be because your sales system is inefficient. On the other end of the spectrum, if your KK at the corporate level is too low, say 18%, you are probably not growing as rapidly as you should because you are not investing adequately in the sales function.

Discrepancies at the corporate level are generally due to sales systems issues, rather than personnel issues. Your compensation plan is flawed, or your system of account responsibilities is ineffective, or you are calling on the wrong markets, or you are using the wrong sales approach, etc.

Productivity of a sales call

Using Kahle’s Kalculation, we can determine the productivy of a salesperson. With just a little thinking, we can ferret out some numbers that will tell us a great deal more about the situation by using them to discern the quality of a sales call.

Let’s think about the potential productivity of a sales

call. It’s just a simple measurement of the total cost of the sales call compared to the total potential gross profit of that call.

To create the total cost of the sales call, take the salesperson’s direct cost and then divide that by the number of sales calls made by that person in that period of time. While this number varies greatly depending on the industry, the last numbers I have seen indicate that it is probably going to be somewhere between $125 and $300 per call for a B2B sales call. Finding that number is often an eye-opener for sales leaders.

But, more important than the cost of the sales call is the potential productivity of that call. While potential is a slippery number to acquire, we can create some standards to help us make good decisions. For example, keep in mind (from earlier in this article) that a field salesperson should cost the company no more than 20% of the gross profit. So, the ratio of cost to profit is 1:5.

Now, if we impose that on a sales call, and we know that the call costs us $200, it then must produce gross profit of $1,000 (five times the cost) to make that call profitable.

At this point, the blood is draining from the faces of most sales leaders and salespeople reading this article. “OMG,” some of you are thinking, “we’re spending a lot of time on customers and calls that aren’t worth it.”

Yes, that’s right. One of the biggest flaws in the design of most sales forces is to allow the salespeople to waste time on accounts that will never be profitable. It is almost a universal malady.

You can use this set of economics to focus the investment of sales time on profitable accounts. For example, an account with $10,000 in potential gross profit may be only worth one or two field sales calls. While an account with $4 million in potential gross profit could be seen every week.

While there are lots of potential responses to these numbers, it does bring us to one of the rules for 21st century sales system design: Match the sales system to the dynamics and potential of the account.

For example, it may cost you $1,000 to have a salesperson call on a low-volume account. However, you can cut that investment dramatically by creating a sales system of five to six proactive outbound sales calls by an inside salesperson, coupled with a set of attractive product descriptions.

Your attention should not just be directed to the small end of the spectrum. On the other end of the spectrum, you are probably not investing sufficiently in the highest potential accounts. If the potential is significant, then having just an outside salesperson call on them is insufficient. Remember the refrain: match the sales system to the dynamics and potential of the account. An account with huge potential ought to be invested in more heavily. Sales calls by executives, significant entertaining events, company visits, etc., should be a part of the process for high potential accounts.

QPC (Quantified Purchasing Capacity)

There are several more measurements we can talk about, but they are beyond the scope of this article. But

here’s one more. QPC. QPC is the answer to the question “If this account bought everything they could from me in the next 12 months, how much would that be?

Lots of people think in terms of an account’s potential, but often those ideas are vague and imprecise. “Oh yeah, it’s pretty big!” Because this measurement is based upon a specific set of criteria, it provides a quantifiable measurement that can be used to compare one account with another, to determine sales investment and to measure penetration of an account.

This is one of my pet peeves. When we think about collecting information about a potential customer, once we get beyond the demographics (name, address, type of business, etc.), what would be the next most important piece of information we should collect about every prospect and every customer? Would it not be “How much they can buy?” In other words, QPC?

And yet, in over 500 sales organizations that I have worked with, only one had an understanding of QPC, a requirement that salespeople collect it, and a field on the CRM customer master screen to input it. One in 500.

This measurement is so incredibly powerful that it can touch multiple sales issues. For example, just collecting the number and attaching it to an account can be powerful all by itself, even if you never do anything with it. When the average salesperson sees a verifiable measurement of an account’s potential, that number is almost always larger than the salesperson had anticipated. The actual potential in a customer can motivate a salesperson, all by itself.

In addition, you can use that number to determine one half of our rule: match the sales system to the dynamics and potential of the account. QPC goes a long way to determining the “potential of the account.” You can’t precisely create and match a sales approach unless you know the QPC.

It also takes the measurement of “penetration” into the 21st century. Now, it is no longer a matter of, “I think we’re getting X percentage of the business.” It is an objective measurement. If the account had $1 million of potential purchases, and you are getting $50,000, your penetration is pretty low.

One more thing

This article presents some of the basic sales system measurements. While most sales leaders don’t dive this deeply into the economics of the sales force and the sales system, these few simple measurements can be used to transform a sales system and provide a figurative shot of adrenalin to a sales force. Think of it as “Economics of a Sales System 101. “ BPD

DAVE KAHLE

Dave Kahle is a leading sales authority, having written 12 books and presented in 47 states and 11 countries. For more information, visit davekahle.com.

BETTER, NOT BIGGER, HOMES AMONG TOP DESIGN TRENDS FOR 2024

Following a brief uptick in new home sizes in 2021, the average size of a new home continues to inch smaller—dropping from 2,479 sq. ft. in 2022 to 2,411 sq. ft. in 2023, the smallest average size in 13 years—to match home buyer preferences for less square footage.

According to NAHB’s latest What Home Buyers Really Want study, home buyers are looking for homes around 2,070 sq. ft., compared to 2,260 20 years ago.

“It’s related to two factors that are linked,” said NAHB asst. VP of survey research Rose Quint. “First, we’ve seen changes in home buyer preferences. Second, housing affordability has worsened in recent years.”

Builders are acting on this trend, with 38% indicating they built smaller homes in 2023 to help support home sales and 26% indicating they plan to build even smaller in 2024. They are also working to bridge the gap on housing affordability by cutting home prices, providing sales incentives and offering more affordable finishes. Median new homes prices dropped to $427,400 in 2023—down 7 percentage points from 2022, a drop not seen since 2009—while existing home prices continued to rise to $394,600, marking a 1 percentage point increase over the prior year.

Home buyers are not only shifting their preferences on size; they’re shifting their overall design preferences as well, placing higher value on personalization and authenticity. “Our homeowners are looking to personalize their homes,” said Donald Ruthroff, AIA, founding principal at Design Story Spaces LLC. “They want to it

The

feel like it was made just for them and be significantly different than their neighbors’ homes.”

This is reflected in the upgrades buyers incorporate into their homes, whether it’s an island that looks like a piece of furniture, higher quality cabinets, or more expensive flooring. Features that remain at the top of buyers’ wish list include four outdoor features, two kitchen features, and two related to energy efficiency:

• Laundry room

• Patio

• Energy Star window

• Exterior lighting

• Ceiling fan

• Garage storage

• Front porch

• Hardwood flooring

• Full bath on the main level

• Energy Star appliances

• Walk-in pantry

• Landscaping

• Table space in the kitchen

Technology features are becoming increasingly popular, most notably security cameras, wired home security systems, programmable thermostats, video doorbells, multizone HVAC systems, and energy management systems.

Other home features that have seen strong growth in popularity over the past 10 years include: quartz or engineered stone for kitchen countertops, lighting control systems, outdoor fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, built-in kitchen seating, and exposed beams.

HOME DEPOT ADDING 4 NEW PRO CENTERS

The Home Depot is opening four new distribution centers, expanding its pro ecosystem to Detroit, San Antonio, southern Los Angeles, and Toronto in 2024.

The new distribution centers will stock large, bulky merchandise like lumber, insulation, roofing shingles, and more. With a network of distribution centers stocking a variety of product types, pros can order job lot quantities of the products they need to complete their entire projects, delivered directly to their job sites. The new distribution centers are expected to open in the first half of the year.

Along with its supplier partners, Home Depot is working to build depth of inventory in each of its top pro markets, with job lot quantities that are meaningfully larger than what it has historically offered through its stores alone. In addition, when jobsite deliveries are fulfilled directly from a distribution center, there is less congestion in local Home Depot stores from staged products in aisles and more inventory on hand to satisfy the needs of its in-store pro customers.

“Pros need a partner with the right product, depth of product, fulfillment capabilities, sales support and management tools to help them get their jobs done,” said Chip Devine, senior VP of outside sales. “Over the last several years, we have been investing to deliver a faster, more convenient, differentiated experience for our pros. Our distribution network is one piece of the comprehensive pro ecosystem we’re building to better meet the needs of this important customer.”

The chain has opened similar pro-focused hubs across the U.S., and by the end of 2024, expects to have 17 of its top pro markets equipped with new capabilities for pros. In addition to the new supply chain facilities, Home Depot is building out its comprehensive pro offerings and capabilities, including localized product assortment specially tailored for each priority market; a dedicated sales force in each of its priority markets; digital tools and personalized experiences, including new order management capabilities to better manage complex pro orders; trade credit, which is currently in pilot with a small number of pro customers; and tiered pro pricing.

Adding to its pro capabilities, Home Depot recently acquired Construction Resources, a leading distributor of design-oriented surfaces, appliances and architectural specialty products for pro contractors focused on renovation, remodeling and residential home building. With showrooms across the East Coast and Southeast, Construction Resources allows Home Depot to expand the capabilities it offers pro customers, many of whom rely on showrooms as part of their consultative approach to complex renovation and remodel jobs.

Home Depot also offers a ProXtra loyalty program, which gives pros specialized perks, business tools to manage and grow their businesses, exclusive sales and events in stores and online, paint rewards, and more. The company has a variety of fulfillment options with delivery and prioritization for pros, plus value-added offerings like tool rental, quote center and more.

UNITED TREATING ACQUIRES GEORGIA PLANT

United Treating & Distribution, Muscle Shoals, Al., is expanding its market presence by acquiring OSA’s wood treating plant and associated assets in Ringgold, Ga.

UTD will be treating a full range of pressure treated wood at the facility with MCA.

UTD was founded in 2006 and has a customer base spanning 19 states. UTD supplies both treated and untreated lumber, along with distributing various building materials like aluminum railing and composite decking to retail lumber yards, contractor yards, multi-family markets, portable barn builders, utility trailer manufacturers, and components for the pallet and crating industry and other markets.

Chad Epperson, owner and CEO of UTD, explained, “With our mission to glorify Jesus Christ, this acquisition gives us the ability to further our vision and expand our reach. We are excited about this opportunity to grow and live out our brand commitment of ‘striving to do what we say we will do while delivering good news fast and bad news faster.’ We look forward to continuing our commitment to building trust one delivery at a time.”

CANFOR RESTRUCTURING ALABMA PRODUCTION

Canfor Corp. will optimize its footprint in southern Alabama by permanently closing its aging Jackson facility and expanding production at its Fulton facility with a second shift.

The moves, together with the previously announced construction of a new, state-of-the art greenfield sawmill in Axis, Al., will grow the company’s regional manufacturing platform by 100 million bd. ft. of production capacity and consolidate operations at modern facilities that are well positioned to be competitive for the long-term.

“Canfor is working to optimize our operational footprint in southern Alabama to ensure we have well-capitalized and highly efficient manufacturing facilities,” said Lee Goodloe, president, Canfor Southern Pine.

KOOPMAN ADDS ON IN PEMBROKE, MA.

New England’s Koopman Lumber is expanding its operations with a new location in Pembroke, Ma., purchased from Sampson Lumber.

The new location immediately began providing additional capabilities alongside the same products and services Sampson is known for. Over the course of the next year, Koopman will begin to expand the showroom to include doors and windows from top brands.

“Pembroke is an important region to both Koopman and Massachusetts as a whole,” said Dirk Koopman, CEO of Koopman Lumber. “With its picturesque landscape and vibrant population, Pembroke is poised to continue its steady growth and we’re thrilled to support and grow alongside them. The Pembroke location will serve as a key location for KLC as we expand into the South Shore to better support builders, contractors and homeowners on the coast. The location was what first attracted us to Sampson but once we had a few meetings, the culture was so in line with Koop-

man’s we knew it was a winning move.”

With the addition, Koopman Lumber has expanded its presence to 13 facilities, including two distribution centers focused on builders and contractors delivering across Massachusetts.

AHF PURCHASES 2 ALLEGHENY SAWMILLS

AHF Products, a leading manufacturer of hard surface flooring for residential and commercial interiors, and the largest hardwood flooring manufacturer in the U.S., agreed to purchase two West Virginia sawmills to augment the supply of lumber to its Beverly, W.V., solid wood flooring manufacturing facility.

Under the deal, AHF will acquire assets related to Allegheny Wood Products’ (AWP) sawmills in Smoot and Norton, W.V.

According to AHF president & CEO Brian Carson, “The purchase of these two sawmills is a wonderful and smart investment. It helps ensure lumber supply for our Beverly, W.V., plant and it is essential to our customers and employees who rely on our supply of hardwood flooring.”

AHF will be saving approximately 80 direct jobs at the two mills, which were originally slated to close at the end of March, and is expected to create approximately two times that, with new jobs being created for loggers, truckers, and suppliers in the region.

The supply of Eastern hardwood lumber in the U.S. is currently 65% of what it was pre-pandemic and 40% of what it was before 2007. The purchase of the two sawmills recovers 100% of the lumber supply AHF would have lost due to the closure of AWP and secures a consistent lumber supply to protect AHF customers. These two mills combined will supply 25 million bd. ft. annually.

“These mills assure AHF direct access to a high-quality timber supply, which will provide more than 20% of the required supply at full capacity of flooring production. AWP was 12% of total supply at peak, so we have more than replaced the lost supply,” said Jake Loftis, COO, AHF.

AHF Products manufactures solid hardwood flooring products at Beverly under such brands as Bruce, Hartco, Robbins and Capella.

SAMPSON LUMBER’S Pembroke, Ma., home is now the 13th location of Koopman Lumber.

CAPPS UNVEILS NEW VIRGINIA LOCATION

Capps Home Building Center hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting on April 5 its newest location in Troutville, Va.

Over 300 guests attended the celebration, which included 20+ vendors, giveaways and delicious local barbeque. Speeches were given by the regional and county Chambers of Commerce, Brandon Nicely from the Botetourt County board of supervisors, and Ryan Cappellari, chief operating officer for Capps.

Capps Home Building Center is a family-owned company that has been in operation for 46 years. Its headquarters location is in Moneta, Va., with a five-year-old window and door showroom in Roanoke, Va.

CON-VEY HELPS EQUIP HOOD MILL REBUILD

Con-Vey, a provider of innovative automation and material handling solutions, is developing a cutting-edge plywood finishing line for Hood Industries’ new Beaumont, Ms., facility.

Scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of this year, the plywood finishing line project marks a significant step forward in the reconstruction efforts following the devastating tornado that destroyed the previous mill in 2022.

Con-Vey VP Jeremy Goebel said, “Our team has been diligently working on the engineering of the equipment, and we are pleased with the progress that we are making, with several pieces already in the manufacturing phase. However, there is still a long way to go.”

CAMERON ASHLEY ENTERS FLORIDA, VIRGINIA WITH ACQUISITION OF DISTRIBUTOR AIS

Cameron Ashley Building Products, Greenville, S.C., has acquired Appalachian Insulation Supply, Elizabethtown, Pa., and Wolf Pak Transport, LLC in a stock purchase agreement.

As a family-owned distribution company started in 1987 by the late Bill Brinser, AIS distributes exclusively Johns Manville insulation, spray foam, mineral wool, sheathing and other insulation accessories to dealers and contractors. AIS operates from nine fully stocked warehouses in the Midwest and East.

“We are pleased to carry on the strong tradition of customer service and supplier relationships that

VIRGINIA DEALER Capps Home Building Center added a showroom in Troutville, Va.—its third location.

AIS founder Bill Brinser created,” said president and CEO Donny DeMarie. “With Cameron Ashley’s strong roots in the insulation and distribution industries, this acquisition makes sense, and I feel that Bill would have felt that his company is being placed in capable hands who will continue to honor and grow his legacy. We are extremely grateful to Barry Brinser, Bill’s brother, who was instrumental in helping us achieve a successful outcome.”

With the addition of 28 greenfield locations and five acquisitions over the last five years, Cameron Ashley will now operate 65 distribution centers, distributing fiberglass products from Knauf and Johns Manville.

“Now that the acquisition is complete, we are excited to have our first locations in Florida and Virginia. We look forward to welcoming the AIS employees, customers, and suppliers to our team. We are committed to enhancing the customer’s experience with our Cameron Ashley Advantages including Fast Delivery, Plus Points Loyalty Program, Connect customer portal, incentives, customer trips, and more robust product and accessory offerings,” said DeMarie.

LMC ADDS MANUFACTURED HOUSING GROUP

MHBG (Manufactured Housing Buyers Group), an association of independently managed producers of manufactured/modular housing, is joining forces with buying group LMC.

The combination marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of enhancing purchasing power and leveraging collective resources for the mutual benefit of

all the cooperative’s members. A new division will be created at LMC, called the Modular Building Division, to support this manufactured housing channel. The team at MHBG will join the LMC team in this new division.

Aligning with LMC provides MHBG members with an expanded product line opportunity as well as access to the services LMC provides, in addition to preserving the purchasing strengths MHBG has with its current product focus.

Paul Ryan, LMC president and CEO, said, “This is a great opportunity for both organizations. The MHBG members will form the core of our new Modular Building Division, along with certain existing LMC members. This will strengthen our business in this market segment and will improve our collective purchasing power for all LMC members. We welcome the MHBG members, the team, and their supplier partners as we work to drive opportunity and growth for everyone.”

“We are extremely excited to announce our partnership with LMC,” said David Jessup, chairman of MHBG and owner of Jessup Housing located in Waco Tx. “This collaboration represents a pivotal moment for our members, as it enables us to amplify our purchasing capabilities and deliver greater value through access to premium suppliers, favorable pricing, and innovative procurement strategies.”

Jay Wilson, MHBG’s chief negotiator, said, “LMC is a very strong fit for our members, who are very independent-minded entrepreneurs. I’m personally honored to go to work with the LMC team to create an environment for our members that allows them to compete at the highest levels with large scale enterprise companies.”

THE DISMANTLING OF THE AMERICAN TIMBER INDUSTRY

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BY AMERICAN LOGGERS COUNCIL

IT SEEMS LIKE every time a sawmill shuts down (monthly if not weekly), it’s viewed as a singular isolated incident. But viewed collectively, the cumulative impacts and magnitude become more focused and apparent. The individual incidents are all symptoms of a larger serious condition that diagnosed properly reveals and represents an unhealthy state of the U.S. timber and forest products industries.

Forest products plant shutdowns directly impact the facilities’ workers and communities, but they also impact the logging sector that sustained that facility, although it is typically not addressed in these announcements. Tracking these shutdowns can serve as a barometer revealing the impacts and losses to logging companies. When mills close, logging companies close, and forest health suffers.

Many contributing factors leading to the decline of the U.S. timber and forest products industries are government policy, regulations, restrictions, unfair trade practices, federal timber supply constraints, and incessant litigation.

While there has been some new mill construction and expansion, this cannot be assumed to be an equal offset. A mill opening 150 miles from where a mill closed, or that uses different species and wood specifications, does not equate to a net zero exchange. So, to merely compare lost production volume to new or expanding production outputs and ignore the geographic displacements or different timber specifications is not reflective of the direct losses and impacts.

The brief summary of U.S. forest products mill closures that follows may not be all-inclusive, but it does document nearly 50 closures, reductions or curtailments, and it

clearly represents an alarming trend during a short period of time (15 months), directly (millworkers) and indirectly (loggers) resulting in 10,000 or more jobs lost.

While U.S. forest products mills and facilities close, the U.S. is now the leading global importer of softwood lumber as depicted by these pine products from New Zealand in a U.S. big box store. According to the World Bank, the U.S. imports over $40 billion in wood products from Canada, China and Brazil.

In economic development it is easier to maintain your economic base rather than replace it. Supporting the existing forest products markets should be the first objective.

First Rule of Medicine – Do No Harm

Many current government practices are harming the forests, environment and economy. The good news is that there is a prescription and treatment to cure the disease. The U.S. needs to be willing to take the medicine, follow the treatment (literally forest management treatment), and promote the utilization of all wood fiber removed from the forests. With forest treatments and wood utilization, the health of the economy, the environment, the timber and forest products industries, and the forests will be better. But Congress and the Administration must write the prescription (policies and legislation) to cure the situation, or they can practice “skillful neglect” (the “professional” term for doing nothing) and perpetuate the continued decline of rural jobs and forest health, signing the death certificate.

The forest-based bioeconomy can help replace the lost legacy markets and transition to renewable fuels, energy, chemicals, industrial wood pellets, and building products,

all produced from renewable timber.

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was developed to support much of this transition, yet the EPA has failed to fully implement many aspects of the RFS. The EPA misinterpretations, delayed processing, and self-imposed restrictions have impeded full implementation and leveraging of this opportunity. The U.S. needs to administer the Renewable Fuel Standard as intended by Congress in order to facilitate the renewable energy transition. Forest-based biomass feedstock can provide the input material for renewable natural gas, hydrogen, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, electricity, coal conversion, and steel/concrete production.

The U.S. has not followed the rest of the developed nations with recognizing the carbon neutrality aspects and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of renewable biomass feedstock when replacing fossil fuels. The rest of the world has. The U.S. is out of step with the accepted global science of biomass feedstock for energy production to address climate change. The U.S. needs to develop a domestic bioeconomy market and policy just as the rest of the developed world has.

Support of the timber, forest products, and bioeconomy sector’s growth will demonstrate a commitment to revitalizing America’s rural economy, communities, and ailing forest health, while developing and transitioning into renewable forest-based bioproducts. Forest health and the timber industry share a symbiotic relationship that is interdependent and mutually beneficial.

Otherwise, the U.S. can continue to add to the list below.

Jan. 2023: West Fraser indefinitely curtails its mill in Perry, Fl.

Feb. 2023: Pactiv Evergreen Packaging closes in Canton, N.C.

March 2023: Sonoco Hutchinson, Ks., paper mill closes. Clearwater Paper closes in Thomaston, Ga. Pixelle closes

May 2023: Cascades closes tissue plants in Barnwell, S.C., and Scappose, Or. WestRock closes paper mill in N. Charleston, S.C. Cascades shuts down paper machine in Niagara Falls, N.Y. PCA idles Wallula, Wa., mill.

June 2023: Graphic Packaging closes Auburn, In., facility. Roseburg closes and sells its Taylorsville, Ms., particleboard plant.

July 2023: Paper Excellence idles Catalyst-Crofton pulp mill in Crofton, B.C. Essity closes its tissue manufacturing facilities in New York. WestRock closes in St. Louis, Mo.

Aug. 2023: WestRock closing its paper mill in Tacoma, Wa., and container plant in Columbus, In.

Sept. 2023: Georgia-Pacific closes its 122-year-old paper mill in Green Bay, Wi., and Foley Cellulose mill in Perry, Fl. WestRock closes its packaging plant in Fridley, Mn., and two in Louisville, Ky.

Oct. 2023: Rayonier idles its Temiscaming, P.Q., paperboard mill. International Paper closes its mill in Orange, Tx., and reduces production in Pensacola, Fl. Hood Container closes its plant in Matthews, N.C.

Nov. 2023: Boise Cascade curtails lumber production in Chapman, Al. Bristol Lumber, Bristol, Vt., closes.

Dec. 2023: WestRock closes in Charleston, S.C.

Jan. 2024: WestRock closes in Seattle, Wa., and Lexington, N.C. Hampton Lumber closes in Banks, Or. Graphic Packaging shuts down in Wyoming, Mi., and Charlotte, N.C. Soundview closes its Putney, Vt., paper mill. PaperWorks closes in Mount Gilead, N.C. West Fraser closes its sawmill in Maxville, Fl., and indefinitely curtails in Huttig, Ar.

Feb. 2024: Domtar closes its paper mill in Ashdown, Ar. Mohawk Fine Papers shuts down in Saybrook, Oh. Rosboro temporarily closes its Springfield, Or., mill. Interfor closes in Philomath, Or. Decorative Panels International closes in Alpena, Mi., and Toledo, Oh. Alleghany Wood Products

SEALS THE EDGES

WiseSeal Paintable & Stainable End Grain Seal is designed to protect decking, siding/cladding, railings, steps, log ends, turning blanks, and other exposed end grain.

With a durable, eco-friendly, water-based formula, it forms a flexible, breathable barrier by coating the wood fibers at the cellular level, providing exceptional protection. The product is paintable and stainable after 24 hours.

WiseSeal increases the structural integrity of hardwoods, thermally modified wood, softwoods, pressure treated wood, and even composite materials.

DECKWISE.COM (866) 427-2547

BEADBOARD LOOK

Westlake Royal Building Products’ Royal WoodTone Styles blend rich wood looks with the rustic warmth of beadboard trim.

Made of cellular PVC, they lend sophistication and function to porch ceilings and soffit applications. They are low-maintenance, resistant to moisture and insects, and easier to install due to its hidden nailing hems.

Colors include American Walnut, Oak Ridge, Natural Cedar, Smoke Grey, Weathered Oak, and Charred Timber. The line features a 6” v-grooved plank, beadboard, crown and bed mould.

WESTLAKEROYALBUILDINGPRODUCTS.COM (855) 769-2585

HYBRID DECKING JOISTS

FastenMaster has introduced the ICON ScrewJoist, a revolutionary hybrid deck joist system engineered to combine the strength and durability of steel with the lightness and workability of wood. It reportedly enables contractors to build exterior deck substructures faster, stronger and safer than with pressure treated joists.

ICON ScrewJoists are significantly lighter for safer, easier handling and quicker installation without the need for metal hangers or connectors. Straighter and more dimensionally stable, they provide a consistently level surface without crowns or low spots. Their open web design allows contractors to slide 2x8 lumber blocking into place without having to cut and install multiple blocks.

Joists are 10.5” tall, 3.5” wide, custom manufactured, and shipped to the jobsite with a detailed engineering layout showing the placement of each joist, ledger board, and carrying beam, plus all critical connections and other necessary structural details.

Initially, they will only be available in the Northeast.

FASTENMASTER.COM (800) 518-3569

STUCCO-LOOK ENGINEERED SIDING

LP SmartSide Pebbled Stucco Panel Siding is the newest addition to LP Building Solutions’ primed engineered wood siding products for exterior buildings.

The panels boast easier installation compared to traditional stucco and are extremely versatile, serving as an ideal choice for accent walls, whole-house cladding, or seamless integration into restoration and remodeling projects. Primed for exceptional paint adhesion, they come in 9-ft. and 10-ft. lengths, offering both square edge or shiplap detailing.

LPCORP.COM (888) 820-0325

NEXT-GEN COMPOSITE DECKING

Eva-Last’s revolutionary new composite decking, Pioneer, is engineered with state-of-the-art materials and manufacturing techniques for unparalleled aesthetics, durability and performance.

It boasts a glass-fiber reinforced (GFR) core and photorealistic print surface technology that provide stunning good looks, as well as superior strength and span capabilities. High-resolution digital print technology replicates the unrepeated woodgrains of rare timber species, producing an extremely natural look. A protective clear wear layer covers the textured print surface to prevent stains, scratches, fading and discoloration.

The GFR core ensures outstanding structural stability and tensile strength. The glass-fiber sheets act as a stabilizer within the core to drastically reduce normal PVC expansion and contraction, ensuring less movement of the deck while also requiring fewer supportive joists, struts and breaker boards.

EVA-LAST.COM (325) 933-2701 ,

BUILT-IN SECURITY

The new Masonite Performance Door System with M-Protect Multipoint Security Lock offers homeowners superior protection from forced entry and the elements, with four times more impact resistance than standard deadbolt locks.

Available as a premium option on all Masonite exterior fiberglass doors, it is compatible with a wide array of handlesets and off-the-shelf hardware.

MASONITE.COM (800) 663-3667

GLASS RAILING RESOURCE

Hardware & Glass has released its newly revised H&G Pool Fence and Deck Railing catalog. It’s a comprehensive, easy-to-read, one-stop resource for everything needed to create high-quality glass fencing or railings, from Pro Fit Spigots with the all-new optional Mood LED Lighting kits to self-closing and latching glass gates.

H&G systems are designed with simplicity and speed of installation in mind. All H&G products are constructed from solid 2205 Duplex stainless steel. Featuring modular, friction-fitting, and adjustable technology, the systems are designed by installers, for installers.

HARDWAREANDGLASS.COM (512) 734-9247

OPTIONS IN INSULATED SHEATHING

LP Building Solutions has expanded its LP NovaCore Thermal Insulated Sheathing line with two new thicknesses, R3 and R7. Builders now have three foam thickness options: 1/2” (R3), 1” (R5), and 1-1/2” foam (R7).

Featuring cutting-edge Owens Corning Foamular NGX XPS foam, the panels can strengthen thermal resistance and help shield homes against fluctuating temperatures.

The sheathing’s installation mirrors traditional OSB structural sheathing, utilizing standard 2x4 spacing so builders can integrate the panels into projects without the need for extensive framing adjustments.

LPCORP.COM (888) 820-0325

INNOVATIVE DECK FRAME COATING

FastenMaster has introduced Deck Frame Coating, a water-based sealant that helps to extend the life of decks by creating a lasting moisture barrier.

The water-based coating is designed to be rolled or painted onto the top of deck joists, ledger boards, stair stringers, posts, beams and other framing components, to deter wood rot and decay. After application, it’s workable in 20 minutes. Once dry, it creates a durable seal around deck fasteners. It is highly effective for use in corners and other hard-to-reach places where joist tapes have difficulty providing full coverage.

The coating is available in 1-gallon buckets, which cover up to 450 linear ft. of 2x framing.

FASTENMASTER.COM (800) 518-3569

DURABLE EXTERIOR WOOD FINISH

DuroGrit is a sustainable, wood-fiber-fortified and water-soluble oil that colors and protects all exterior wood in one, deep-penetrating layer. Offered in 14 standard colors that can be mixed to create custom colors, it provides long-lasting UV protection, durability and wear resistance.

The heightened durability comes from VOC-free FibreGrit Technology, which incorporates cellulose wood fibers and allows for an increased amount of UV blockers.

The all-in-one exterior wood stain and coating solution is suitable for all wood types, including pine, teak and cedar, and all project types, such as decking, furniture, fencing and siding.

RUBIOMONOCOATUSA.COM (844) 937-6862

ADHESIVE FOR BIG JOBS

DAP’s new HD Max Construction Adhesive provides superior durability and powerful adhesion even in extreme temperatures.

Built for the toughest applications, it’s the first hybrid construction adhesive available in larger 28-oz. cartridges. Featuring polyurethane strength, it bonds virtually everything—from non-porous substrates like aluminum, PVC and mirror to porous, textured materials like brick, concrete and drywall—indoors and outdoor.

DAP.COM (800) 543-3840

NEWTECHWOOD COMPOSITE DECKING & SIDING

• Stain, scratch and fade resistant

• made of 95% recycled materials

• capped all 4 sides for maximum protection

• decking is dual-sided unlike most composites

• 25 year transferrable warranty

ANTI-OVERLOAD DEVICE

Combilift’s new Combi Safe-Lift enables forklift operators to avoid the pitfalls of potential overloading.

The device incorporates a strain sensor on the forklift’s mast section and a lift cut-out valve on the hydraulic line to disable lifting if the unit is being potentially overloaded.

There is an audible alarm that warns the operator of an overload situation, and a load moment indicator is fitted to the dashboard in the cab. The operator can instantly see from the green, amber and red “traffic light” signalling when there is a risk of overloading or when the forks are not fully engaged, and take appropriate action.

COMBILIFT.COM (877) 266-2456

EASTERN METAL ADDS SUPER STUD

Eastern Metal Building Products, parent of EB Metal U.S., acquired Super Stud Building Products, including affiliates Galaxy Metal Products, DragonBoard USA, and FroMar Structural Wall Panel System.

The brands will continue to operate in present locations with their familiar names while adding reach and coordination. Super Stud and EB Metal will serve the South from their existing locations in Mississippi and Alabama, respectively. Galaxy, DragonBoard and FroMar will continue operations under the same names from current locations.

Eastern Metal will serve as the parent entity for all subsidiary companies, with Ryan Filion continuing as CEO. The existing management teams of all companies will stay on board in their current roles.

Founded in 1973, Super Stud is a leading manufacturer of coldformed steel (CFS) framing components and accessories from plants in Edison, N.J., and Hattiesburg, Ms. Founded in 2011, Eastern Metal is a New England-based metal stud manufacturer.

IWPA WORLD OF WOOD

IWPA–International Wood Products Association held its 68th World of Wood convention April 10-12 in San Diego, Ca. [1] IWPA president Jordan McIlvain, Alan McIlvain Co., welcomes attendees. [2] Jake Slocombe, Chris Knowles, Adam Chavez. [3] Max HorowitzBurdick, Stuart Clarke. [4] Henrik Stenshoej, Benoit Moreau, Aurelien Lemoigne. [5] Combilift’s Paul Roche. [6] Ben Horn, Richard Nsenkyire. [7] Colin Miller, Andy Johnson.

DO IT BEST UNVEILS TECH-BASED TOOLS AT SPRING MARKET

Do it Best hosted its highly anticipated spring market at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Tx., March 23–25.

During the show, Do it Best unveiled two new innovative, technology-based tools to drive member growth: the Inventory Productivity Analysis (IPA) Tool and Tracula. The IPA visually and intuitively identifies performing

and underperforming areas of retailer stores and proactively offers customized action plans for improvement—driving efficiencies and sales. It transforms slow-moving inventory into an opportunity for strategic assortment, ensuring that every product on the shelf has a purpose.

Tracula is a precision-focused inventory tracking system that’s specially

designed for Do it Best members. It uses point-of-sale data and a sophisticated algorithm to select SKUs based on critical factors, and to ensure purposeful and impactful cycle counting, making every count matter.

“As a company focused on leveraging data to help independents compete and win, we’re laser-focused on technology innovation to help our members grow,” said executive VP of sales & marketing Nick Talarico. “By leveraging the IPA Tool and Tracula, our members can quickly and easily enhance operational efficiencies and optimize inventory management with unprecedented accuracy.”

President and CEO Dan Starr added, “We have many more enhancements with data in development for our membership but we’re also investing in data for us as a co-op. Our commitment to driving efficiencies and sales includes our Warehouse Management System, contributing to an industry-leading 99.8% order accuracy rate and a 95.4% on-time dispatch rate, with a 92.2% on-time delivery rate.”

Another highlight was a supersized Sneak Peek event with 33% more participating vendors, offering members increased opportunities to maximize margins. BPD

KICK OFF: Do it Best executive VP of sales & marketing Nick Talarico (left) and executive VP of operations Dent Johnson (right) got things started at the group’s spring market.

CHEERS TO 50 YEARS!

For five decades, Wolmanized® Outdoor® Wood has enhanced the peformance of decks and other backyard structures, allowing countless homeowners to experience resort living right outside their back door. And, CHEERS to the treaters, the retailers, and the consumers who make, sell, and buy Wolmanized® Outdoor® Wood. We look forward to another 50 years partnering with you!

DATE BOOK

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

BLD Connection – May 1-2, Swing into Spring, Margaritaville Lake Resort/ Oaks Golf Course, Osage Beach, Mo.; members.bldconnection.org.

Building Material Suppliers Association – May 1-3, HR roundtable, Greenville, S.C.; mybmsa.org.

Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Association – May 2, past presidents, past board members & friends luncheon, MIT Endicott House, Dedham, Ma.; www.nrla.org.

Appalachian Lumbermen’s Club – May 2-5, annual beach meeting, Avista Resort, North Myrtle Beach, S.C.; lumberclub.org.

Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo – May 3-4, Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vt.; www.northernlogger.com.

Moulding & Millwork Producers Association – May 5-9, WM Millwork Marketplace, Hotel Manoir Victoria, Quebec City, P.Q.; www.wmmpa. com.

Hardlines Distribution Alliance – May 6-9, group merchandising conference, Indianapolis, In.; www.hdaworks.com.

North American Wholesale Lumber Association – May 6-10, Spring Wood Basics Course, Corvallis, Or.; www.nawla.org.

Construction Suppliers Association – May 7-8, yard & warehouse manager workshop, Hilton, Jackson, Ms.; www.gocsa.com.

Building Material Suppliers Association – May 7-9, roundtable, Pipersville, Pa.; mybmsa.org.

NHLA Hardwood Summit – May 8-10, Memphis, Tn.; www.nhla.com.

Peak Auctions – May 9-13, Midwest online LBM auction; May 11, LBM auction, Howard County Fairgrounds, West Friendship, Md.; www. peakauction.com.

Mid-Hudson Lumber Dealers Association – May 13, golf outing, Powelton Golf Club, Newburgh, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Decorative Hardwoods Association – May 14-16, annual meeting, Scottsdale, Az.; www.decorativehardwoods.org.

Rhode Island Lumber and Building Materials Dealers Association – May 15, Lobby Day & dinner meeting, State Capitol & Cassarino’s Restaurant, Providence, R.I.; www.nrla.org.

Western Red Cedar Lumber Association – May 15-17, Cedar Summit, Whistler, B.C.; www.realcedar.com.

Orgill – May 20-June 2, summer online buying event; www.orgill.com.

Construction Suppliers Association – May 21-23, Next Gen spring meeting, Chicago, Il.; www.gocsa.com.

Lumber Dealers Assocition of Connecticut – May 22, Past Presidents Dinner, Thimbleberry Cruise, Stony Creek, Ct.; www.nrla.org.

Eastern Building Material Dealers Assocition – May 29, board meeting & facility tour, A.D. Moyer, Kutztown, Pa.; www.nrla.org.

North American Rail Shippers Association – May 30-May 2, annual meeting, Chicago, Il.; www.railshippers.com.

Forest Products Society – June 4-6, international conference, Hilton Downtown, Knoxville, Tn.; www.fpsconference.org.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative – June 4-7, annual conference, Loews, Atlanta, Ga.; www.forests.org.

Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Association – June 5, Lobby Day & board meeting, Boston, Ma.; www.nrla.org.

Forest Economic Advisors – June 5-6, Global Softwood Log & Lumber Conference, Vancouver, B.C.; www.getfea.com.

Florida Building Material Alliance – June 5-7, summer educational conference & golf tournament, Innisbrook Resort, Palm Harbor, Fl.; www.fbma.com.

Peak Auctions – June 6-10, Midwest online LBM auction; June 8, LBM auction, Kane County Fairgrounds, St. Charles, Il.; peakauction.com.

Ohio Forestry Association – June 10-13, intro to grading hardwood lumber class, Yoder Lumber Co., Millersburg, Oh.; www.ohioforest.org.

Global DIY Summit – June 11-13, Rome, Italy; www.diysummit.org.

House-Hasson Hardware – June 13-15, summer dealer market, Sevierville Events Center, Sevierville, Tn.; www.househasson.com.

National Lawn & Garden Show – June 17-19, Hyatt Regency, St. Louis, Mo.; www.nlgshow.com.

Construction Suppliers Association – June 18-21, intro to building material sales & blueprint estimating workshop, DoubleTree by Hilton, Birmingham, Al.; www.gocsa.com.

North American Wholesale Lumber Association – June 20, Southeast regional meeting, Biloxi, Ms.; www.nawla.org.

Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – June 20, board meeting & course inspection, Cedar Knoll Country Club, Hinesburg, Vt.; nrla.org.

Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association – June 20-23, convention & trade show, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, Ms.; www.mlmalumber.com.

SFI – June 24-26, annual conference, Atlanta, Ga.; www.forest.org.

Window & Door Manufacturers Association – June 25-27, technical & manufacturing conference, Minneapolis, Mn.; www.wdma.com.

Construction Suppliers Association – July 17-18, DOT workshop, Tyrone, Ga.; www.gocsa.com.

Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association – July 21-25, annual conference, JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, Marco Island, Fl.; www.slma.org.

Southeast Building Conference – July 24-25, Orlando, Fl.; www. sebcshow.com.

Building Material Suppliers Assn. – July 25-28, summer conference, Westin Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tn.; www.mybmsa.org.

Read grade rules, span details, and get new promotional ideas for your business.

Sample the variety and versatility of eastern white pine.

Reach more customers by getting listed on NELMA’s Retailer Directory.

Listen to and watch product installation and comparison videos, plus grade representations.

Use all your senses. Visit nelma.org for all things eastern white pine, spruce-pine-fir and other softwood species grown in the Northeast and Great Lakes region.

Discover the difference. Learn the stark contrasts between building with wood or PVC. Scan here to see. Simply open the camera on your smartphone or tablet, and hold it over this image.

Plastic, concrete or pine? Learn why consumers prefer natural over fabricated. @NortheasternLumberMfg @WoodInspiration @wood_inspiration1933

------------| CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

WANTED TO BUY

WANTED TO BUY

IN MEMORIAM

PRODUCTS

Rondel Glenn Hawley, East Coast Lumber, Climax, N.C., passed away on March 31 at age 65.

Glenn was employed in the lumber industry for 40 years.

Chris C. “Bud” Fischer, 93, retired president of Fischer Lumber Co., East Alton, Il., died on March 29.

A U.S. Army veteran, he was named president of Fischer Lumber in 1958, and retired at the end of 1995.

Claud Marcum, 83, owner and operator of C&M Lumber Co., Glenhayes, W.V., died on April 1.

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1962 as petty officer aboard the USS Cusk, the first missile sub.

Robert Jefferson Roper, former owner of Roper Lumber Co., Trussville, Al., passed away on March 19 at the age of 94.

He served in the U.S. Army Constabulary unit in Germany and Italy from 1948 to 1952. In 1971, he returned to his hometown of Trussville to take over as third-generation own------------|

er of Roper Lumber. After retiring from the lumber business, he spent 20+ years with Tortorigi Construction, Birmingham, Al.

TALK BACK

“THOSE PARENTS”

I just wanted to let you know I thoroughly enjoyed your article on “Those Parents” (April, p. 8). I think those of us who fit into that category can totally identify with you. I used to think the same thing of my friends spending a small fortune on kids Elite teams. For my kids it was Elite soccer. Now looking back at the chaos, I think it was lunacy, but you know something: I would have it no other way. I was completely exhausted working, cooking, cleaning, picking up from school taking one kid to one field and the other kid to a different field, then going back to pick up the first kid from practice, then picking up the other kid from his, then getting homework done, and somewhere in between eating dinner. It was an extremely busy time, but we and our

kids made a lot of friends and had good times while at practices and at the tournament get-togethers.

My kids are grown now, and neither even tried out for soccer in college. I look back at how busy we were and wonder how in the world did I do all that! However, I made some of my fondest memories during those times!

Christine Anglemyer Manke Lumber Co. Sumner, Wa.

“Wow, Patrick is really good at football! Even though he’s five…” That was hilarious. It’s funny how we all drifted into the same trap even though our upbringing was completely different. Volleyball is a great sport, so at least you have something fun to watch. My daughter was a competitive cheerleader. I once drove four hours to nearly miss a two-minute routine. Our children can’t complain about unsupportive parents. Life is great!

Edward A. San Juan E. F. San Juan, Inc. Youngstown, Fl.

FLASHBACK: ALOHA LUMBER

FIFTY-EIGHT YEARS ago this month, BPD’s sister publication, The California Lumber Merchant, celebrated the five-year anniversary of the Wood Products Association of Hawaii.

In its first five years, the association spent nearly $200,000 to promote the use of wood products in construction on the islands. The article examined: “Has this expenditure of lumber industry dollars been worthwhile to those supporting the expense?”

As executive director Put Robbins reported in the May 1966 edition:

“As an organization, WPAH is set up in a fairly efficient manner. Last year, for example, 69% of our expense was for advertising and promotion, 25% for administration, 6% for miscellaneous, including taxes, travel and dues.

Since WPAH has employed a staff of director and secretary (early 1962) they have accomplished: nearly 1,000 specific calls; 7,800 column inches of publicity; 350 advertisements; 1,100 inquiries, plus the public relations and goodwill that comes from maintaining an office and an active place in industry and community affairs. So what? Have sales increased?

As best we can figure with rather limited and sometimes conflicting statistical data, the wood products market has increased from around 90 million feet of lumber and plywood in 1962 to 125 million feet of lumber and plywood in 1965. In this same period, residential and commercial construction has increased from $125 million to $147 million annually, while total construction has jumped from $264 million to $338 million annually. Based upon these statistics it looks as if the wood products industry in Hawaii has increased sales 38%, kept pace with construction increases, and even made a nice gain.

Has WPAH had anything to do with this marketing success? Yes! United effort by the major wood suppliers through a local trade association has opened many doors. Codes have been modified to benefit wood, specifiers have been made aware of the wide range of wood products available and suitable to their needs; and the public, including building officials, architects and builders, have been exposed to wood promotion and industry image building. Five years of wood promotion and some success is behind us. What lies ahead? In one man’s opinion, unless our industry can begin to pull together again and continue the work of solving our customers’ needs, our future is black.

We need better agreement between the wood products and the wood treating industries with meaningful standards that will provide customer satisfaction.

We need quick action on rebirth of a national wood promotion program that will benefit all areas and all

The cover of the May 1966 issue spotlighted the world’s largest plywood remanufacturing and scarfing facility—Plywood Fabricators, Inc.’s plant in Redwood Valley, Ca. To optimize efficiency, the operation borrowed a few material-handling techniques from the aerospace industry, including using an advanced vacuum-lift to swing components onto delivery trucks.

organizations willing to work with it. Now that NWPP (National Wood Promotion Program) is finished, we find a big gap for literature and promotional data on the general “use wood for —” theme. A local wood promotion group cannot afford to produce the quality material of a national group. Thank God that the “Caravan” idea of Wood Marketing, Inc., has been dropped. Hawaii—as well as many other “unimportant” market areas—would have sufiered. National advertising reaches farther plus it serves to make some points with the magazine and Madison Avenue people whom we cannot afford to overlook.”

The Wood Products Association of Hawaii remained active at least into the 1980s. As manufacturers of alternative materials began to spread the message that wood products were unsuitable for building in Hawaii, a new organization, the Hawaii Lumber Products Association, was launched in 2003. HLPA dissolved at the end of 2022 after a successful 20-year run, content that designers, builders, engineers and consumers once again accepted lumber “as Hawaii’s preferred construction material.”

* * * * * * * *

The issue also contained news that Alfred D. Bell, Jr. chairman of the board of Hobbs Wall Lumber Co., San Francisco, Ca., and publisher of The Merchant, had just been elected president of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association at the group’s 74th annual meeting in Phoenix, Az. C.E. “Buddy” Klumb Jr., Klumb Lumber, Crystal, Ms., was named vice president. BPD

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