Building Products Digest - July 2012

BPD

APA ON ENGINEERED WOOD LUMBER RACKING HIGH-TECH TREATED WOOD

Building Products Digest

JULY 2012

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

The Most Popular Choice for Treated Wood

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BPD Special Features 9 MANAGEMENT TIPS GIVE YOUR LUMBER RACKS REGULAR CHECK-UPS

10 FEATURE STORY

CHECKLIST TO ENSURE YOU’RE RECEIVING GREAT COACHING

22 SPECIAL FOCUS

12 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE GEORGIA DEALERS REVS UP EXPANSION PLANS

APA ON ENGINEERED WOOD– 14-PAGE SPECIAL SECTION, INCLUDING EWP FORECAST, APA UPDATE, ADVANCED FRAMING TECHNIQUES, CURVED GLULAMS, SAFETY LEADERS

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Building Products Digest July 2012

Volume 31 Number 5

Building Products Digest

16 MASTERING LEADERSHIP

IS NANOTECHNOLOGY THE NEXT FRONT IN WOOD PRESERVING?

July 2012

In Every Issue 6 TOTALLY RANDOM 14 OLSEN ON SALES 15 GREEN RETAILING 20 MOVERS & SHAKERS 36 NEW PRODUCTS 40 FAMILY BUSINESS 42 ASSOCIATION UPDATE 43 IN MEMORIAM 44 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE 45 DATE BOOK 46 IDEA FILE 46 ADVERTISERS INDEX

Online BREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS & INDUSTRY PHOTO DOWNLOADS BUILDING-PRODUCTS.COM (FOLLOW LINK FOR PHOTOS)

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TOTALLY Random

By Alan Oakes

A

The (guilty) pleasures of traveling

S I WAS JUST ABOUT to leave for vacation, I read an ad we have running in our classified section about a “Road Warrior” and realized just how much I, too, enjoy traveling, and how much I could not do without it as part of my life. Whether for business or pleasure, I love to travel. I love the stimulation, the new sites and sounds, hotel rooms (sans cockroaches), different food, and seeing how other people live. I love meeting customers and hearing what they think and how they think.

The thought of landing in a far-off place where I do not understand a word, where there are no signs in English, roads with no lanes, and general chaos doesn’t scare me, it stimulates me. The excitement of packing my bag and the expectation as I leave the house is still there after all these years. The one rule I created for myself many years ago was that if you have to do it, you better enjoy it!

In my prior business life, I would spend 40% to 50% of my days traveling, and it became a way of life. A different day, a different city is an opportunity to learn something new. It may be in the U.S. or Canada, India, Hong Kong, or… This lifestyle is not for everyone, but it has helped to define me. Yes, we’ve seen Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and, more recently, George Clooney in Up in the Air, both sad in many ways (although I would not mind being more like George…). When I share my upcoming travel plans, many tell me that they don’t know how I do it, or that they would not want to do it.

But I enjoy nothing more than heading off with my suitcase, even when it is a 4 a.m. start.

From my first international travel as part of a school trip at the age of 12 to France and Switzerland, I became fascinated with local life domestic and international. When I left school, I went into sales because I knew it would get me traveling, enjoying new experiences, and unchaining me from a desk. In those days, I thought nothing of driving 300 miles a day, day after day. Since 1968, my life has been constantly on the road both for business and pleasure. Those off-site sales meetings and management meetings were my guilty pleasure—having fun and enjoying the camaraderie. I even count much of my business travel as personal travel as I enjoy one as much as the other. I may have worked hard all day, but I love to walk and enjoy a new city at night by visiting galleries, cafes, and finding ways to blend in with locals.

Sure, I’ve had catastrophes (my business trip to India in the 1990s is worth a movie in its own right), but I love to land somewhere and try to find my way and start a new adventure. I have been sick, landed in a hospital, had my money stolen, lost my luggage, and at times have been desperate to return to my own bed, but I still have the travel bug. Whether here in the U.S. or abroad, I have gathered experiences I would not trade for anything: watching the sun rise and set in distant cities, eating in a cafe overlooking an illuminated monument, turning the corner and seeing a piece of history thousands of years old and wondering how they could possibly build those small hilltop villages or giant pyramids. I have met the most fascinating people at all ends of the spectrum, from business celebrities to film stars to politicians (okay, that part I’m stretching) to simple folk on their pilgrimage or trying to eke out a living. I have stayed in some crummy hotels and in some of the best. I have eaten poorly and have eaten well. My planes has been hit by lightning and wind shear, and I have had one or two scary moments, but still give me a ticket and I am off.

And, yes, I love those frequent flier miles and the perks that go with them. I find great pleasure in trying to find ways to buck the system, finding the best deals, getting an upgrade or a free breakfast. And, yes, I don’t enjoy being scrunched up on a commuter jet, or being stranded for hours or days in an airport, but these types of stories give me memories to talk about for years.

In business I learn far more getting out of the office than I ever could sitting in the office. While I like hearing how good our publications are, I also appreciate learning from disappointed customers and field reps what we could do better. Face to face gives no one a place to hide. I use my travels to probably meet 50% of my future customers and to save a few customers, too!

So as I head out—only to return by the time you read this—I hope you will get a chance to travel over the summer with your families and enjoy travel the way my family does. I have learned that travel lets me escape from the normal crazy. And nothing can be better. Bon voyage!

Alan Oakes, Publisher ajoakes@aol.com

6

Building Products Digest July 2012

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Building Products Digest www.building-products.com

A publication of Cutler Publishing

4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, CA 92660

Publisher Alan Oakes ajoakes@aol.com Publisher Emeritus David Cutler Director of Editorial & Production David Koenig dkoenig@building-products.com Editor Karen Debats kdebats@building-products.com Contributing Editors Carla Waldemar, James Olsen, Jay Tompt Advertising Sales Manager Chuck Casey ccasey@building-products.com Administration Director/Secretary Marie Oakes mfpoakes@aol.com Circulation Manager Heather Kelly hkelly@building-products.com

How to Advertise

Chuck Casey Phone (949) 852-1990 Fax 949-852-0231 ccasey@building-products.com Alan Oakes www.building-products.com Phone (949) 852-1990 Fax 949-852-0231 ajoakes@aol.com.

CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE David Koenig Phone (949) 852-1990 Fax 949-852-0231 dkoenig@building-products.com

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SUBSCRIPTIONS Heather Kelly Phone (949) 852-1990 Fax 949-852-0231 hkelly@building-products.com or send a check to 4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, CA 92660 U.S.A.: One year (12 issues), $24 Two years, $39 Three years, $54 FOREIGN (Per year, paid in advance in US funds): Surface-Canada or Mexico, $49 Other countries, $65 Air rates also available.

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Building-Products.com

MANAGEMENT Tips Rack Safety

Give your lumber racks regular check-ups

R

should be a primary concern at all lumberyards and home center warehouses.

FBS Group, Chicago, Il., which provides rack protection products and conducts rack safety inspections, suggests regularly reviewing your racking for signs of damage or deterioration.

Inspections should include: ACK SAFETY

• Look for signs that the rack’s structural integrity has been compromised. Lumber racks, like any other structures, depend on their form for their structural integrity. Once their form is compromised, their load-carrying capacity decreases. And once a rack member deteriorates, it may no longer carry its rated load.

Most rack damage occurs gradually. It’s easy to spot and recognize the need to repair, say, a frame leg that has been struck so forcefully that it’s now bent to the point it’s no longer touching the ground.

Less obvious, but perhaps equally in need of repair, is the frame or beam that has been banged into repeatedly for months or years and appears “merely” dented. It may still support some loads, but possibly not the maximum design load.

• Make sure the racks are being used as intended.

Are loads properly positioned? Are loads exceeding the designed weight? Is the rack designed to accommodate that type of product?

In a lumberyard or warehouse, information as to how much a load weighs is not always immediately available.

One way to detect overloading is by measuring the amount of beam deflection present. All load beams will and are allowed to deflect, or sag, a certain amount. According to the Rack Manufacturers Institute, a roll-formed beam has an allowable deflection of the length of the beam divided by 180 (i.e., a 10-ft. beam would have an allowable deflection of two-thirds of an inch). If the deflection is greater, the beam has been overloaded.

• Identify any loose, missing or damaged fasteners.

Forklift impact can shear off anchor bolts or disengage load locks, snap locks, and other locking devices designed to prevent beam end plates from being lifted up and sepaBuilding-Products.com

REGULARLY review all racking for signs of damage and deterioration or for improper loads.

rating from the slots in the column.

• Ensure accessories are not missing or damaged.

Accessories such as wall ties, cross bars, wire mesh decks, pallet stops, corner guards, and other impact protectors are usually installed to protect the rack structure or enhance safety.

• Pay special attention to any modifications to the original rack structure. The primary areas of concern are non-engineered additions that introduce loads to or change the original structural design of the rack system. In particular, welding anything to a rack, even if the addition seems to be of inconsequential weight, can drastically affect the member it is welded to. And, the weld itself can also be a problem.

If columns have been repaired, make sure the kits were installed properly. FBS inspectors have observed column repair kits installed without a splice cuff, with all or parts of the backer column removed, and lacking the specified weld per the manufacturers specifications.

July 2012 Building Products Digest

9

FEATURE Story Pressure Treated Wood

Is nanotechnology the next front in wood preserving?

N

of wood pressure treated with micronized wood preservatives, researchers are experimenting with even smaller “nanotech” particles, to further prevent leaching.

A team of Michigan Technological University scientists is preparing to reveal their findings, following a fiveyear study of nanotechnology in wood preservation.

“It’s a new method that uses nanoparticles to deliver preservatives OTING THE POPULARITY

into the lumber,” said chemistry professor Patricia Heiden. “In our experiments, it reduced the leaching of biocides by 90%.”

The nanoparticles are tiny spheres of gelatin or chitosan (a material found in the shells of shrimp and other shellfish) chemically modified to surround the fungicide tebuconazole. The little spheres require no special handling.

“You just pressure-treat the wood in the usual way,” Heiden said. “We

SCANNING electron microscope shows the interior section of a nanoparticle-treated field stake. The small white spheres are the numerous chitosan/methyl methacrylate nanoparticles inside the wood.

10

Building Products Digest July 2012

used tebuconazole as an organic preservative—donated by Lanxess Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa.—and copper oxide nanoparticles we made ourselves as an inorganic preservative.

Our main goal was to study how we could reduce the leaching.”

The initial tests show that nanoparticle-treated wood is just as resistant to rot and insects as conventionally treated lumber. The researchers have now moved their tests from the confines of MTU to the warm, wet weather of Hawaii. “Most of the work is already done, but we are testing a few other things out of curiosity,” Heiden said.

The research is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the program name “Environmentally Benign Manufacturing & Processing 2005GO-A1.” The preliminary study was completed last year and one group of findings has been published so far, with several more in the offing.

The researchers had completed similar studies before, using petroleum-based components and dilute conditions. “We used gelatin and chitosan (biopolymers) and methyl methacrylate (MMA, which is petroleum based and is used to make plexiglass),” Heiden explained. “We made the nanoparticle in water by a simple combination of gelatin or chitosan with methyl methacrylate, an initiator, Building-Products.com

and the tebuconazole biocide and heated for a few hours. We then isolated the nanoparticles or diluted to the appropriate volume to treat the wood. We found that these nanoparticles reduced the leaching by 90% or so, and were effective in soil jar studies. We have treated field stakes to make sure we could penetrate wood completely, but did not do field studies.”

MTU scientists initially tried to use some commercial copper-based preservative systems, according to Heiden, “but they were highly formulated and we did not always know with what, so we made a simple ‘inhouse’ ACQ system and also a simple copper oxide nanoparticle, made in a solution method rather than by any sort of a mechanical reduction system of copper carbonate.” She found the results “rather surprising,” saying that the nature of the copper oxide surfaces influenced how much the nanoparticles leached and promising to share further information in the coming months.

Here’s what she can divulge: “The organic nanoparticles definitely reduce leaching of organic biocide, and the reduction is substantial compared to a straight solution or emulsion treatment of organic biocide, even without the use of a surfactant.

In our work, we found that the use of a chitosan shell did not reduce the leaching of copper oxide nanoparticles.”

John Lounsbury, managing editor and co-founder of Global Economic Intersection, speculates that the new technology could result in preservatives that are both more effective and more affordable. Current preservatives for residential use, says Lounsbury, “are much more expensive than the older most common compound used before 2004 (CCA), so manufacturers try to use less of it.

That leads to at least 12 different grades of treated wood product today and makes choosing the correct wood for each application a process that requires greater care.”

So while he optimistically has his “fingers crossed” about the viability of nanotechnology, questions remain: “How expensive is the nanotech process?” he asks. “Does the reduced leaching mean that much less of the expensive treatment chemicals can be used? And, can nanotech processing mean that more toxic chemicals that have been phased out—or never Building-Products.com

WITH DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHWEST AND UNSURPASSED INVENTORY ON THE GROUND,

WE HAVE THE COMMITMENT TO BE THERE.

SHERWOODLUMBER.COM | 971-925-8444

July 2012 Building Products Digest

11

COMPETITIVE Intelligence

By Carla Waldemar

Downsize?

Heck, no. Expand!

J

S HORT is making lemonade.

When the economy turned sour a few years back, the president/c.e.o. of Tifton, Ga.-based Short & Paulk Supply Co. didn’t waste time in wringing hands.

“Sure, it’s bad,” he acknowledged, then moved on. “Focus on things you can control. Find something that works. We’re aggressively trying to grow, looking for opportunities.”

He professes: “When things slow down, you’ve got two choices. You can considerably downsize your business or you can find sales to keep it going. Study the numbers, the demographics…”

And then, open a new store.

May 4 was the grand opening of the new Dawson, Ga., location, after AY

S&P purchased and remodeled a former hardware store as its fourth location. It joins Albany (where Jay picked up a closed yard in 2010), Sylvester (launched by his father in 1985), and headquarters in Tifton, as well as a truss plant and door manufacturing plant.

Now well into its third generation—Jay joined his dad and grandfather in 1989 after graduating from the U. of Georgia and bought his dad out in 2008—the operation originated in 1941 with three employees. Back then, its phone number was 97. Today Jay Short V signs paychecks for 55 coworkers and the phone line (10 digits) takes a back seat to the Internet.

But what hasn’t changed is the philosophy instilled by Jay’s grandfather,

which Jay recites: “Sell good products, unite with good, accountable suppliers, and treat folks right. If you do that, they’ll come back. We focus on imparting that to our employees— to do what we say we’ll do, at a competitive price and with top-notch staff.

If there’s a problem, it’s an opportunity for us to solve it.”

Each location serves a slightly different market. Dawson, set amid farmers’ fields, is unique in carrying feed and seed. Albany’s larger footprint of rental units sends S&P a hunk of commercial repair business. Sylvester, a small, rural town, carries “just about everything, including coffeemakers,” laughs Jay, while Tipton focuses on the new home and remodeling slice of the pie.

SHORT & PAULK Supply cut an I-joist May 4 to celebrate the opening of its newest location in Dawson, Ga.

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Building Products Digest July 2012

Building-Products.com

THIRD-GENERATION owner Jay Short V is flanked by sons J.P. VI (left), a high school senior, and Jackson (right), his 14-year-old marketing guru.

SHEATHING rolls out of S&P’s headquarters yard in Tifton, Ga.

Meanwhile, the truss plant, established in the early ’70s in Tifton, supplies all four stores, plus other independent dealers beyond a radius that deflects competition. The door operation, relaunched with new equipment in 2008, “is mainly for our customers,” Jay explains—“a low-volume shop that gives us control over the quality of the work and a quicker turn-around time. Before, when we dealt with special orders, a six-panel door, with one available hardware style and one style of moulding, took two to five days to reach us. Now, it’s a day-and-a-half turnaround, with six different frames, four or five different hardware options, and 10 to 15 door panels. There are some cost savings, too.

And, with the trusses, we can offer one-stop shopping.

“We’ve always concentrated on new construction, and, 10 years ago, it was going at a really good clip. Now, we’re going after other avenues: institutions—schools, hospitals; commercial, like the apartment market; the remodeler, and the d-i-y folks. And each of our locations has something a little different to offer.”

Add it all up, and you arrive at S&P’s potential customer base, which Jay defines as “anyone alive and breathing with a good credit record.”

To go after the remodeler, S&P has reset its inventories Building-Products.com

and showrooms. (They’ve recently changed to affiliate with Orgill.) “To keep moving positively, we market to new homeowners, not only builders,” Jay says. “We want to get our name out to young couples, to have them think of our store first—have an opportunity to show them new products and prove we have quality people. If we get the opportunity to take on a little project, do that little repair—if we take care of that now, do the job right, then we’ll build a customer. And five years down the road, when things have turned around and they build a house, they’ll think of us.”

And how to reach these 20-somethings? Social media, duh! Sure, TV and print ads, but more to the point, YouTube videos, Facebook and Twitter messages, blogs, web offers and instruction. “I do a lot of the marketing myself,” says Jay, who appears on talk shows and You Tube features, “but I’ve got a 14-year-old marketing manager who’s very good with computers.” Happens to be his son, Jackson.

“Our philosophy hasn’t changed, but technology helps us do it better—for instance, inventory control and dispatching,” Jay continues. “It makes us more efficient, but still in tune with my grandfather’s ideals: Make sure you greet people, stay on top of them. We have a crew in the front of the store for the retail trade, and salesmen in the back office to assist builders. We sell the same commodities as everybody else, but the difference is, we do what we say we’ll do. We really, really focus on service. Plus, we just joined LMC, whose buying power allows us to offer better pricing.”

What about the touted green market? Jay Short prefers to take a practical approach. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon of hype, he opts to offer selected services S&P calls Living Smart. “I find so much conflicting information, so much uncertainty and ‘greenwashing.’” Thus, he’s chosen the middle road, aka “helping the customer live better”—light bulbs, air filters. “You might not replace all your windows, but there’s weatherstripping, insulation” and the 40-gallon challenge he spotlights on talk shows.

The new Dawson store fits the conservation mode. “The existing store had a lot of opportunity to it. It’s in a growing area we already serve, 20 miles from Albany. It could be the feeder store down the road—location, size, everything. What we did is, open it as a pick-up yard, with a pick-up truck. If it sells a roofing job, they’ll get a delivery from Albany. But it can also save builders from running 20 miles for a couple of 2x4s. At our grand opening,” he chuckles, “we didn’t cut a ribbon. That’s for jewelry stores.

We cut through a 11-7/8-in. joist with a chainsaw!”

In these trying times, efficiencies have kicked in all across the board. “We’re working at 110, 120%, and we all change hats every 30 minutes,” he laughs (sort of). “You learn how to do with a lot less.”

The results from the new marketing push are in: “One-third of last year’s business came from clients we didn’t even have three years ago. You try to grow, but very carefully. And,” he underscores,” we’re growing!”

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net July 2012 Building Products Digest

13

OLSEN On Sales

By James Olsen

Proper care and feeding of your sales force “W

E’VE GIVEN OUR sales team all the tools they need to succeed. All they need to do now is go out and sell.” I’ve heard a version of this statement from many managers. These same managers are disappointed in their team’s results. There’s an Egyptian saying: “Giving friendship to a man who is looking for love is like giving a loaf of bread to a man who is dying of thirst.” Giving merely “tools” to your team is the same thing.

Salespeople need tools, yes, but what they need more than tools is attention. Your sales team cannot pay attention to itself. That’s your job. Telling them what to do and walking away is not management and will not deliver the kind of results you want.

If you want extraordinary results from your team, you will have to give them extraordinary attention (and caring).

Respect or Cogs?

Some managers have the attitude (sometimes even voiced aloud): “You’re lucky to have a job.” If you say this to any good salesperson, you are saying “#*@% you” in their head and they will start to look somewhere else immediately, if not sooner. They definitely will underperform and passively or actively resist all company (and specifically your) initiatives.

“They want us to be smart enough to find new business, negotiate with crafty customers, solve claims without giving away the farm or losing the customer, and make a profit, but they don’t want us to be smart enough to know when they are trying to slip one by us.” This is a quote from a disgruntled salesperson who was getting jerked around on her commissions.

Salespeople are not factory workers. They are profitmaking partners in your business. If you treat them like

cogs in your wheel, you will self-select for low-performing cogs in the wheel because all self-loving salespeople (who are always the best) will leave your organization.

Treat your sales team the way you want them to treat their customers. If you want them to give their customers their all, you will have to give them your all.

Spouses & Children. Do you know anything about your team members’ families? What kind of support do they get at home? Show a genuine interest. If you have a good relationship with your team member’s family, you will have more (positive) influence on that salesperson.

Making your team’s families feel like “part of it” will also create more loyalty. Company bowling nights, picnics, holiday parties are all easy and effective ways to bring your team together—but you must be present and active at these events. You are not an “event planner.” You are a leader who makes individuals feel your presence.

Lunch. There are approximately 22 working days in each month. That’s 22 lunches you can have with individual salespeople. These are not “business” lunches. This is not a review of their progress at work. Talk about everything but work—make a point of it. And talk about what your salesperson wants to talk about—just like we would with a customer. Weird, huh?

Contests. Salespeople love to compete. Go as heavy on contests as you can. Salesman of the morning, day, month, year, department. Top new salesman. Make sales teams for contests. Make teams matching your top guy with your bottom guy and on down the line to create camaraderie.

Love & Favoritism. UCLA’s John Wooden struggled for years with the fact that he liked some players more than others. He didn’t want to play favorites, but knew in his heart how he felt. His initial philosophy was, “I may not like them all the same, but I treat them all the same.”

He was still uneasy. Years later, he hit on a better philosophy: “I don’t like them all the same, but I love them all the same.”

Great managers have this attitude. Who they like has nothing to do with it. They give attention, caring and love to all team members and get world-class results in return.

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

GREEN Retailing

By Jay Tompt

Compliance or leadership?

S

TARTING FROM A CLEAN slate confers all sorts of benefits. For new merchants, those just starting up (a rare breed, I know), it’s relatively easy to develop a green business model and brand, stock only greenest-in-class products, and forge winning customer relationships with green builders and remodelers.

For those saddled with the baggage of history, existing customer and supplier relationships, and predictable revenue streams, it’s a different story. How do you green your product lines and bring your existing customers with you, while appealing to a new breed with rising green expectations?

We’ve been dealing with these questions in this column for the last several years. Based on personal experience, as well as observations of what has worked for others, we’ve drawn the conclusion that any merchant can become a green merchant and, inevitably, every merchant must. But it is a difficult journey fraught with many compromises. The recent kerfuffle over a new credit category proposed for the latest incarnation of LEED 4 highlights one of the trickiest.

First, the kerfuffle. Without getting too bogged down in technical detail, the main issue is the proposed “Avoidance of Chemicals of Concern” credit, which aims to raise the bar on indoor air quality by eliminating certain chemicals in emitting products and that certain products include disclosure of chemicals used. In one part of the proposal it references REACH, an European Union program that monitors chemicals.

The American Coatings Association took exception in widely publicized comments it submitted to U.S. Green Building Council, arguing that compliance would hurt the market. They suggested an alternative, compliance with 2007 California Air Resources Board Suggested Control Measure. Even 61 members of Congress got involved.

There are two points to be made here. First, let’s recall some recent compliance history. There were a few industry leaders who saw new CARB regulations coming in 2007, did nothing, and were forced to take back their non-compliant product from retailers’ shelves and distributors’ warehouses. Second, LEED does not require compliance. On the contrary, it aims to identify leadership—that’s what the “L” in LEED stands for—and more to the point, it is voluntary. No manufacturer is required to make, test, or certify

Building-Products.com

products that meet LEED credits. This is an all important difference that separates compliers from leaders.

For merchants trying to create a winning, green formula, being able to identify the difference between products and manufacturers aiming for compliance, and those focused on leadership, is crucially important. Who would hire a builder or an employee whose main selling point is compliance with minimum regulated standards? Don’t we all want to work with leaders who go beyond the minimum and set their own standard? Don’t we want to be leaders? But the unfortunate reality is that because of longstanding channel marketing practices, with manufacturer spiffs, promotional deals, brand or industry dominance, and so on, this is also an area where compromises are inevitable. And probably, there are long-term relationships involved, too, which can make it tricky.

So, what to do? First, develop an understanding of current vendor relationships and identify the manufacturers with a commitment to continuous product improvement, innovation, and leadership. Second, start strengthening relationships with the leaders and collaborate on new programs wherever possible. Third, identify gaps and seek new greenest-in-class alternatives in every category.

Fourth, engage those manufacturers in the compliance camp and encourage a change in their product development philosophy. You never know, they just might listen. Finally, develop a long term trend toward greenest-inclass products. It may be tricky to manage existing relationships and the short-term benefits they confer, but in the end, working with leaders delivers its own rewards.

Jay Tompt Managing Partner William Verde & Associates (415) 321-0848 info@williamverde.com www.williamverde.com

July 2012 Building Products Digest

15

MASTERING Leadership

By Gregg Thompson

Are you receiving great leadership coaching?

Y

OU KNOW YOU ARE

when…

getting great leadership coaching

1. … you are in the pit of despair. Many of your basic beliefs and assumptions about your role as a leader have been challenged, and you feel like you are losing your footing. You are seriously questioning your career to date and your personal aspirations.

2. … you are really excited about the future. You don’t know what the next chapter of your leadership career is going to look like, but you do know that there is no going back now. Something new and fresh awaits you.

3. … you are angry, frustrated and ready to fire your coach. None of your expectations for great pieces of advice and insights have been met. All you get are annoying ques-

tions like, “What will happen if your performance as a leader does not change?” and even more annoying statements such as, “I think you are much better than this.”

4. … you are feeling a little sheepish. Your coach has called you on the many ways you sell yourself short or get in your own way, and you have just realized you have been blaming others in the organization for holding you back when, in reality, most of your limitations have been selfimposed.

5. … you have a renewed excitement about yourself as a leader. You have just realized that there is a huge gap 16

Building Products Digest July 2012

between the leader you are and the leader you can be.

You’ve taken stock of your talents and strengths, and realized that you can have an enormous, lasting impact on your organization and the people in it. Very cool!

6. … you are shaken by some sharp, gut-wrenching feedback. It’s getting tougher to dismiss this feedback as the product of people who simply don’t understand you or who have ulterior motives. What if this is actually true?

What if I am wrong?

7 . … you are feeling energized and powerful. No longer a victim of organizational circumstances, you now have options and alternatives. You are committed to making your own choices and crafting your own leadership story. Wow!

8. … your personal life has become brighter. You now show up to your friends and family as a kind, caring and patient person who sees the very best in them and continually seeks out ways to serve them. You have realized that you can only be the best possible leader at work by being the best possible person at home.

9. … you have stopped wasting your precious time and energy. You have embraced your emotions and become their master, not their slave. You have ceased to burn emotional energy reacting to organizational issues that you cannot influence and people you cannot control. You have developed an inner muscle that gives you the strength to choose your own best leadership actions and reactions.

10 . … remarkably, the people around you have changed for the better. Somehow, the under-performers, sloths and misfits that used to be ever-present are now gone and have been replaced with wonderfully creative and highlyengaged teammates. Interesting!

Gregg Thompson Bluepoint Leadership Development (513) 683-4702 greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com

Building-Products.com

Jeld-Wen Acquiring CMI

Jeld-Wen, Klamath Falls, Or., agreed to acquire Craftmaster Manufacturing Inc., Chicago, Il. The deal is expected to close in third quarter 2012.

CMI manufactures CraftMaster molded door facings and doors, MiraTEC exterior composite trim, and Extira exterior composite panels, with its primary production plant in Towanda, Pa.

Cape Cod Lumber has broken ground on a new 136,000-sq. ft. retail facility, drive-thru-lumberyard, warehouse and office near its current base in Abington, Ma. The new complex, set to open in late January 2013, will serve as Cape Cod’s headquarters and operations center.

Kuiken Brothers Co., Fair Lawn, N.J., has doubled the size of its commercial division, by opening a 12-acre branch in Succasunna, N.J. Its existing commercial subsidiary—Elmwood Supply, Garfield, N.J., acquired in 2003—is also changing its name to Kuiken Brothers.

Central Network Retail Group opened a new NFL Home Center in Gautier, Ms., at the former home of Coast Building Supply.

Kuiken Expands in Commercial

New England Dealer Adds Location

Timberline Enterprises, Gloucester, Ma., has received planning permission to open a second location on a fouracre parcel in Newburyport, Ma. The company serves professional builders and will operate as “a wholesale lumber business there, accompanied by incidental retail,” said president Chris Costello.

“We have customers in Newburyport now, and we’ll be able to serve them better.”

Timberline paid $1.4 million for the parcel and plans to tear down one building, preserve two others, and construct four new structures: two drive-through storage buildings, one three-sided materials storage building, and one threesided storage building that will include enclosed storage.

Falling Materials Kill Customer

Police have determined that the May 18 death of a 56year-old customer at East Texas Lumber, Kilgore, Tx., was accidental.

“We’ve been in business since 1934, and we have never had an accident of this magnitude occur,” said Stacy Hartsell, the company’s safety director. “Our deepest sympathies and prayers go out to the family.”

Joseph Barber, 56, was killed when building materials being moved by forklift fell from a rack and onto him. The employee who was driving the lift told coworkers he did not see the customer move behind the rack. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said owner Ronnie Spradlin.

DEALER Briefs

Arrowhead Building Supply, St. Peters, Mo., is investing $3 million to add equipment, 10 jobs, and a 30,000sq. ft. warehouse at its 4-year-old store in Stafford, Mo.

Alpine Building & Post Supply, Reedsville, Pa., has reopened as Alpine Building Supply, five months after a fire that caused $200,000 in damages.

The name change and upgrade from an 800-sq. ft. to a 2,500-sq. ft. facility allows the business to expand into a “fullblown hardware store, contractor supply outlet.”

J.M. Parker & Sons, Supply, N.C., is closing after 67 years. Owner John Morton Parker has sold the property to a relative, who will redevelop it as a grocery store, pharmacy and smaller hardware store.

Ace Hardware is opening an 11,000-sq. ft. store this summer in Canton, Md.—the 8th in the D.C. area for owners Gina Schaefer and Marc Friedman.

Harwinton True Value, Harwinton, Ct., closed May 28 after 31, with the retirement of Jim Keith, owner since 1992.

Hahn Hardware, Hartford, Wi., and Harry’s Hardware, Franklin, Wi., have converted from True Value to Ace. Rocky’s Ace Hardware is building 12,500-sq. ft. store #34 in Fairhaven, Ma., for a September opening.

Sears Hometown Hardware, Overland, Mo., has been opened by Jim Cohen, ex-Central Hardware.

Cedar Lake True Value Hardware, Cedar Lake,

In., reopened following a major remodel.

Milford Lumber has reopened its newly remodeled Muir Kitchen & Bath showroom in Bedford, N.H.

Horizon Forest Products and Long Floor have opened their ninth location, a 14,000-sq. ft. wood flooring showroom in Sterling, Va. (Paul Wilmer, mgr.).

Lowe’s has backed out of plans to build a new store in Tarpon Springs, Fl.

Menards next year will add four stores in the Detroit market—Warren, Livonia, Belleville and Chesterfield, Mi. The chain has also broken ground for a new 162,000-sq. ft. store on 28 acres in Garden City, Ks.

FLORENCE BUILDING SUPPLY moved into a new 12,000-sq. ft. warehouse in Huntington, N.Y., that is connected to two existing buildings, an office structure, and another storage building.

18

Building Products Digest July 2012

Ace Hardware Corp. this month opens a new 336,000-sq. ft. import redistribution center in Suffolk, Va.

Stock Building Supply division Bison, Houston, Tx., has launched a new website at www.bisonbuilding.com.

Building-Products.com

SUPPLIER Briefs

Conex Forest Products , Jacksonville, Fl., has closed after 23 years, with the retirement of owners Steve and Kathy Conowall.

Krumenacker Lumber Co. , Carrolltown, Pa., auctioned off its assets June 23, six months after the 110-year-old mill closed due to the poor economy.

Keener Lumber Co., Clinton, N.C., is set to resume production in the near future after being purchased “as a going concern” by an unnamed buyer, two weeks before it was to be sold in pieces at auction.

Lewisville Wood Products’

plywood mill in Lewisville, Ar., was damaged by an early morning fire June 3.

J. Bruce Barnes Lumber Co. , Crozet, Va., was auctioned off

June 27, after shutting down due to foreclosure.

Georgia-Pacific is reducing hours and cutting 40 of 218 jobs at its EWP plant in Thorsby, Ar., due to market conditions.

Warren Trask, Stoughton, Ma., now distributes treated glulams from Boozer Beam, Anniston, Al.

Koopman Adding 2 Stores

Massachusetts’ Koopman Lumber Co. has opened its fifth location and is readying its sixth.

The chain has acquired Westboro Paint & Decorating, Westborough, Ma., and rechristened it as its second Koopman Paint branch, under the management of Westboro Paint founder Doug Curving.

Koopman also purchased the former Village Lumber property in Westborough, to reopen later this year as a full hardware and lumber operation, under Curving’s supervision.

Village Lumber closed in March after 51 years.

ARAUCO To Buy Flakeboard

Chile-based ARAUCO has agreed to purchase panel producer Flakeboard, Markham, Ont. The deal is set to close in the second half of 2012.

Flakeboard operates seven production facilities in the U.S. and Canada, producing MDF, particleboard and thermally fused melamine panels.

Locations include Bennettsville, S.C.; Malvern, Ar., and Albany and Eugene, Or. In January, ARAUCO also acquired an MDF and particleboard facility

located in Moncure, N.C., which will be combined with Flakeboard’s existing mills and operate under the Flakeboard name. Kelly Shotbolt, president and c.e.o. of Flakeboard, and his senior management team will combine and lead this company.

Progressive Solutions Okays Buyout by Solarsoft

Solarsoft Business Systems agreed to acquire Progressive Solutions Inc., Vancouver, B.C. Founded in 1989 by c.e.o. Len Williams, PSI provides bisTrack, lumberTrack, and other software to sawmills, lumberyards, and suppliers of construction materials in North America and the U.K. “We believe that the combination with Solarsoft will provide fresh momentum to the ongoing development of PSI’s products and services for the benefit of customers, suppliers and employees,” Williams said.

Solarsoft c.e.o. Shawn McMorran added, “This acquisition will add significant strength to our offering for distribution and wholesale customers.

PSI’s customers will benefit too from being supported by a larger organization with international operations.”

WOLF, York, Pa., has expanded distribution of its kitchen and bath products in Ohio and parts of Tennessee.

Metal Sales Manufacturing Corp., Louisville, Ky., is opening its

21st metal roof/wall panel plant this summer in Sioux Falls, SD.

Nichiha USA, Atlanta, Ga., has consolidated all of its shake products into the Nichiha Shake Collection.

Public Lumber Co., Detroit, Mi., is now distributing Higuera Hardwoods’ FSC-certified bamboo products in Michigan.

Material Handling Products Corp., E. Syracuse, N.Y., is Nissan Forklift’s new authorized distributor

in upstate New York.

Matthews Marking Products, Pittsburgh, Pa., redesigned its website, www.matthewsmarking.com, with new branding and quicker, easier navigation.

Building-Products.com

July 2012 Building Products Digest

19

MOVERS & Shakers Mike Curda, ex-Snavely Forest Products, has joined the sales team at Dixie Plywood & Lumber Co., Tampa, Fl. Chad Hammonds, ex-Westervelt Lumber, now handles international sales at Klumb Lumber, Daphne, Al. Mike Yazwinski, ex-Russin Lumber, is new to sales in the Portland, Me., area for Coastal Forest Products, Bedford, N.H. Tim Roush, ex-Conex Forest Products, has joined the sales team at Wholesale Building Products, Jacksonville, Fl. Mike Pierson, ex-Bent River Lumber, has rejoined Weyerhaeuser, handling inside sales for the Dallas, Tx., DC to the Oklahoma City, Ok., area.

Corey Welsh is the new lumberyard foreman at NFL Home Center, Gautier, Ms. Lorraine Fincher, ex-GeorgiaPacific, is new to sales at Tolleson Lumber, Perry, Ga. Martin Wojick has been named v.p. at Atlantic Plywood, Woburn, Ma.

Tim Schrader, ex-Loweâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, has joined Viance LLC, Charlotte, N.C., as director of sales & marketing. Dr. Kevin Archer has been promoted to director of development. Dr. Lehong Jin is now director of research, and Steve Furr is director of engineering & technical services. Todd Schoffstoll, ex-Pacific States Treating, is new as West Coast treating services mgr., based in Weed, Ca. Robert McManus, ex-Stringfellow Lumber, is now part of the trading staff at Birmingham International, Birmingham, Al. Ryan Unick, ex-Starborn Industries, is now market development mgr. at Manasquan Premium Fasteners, Brick, N.J. David Bloodgood is new to counter sales at Somerville Lumber, Bridgewater, N.J. Mike Dykstra has been promoted to c.e.o. at Zeeland Lumber, Zeeland, Mi., succeeding Herk VandenBosch, who continues as a director and executive v.p.-business development.

Fran Seymour has been promoted to president and chief operating officer at Brown Lumber Co., Traverse City, Mi. Stephen Caligiuri is new to outside sales at Carter Lumber, Macomb, Mi. Nick Fitzgerald, ex-Universal Forest Products, is now branch mgr. for Building Products Inc., Council Bluffs, Ia. Jason Hipskind, Do it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, In., has been promoted to regional sales & business development mgr. for the Southeast.

Jean Fahy is new as regional sales & business development mgr. for the West.

Brad Southern has been promoted to senior v.p. & gen. mgr.-siding at Louisiana-Pacific, Nashville, Tn. Brian Luoma was promoted to senior v.p. & gen. mgr.-engineered wood products.

Dan Chaney, ex-Universal Forest Products, has joined Stock Building Supply, Rock Hill, S.C., as installed sales mgr. for the Charlotte market.

Rick Hunter, ex-Boise Cascade, has been appointed branch mgr. at Marjam Supply, Orlando, Fl.

Three Things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Learned: Tips from Seasoned Pros

John Fekete, ex-Dougherty Lumber, is now in lumber sales at Mentor Lumber, Mentor, Oh. John Shattuck is now in commercial division sales & estimating at Foxworth Galbraith Lumber, Van Alstyne, Tx. Emily Bonilla, ex-Boise Cascade, is now area sales mgr. for the Rocky Mountain region at Boral Stone Products, Roswell, Ga. Coy Green, ex-31-W Insulation, is now account mgr. for the Southeast at Heritage Stone by ProVia, Charlotte, N.C. Bob Merritt has been named c.e.o. of Benjamin Moore, Montvale, N.J., replacing Denis Abrams, who has left the company after five years.

Tonya Taylor is a new marketing specialist at BlueLinx, Atlanta, Ga. Kenny Collins has been promoted to sales director-residential division for Nichiha USA, Atlanta, Ga. Garth Gray, ex-Carolina Green Building, is new to sales at Builders FirstSource, Wilmington, N.C. Paul Buscemi has been promoted to v.p. of professional sales at Empire Level Mfg. Corp., Mukwonago, Wi.

Michael Joyce, ex-GAF, has been named sales director for Richards Building Supply, Chicago, Il. Raymond Jandura is a new kitchen designer at Blue Ridge Lumber Co., Hackettstown, N.J. Lori Platts, 84 Lumber, Manassas, Va., has been promoted to outside sales.

Coy Green has joined ProVia, Sugarcreek, Oh., as Heritage Stone account mgr. for the Southeast.

Doyle Simons, ex-Temple-Inland, has been named to the board of Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wa. Jai Shah has been promoted to v.p.human resources at Masco Corp., Taylor, Mi., replacing Charles Greenwood, who retires in 2013.

Dana Lee Cole, ex-National Association of Manufacturers, has been named executive director of the Hardwood Federation, Washington, D.C., succeeding Deb Hawkinson, now president of the Forest Resources Association.

Walter Melon is organizing the annual summer picnic for MungusFungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report co-owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

New Owner for Flooring Firm

Kelly Lumber Sales, Ashland, Me., has sold its MooseWood premium hardwood flooring division to forest management company Seven Islands Land Co., Bangor, Me. Seven Islands plans to retain MooseWood’s 16 employees, upgrade operations, and expand distribution of the product.

“This brings a value-added component to our timber resources and supports jobs in the heart of Maine’s northern forest,” said Seven Islands president John McNulty. His company was already harvesting the lumber used for MooseWood flooring and milling it at its Maine Woods Co. sawmill in Portage, Me.

Trex Teams Up on Composite Decking Blade

Trex Co., Winchester, Va., has cut a licensing deal with Diablo tool manufacturer Freud America, High Point, N.C., to introduce the first saw blade specifically designed for cutting composite decking materials.

The Diablo/Trex co-branded blade will be offered in three sizes—12”, 10” and 7¼”—for use on hand-held, miter and table saws.

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“Go for efficiency.”

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SCAN TO VIEW VIDEO

SPECIAL Focus APA on Engineered Wood

Structural panel and EWP demand to grow

T

HE SLOW - BUT - STEADY

improvement in the housing market is expected to boost demand for engineered wood products throughout 2012, according to estimates by APAThe Engineered Wood Association.

U.S. housing starts are forecast to increase 15% in 2012 to 700,000 units. As a result, and for the first time in several years, all of the major end-use markets for wood products are expected to move in concert and increase this year. In addition to growth in housing, demand is expected to grow in repair and remodeling, nonresidential building construction and industrial uses, as well as exports to Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean.

“There is a little more life to engineered wood demand this year. Last year, we were just treading water,” said Craig Adair, APA’s market

research director. “This year, we’re expecting demand to pick up from 4% to 11%, depending on the product.”

Although the Great Recession in the U.S. ended in mid-2009, the recovery has been uneven and only now is the U.S. economy showing signs of sustainable growth. Adair noted that single-family housing is still plagued with several obstacles, including banks that are reluctant to lend and more foreclosures on the way. Single-family construction is expected to improve in 2012, but it should have a more meaningful recovery in 2013.

“It may not be a lack of consumer demand that’s holding housing back; it’s more likely a financial system that currently doesn’t freely accommodate residential mortgages, and it could take years to repair and reorganize the

I-joist Production

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (in billion linear ft.)

22

Building Products Digest July 2012

system,” Adair said. Meanwhile, the demand for rental housing is so great that apartment construction has picked up, along with a wave of investment in existing single-family rental housing.

EWP, Panel Output Grows

Demand and production of North American structural panels and engineered wood products are expected to grow in 2012. Structural panels are forecast to increase 7% in 2012 as all end-use markets demand more volume. Overall, structural panel production is forecast at 28.0 billion sq. ft. in 2012.

The outlook for glulam timber is better in 2012 than in 2011 because both residential and nonresidential construction are forecast to increase.

North American production is forecast at 213 million bd. ft. in 2012, a 5% increase from 2011.

I-joist market share is forecast to increase modestly in 2012 to 53% of raised floors. As the housing market improves, I-joist market share is expected to grow steadily. The forecast for 2012 is an 11% increase to 509 million linear ft.

In the structural composite lumber family, laminated veneer lumber production is expected to follow the demand for beams and headers, rim boards and I-joist flanges. Production is forecast to increase 4% in 2012 to 43.4 million cu. ft.

Additional market details and historical data are contained in APA’s 2012 Structural Panel & Engineered Wood Yearbook, available for $250 at www.apawood.org.

Building-Products.com

SPECIAL Focus APA on Engineered Wood

State of Affairs

A

Interview with APA president Dennis Hardman

PA–T HE E NGINEERED Wood Association president Dennis Hardman recently shared his views on the state of the industry and the association:

Q: It’s been a tough few years for the structural wood panel and engineered wood products industry.

What’s your assessment of the challenges facing the industry at this point?

Hardman: Where do I start?

Market demand, of course, is still the primary problem. North American structural wood panel production last year was 26.07 billion sq. ft. on a 3/8” basis. That was almost identical to 2010, and we’re still way below the 43 billion ft. at the peak of the housing market in 2005. So we have a long road of recovery ahead of us.

There is also the ongoing challenge of safeguarding industry interests in codes and standards. Recently, for example, we’ve been working to gain fairer treatment of wood products in the International Energy Conservation Code. In addition, the industry faces numerous regulatory challenges, such as the Boiler MACT issue, ever more stringent formaldehyde emissions limits, growing green building requirements, among others.

And there is the continuing federal timber supply problem in much of the West. So there’s no shortage of challenges.

Q: What’s the industry production forecast for this year and beyond? Are things looking up?

Hardman: We’re now forecasting U.S. and Canadian plywood and OSB 24

Building Products Digest July 2012

production to rise this year by about 1.9 billion sq. ft., and to continue to increase next year and beyond. By 2016, we expect U.S. and Canadian structural wood panel production to be back at around 37 billion sq. ft., or about a 40% increase from 2011.

Q: What about the other engineered wood products that APA represents?

Hardman: Same thing. Glulam, wood I-joists, and laminated veneer lumber should all experience strengthening demand as the economy in general and the housing market in particular improve. Production of I-joists looks especially promising, almost doubling by 2016 from the 2011 volume.

Q : So, you’re expecting some improvement now in the housing market?

Hardman: Yes, we believe we have hit or are very close to hitting the bottom of the market. We’re forecasting a 15% increase in U.S. housing starts this year compared with 2011. Looking farther ahead, we think U.S. single-family and multifamily starts could reach 1.4 million by 2016.

The problem right now is the continuing high inventory of unsold existing homes, including the millions that are in foreclosure. We also need to see stabilization and then increases in home values in order to renew consumer confidence and investment.

Q: What about exports? Those have been strong, correct?

Hardman: Yes. North American plywood and OSB exports, excluding

shipments between the two countries, totaled 1.23 billion sq. ft. last year, the highest volume in 12 years. That’s been fueled by the weak domestic markets, which have made manufacturers here more aggressive in selling overseas.

As domestic demand improves, more of that product is likely to remain in North America, so exports are expected to slow. Conversely, imports have declined recently, but are likely to pick up again as the North American market improves and becomes more attractive to offshore producers.

Q : The industrial market is especially important to plywood manufacturers. How’s that market looking?

Hardman: Solid. Demand in industrial markets declined by about 7% and 8%, respectively, in 2008 and 2009, but rose by 6% in 2010 and another 3% or so last year. We expect the rate of growth to remain at about 3% per year over the next several years.

Q: You cited regulatory matters as among other industry challenges, including energy codes. What’s the issue there?

Hardman: That has to do with the International Energy Conservation Code, or IECC, which in late 2010 approved changes that in effect unfairly favor foam sheathing over structural wood panels. We did a study that indicated those changes could represent a potential U.S. market demand loss of approximately 905 million sq. ft. of structural wood panBuilding-Products.com

els. That’s almost 20% of the structural wood panel wall sheathing market.

So it’s a big deal.

Q: How are you addressing that challenge?

Hardman: We helped last year to establish an independent coalition of wood products industry manufacturers and associations, called the Coalition for Fair Energy Codes. It has a twofold purpose: first, to ensure that identified priority states adopt energy codes that allow for the continued use of cost-effective building envelope design options that include oriented strand board, plywood and lumber framing, and, second, to influence development of future energy codes, including the 2015 IECC, to

APA PRESIDENT DENNIS HARDMAN

26

Building Products Digest July 2012

ensure structural wood products and systems are appropriately regulated and not disadvantaged in their acceptance and use in the marketplace.

Q: What does the coalition do exactly?

Hardman: It has several functions, including federal governmentlevel education, monitoring and attempting to influence state energy codes and legislation, assembling technical data and information in support of credible energy code policy positions, establishing alliances with other industry partners and supports, and communicating key messages to stakeholder groups. I’m happy to report that our state efforts have been largely successful to date, but we still

have a lot of work to do.

Q : What are APA’s strategic priorities this year?

Hardman: Our priorities are based on a strategic plan that has four chief goals as established by our board of trustees. The first is maintaining an independent certification program that assures member compliance with product and performance standards, and that also performs a leading role in setting industry standards.

The second is protecting and growing wood product market share. The third is strengthening the voice of the industry through APA membership expansion and strategic partners. And finally, the fourth goal is exercising fiscal responsibility and maintaining organizational effectiveness.

Q: You mentioned membership expansion. Has APA’s membership been affected by the recession?

Hardman: Actually, we’ve increased our membership quite substantially, with approximately 20 new member mills added to the ranks since 2009. Those are fairly evenly split between the U.S. and Canada, and represent most of the products for which APA provides services. During that same period, we have not lost a single mill other than through closure.

So we’re quite proud of that record.

We consider it a remarkable statement of faith in the strategic direction and value proposition of APA during a period of extreme financial pressure on most wood product manufacturing companies. Our strong membership base positions APA very well for the eventual climb out of this down market.

Q: You also mentioned strategic partnerships. What are some of those and what are their purposes?

Hardman: One of the longest standing examples is our participation in the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cooperator program, which each provides sizeable grants in support of our international market development efforts.

Another example is the Wood Products Council, of which APA is a charter member. The council administers a nonresidential construction market program, called WoodWorks, that is designed to increase wood product demand in that market.

Still another example is the Canada Wood Group, an alliance of mostly Building-Products.com

Canadian wood products industry associations that coordinates funding for international market development projects sponsored by the Canadian and British Columbian governments.

APA is a member of the Coalition for Advanced Wood Structures, a university, industry and government partnership whose mission is to identify and execute cooperative research and technology leading to improvement of wood structures.

We also have a close relationship with industry suppliers through the Engineered Wood Technology Association, which is a related APA organization that serves as a networking and information exchange vehicle for manufacturers and suppliers.

And also, as I mentioned, we participate in the Coalition for Fair Energy Codes in partnership with the American Wood Council. In fact, the day-to-day operations of CFEC are managed by an APA staff member, and APA provides program budget accounting and financial reporting services for the group.

We also have longstanding relationships with the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory, American Wood Council, Green Building Strategy Group, Institute for Business and Home Safety, National Association of Home Builders, Canadian Wood Council, American Forest & Paper Association, and FPInnovations in Canada, to name a few.

tant to our being as prepared as possible to capitalize on market development and other strategic opportunities as the economy and market improve.

Q: Speaking of the APA board of trustees, who serves on it?

Hardman: The board is comprised of 15 executive-level members who reflect the broad product mix, geographic range, and diverse size of APA member companies. We also have an APA member advisory committee system that is actively involved in formulating recommendations and developing program plans related to market development, technical services, quality services, glulam and Ijoist/LVL, mill safety, etc.

Q: Given the very difficult business conditions over the past few years, what APA accomplishments are you most proud of?

Hardman: I’d have to say the strong member support that we’ve had during this period is certainly high on the list. That speaks, I think, to the dedication and expertise of the APA staff, and also to the excellent strategic guidance we’ve received from the APA board and advisory

committees.

I’m also proud that despite budget constraints, we have continued to refine and improve our quality certification services, and have remained a globally recognized leader in the standards promulgation arena. I think we have done a good job of protecting market share through a variety of highly targeted promotional programs.

And I’m proud of the increased recognition within APA and among APA’s members of the importance of safety, although I really need to give credit there to former APA chairman and current APA trustee Jeff Wagner of LP, who is passionate on that subject. Jeff was the leading force in reorganizing the annual APA mill safety awards competition and in forming a new APA mill safety advisory committee.

Q : Finally, what’s the biggest lesson from the last few years of depressed markets?

Hardman: Clearly, within APA, we’ve learned a lot about efficiencies and essential member values. As market demand improves, we will definitely apply those lessons to rebuilding.

Q: With regard to organizational effectiveness, how has APA adjusted or responded to the budget constraints that you must have faced when the economy collapsed?

Hardman: Well, like almost everyone else in this industry and throughout the country, we had to go through some painful staff and budget cuts, and then adjust our priorities in accordance with the most important needs of our members. That gave rise to the four-point strategic plan that I mentioned earlier.

Obviously, quality certification is among the most important of those member needs, so we’ve devoted a lot of resources to making sure that we continue to operate the best quality certification program in the industry.

I would add that the APA board continues to review incremental investment that would be necessary to restore APA functions and activities to some pre-recession baseline level, once conditions permit. That’s imporBuilding-Products.com

July 2012 Building Products Digest

27

SPECIAL Focus APA on Engineered Wood

Advanced Framing

New techniques boost efficiencies, conserve resources

A

with 2x6 wood studs spaced 24 inches on center is one of the most cost-effective solutions for builders and installing dealers trying to balance energy and structural building code requirements. Installers who utilize advanced framing techniques optimize framing material usage, reduce wood waste and, with effective insulation detailing, boost the building’s efficiency.

When properly designed and constructed, advanced framed walls that are fully sheathed with wood structurDVANCED FRAMING

al panels, such as plywood or oriented strand board, provide the structural strength necessary to safely withstand the forces of nature.

What’s Advanced Framing?

Advanced framing is a system of construction framing techniques designed to optimize material usage and increase energy efficiency.

Structures built with advanced framing techniques are more resource efficient and offer more space for cavity insulation than similar structures built with conventional framing.

ADVANCED-FRAMED R-20 code-compliant wall systems provide a greater whole-wall R-value than conventionally framed 2x6 walls or code-minimum 2x4 walls sheathed with foam.

28

Building Products Digest July 2012

Conventional framing, the industry standard for framing residential construction, typically consists of 2x4 or 2x6 wood framing spaced 16 inches on center, three-stud corners, multiple jack studs, double or triple headers, unnecessary cripple studs, and other redundant members.

Advanced framing reduces the unnecessary structural redundancies inherent in conventional framing by placing framing members only where they’re needed. The most commonly adopted advanced framing technique is 2x6 wood framing spaced 24 inches on center.

Other commonly used techniques include insulated three-stud corners or two-stud corners with ladder blocking, multiple wall intersection options, single headers and insulated headers, minimal use of jack studs and cripples, and the elimination of redundant studs and unnecessary blocking and bridging.

Although some advanced framing techniques can be adopted independently, the greatest savings—in both cost of construction and energy—will be realized when the system is applied holistically.

Advanced framing—also known as optimum value engineering (OVE)— was developed by NAHB Research Center in the 1970s for the purpose of optimizing material usage while maintaining structural integrity.

Today, growing interest in energy conservation is leading more and more builders and installers to adopt advanced framing techniques.

APA recommends installers consult their local building official early Building-Products.com

in the design phase to verify and obtain acceptance of 24-inch framing techniques in their jurisdiction.

Advantages of Advanced Framing

The key advantages of advanced framing include: 1. Energy Efficiency Advanced framing is a proven method for cost-effectively meeting energy code requirements. By maximizing space for cavity insulation and minimizing the potential for insulation voids, advanced framing delivers significant energy performance and cost savings for the builder.

Walls built with 2x6 wood framing spaced 24 inches on center have deeper, wider insulation cavities than conventional 2x4 framing spaced 16 inches on center. Increasing the amount of insulation inside the wall improves the

whole wall R-value (see Figure 1).

In addition to maximizing space for cavity insulation, advanced framing simplifies the installation of insulation and air sealing. Conventional framing can leave voids and small cavities in the framing at wall intersections and corners that can be difficult to insulate and seal effectively. By installing fewer framing members, it is easier for the builder to apply complete insulation coverage and achieve a tighter building envelope.

As energy codes have become increasingly stringent, advanced framing has grown more popular in climate zones where high prescriptive wall Rvalues are mandated or desired. While framing with 2x6 studs spaced 16 inches on center is already common in many northern states with more restrictive energy demands, increasing stud spacing to 24 inches on center,

COMPONENTS OF ADVANCED FRAMING: Houses constructed with advanced framing techniques may include some or all of the following details:

insulating effectively and fully sheathing with wood structural panels, such as plywood or OSB, allows installers to cost-effectively balance energy and structural code requirements.

In addition, advanced framing can help builders meet the requirements necessary to earn the Energy Star label for new homes.

2. Cost Effectiveness

Advanced framing is less expensive because it is more resource efficient than conventional framing. By framing with 2x6 wood studs spaced 24 inches on center, builders optimize framing material use and reduce framing installation labor.

Advanced framing can help to increase the efficiency of other trades as well. More space between framing members means fewer studs for plumbers and electricians to drill through and fewer cavities for insulators to fill. Additional savings may result from a reduction in construction waste and Dumpster costs.

3. Structural Integrity

The advanced framing method combined with continuous wood structural panel sheathing delivers an optimal solution: a cost-effective framing system that will produce more energy-efficient homes without compromising the strength or durability of the structure.

Where builders align the vertical framing members under the roof trusses or rafters, a direct load path is created in which compression and tension loads are directly transferred through the vertical framing members. The result is a stronger structure with fewer framing members subject to stresses.

When properly constructed, advanced framed walls that are fully sheathed with wood structural panels provide the structure with the strength to safely withstand design loads. Of all the available wall sheathing products, wood structural panels are afforded the most flexibility within the building code for 24-inch on center wall framing, providing solutions to code limitations that restrict most other wall bracing materials and popular siding products.

4. Sustainability

Wood construction systems such as advanced framing techniques fit well with green building strategies. Wood is a renewable resource that is manufactured in efficient processes that require less energy than is required for

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Building Products Digest July 2012

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other building materials, such as steel and concrete. Wood-frame construction that utilizes advanced framing techniques delivers even greater environmental dividends by optimizing material usage and reducing construction waste. Many advanced framing construction techniques may be eligible for points under the leading green building standards and guidelines, such as the National Green Building Standard (ICC 700-2008) and the U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Homes Rating System.

niques in stages rather than all at once,” said Mark Halverson, field services manager for APA–The Engineered Wood Association. “For example, if meeting cold climate energy code requirements is the priority, adopting 2x6 framing at 24 inches on center while continuing to use double top plates will increase wall R-values without requiring roof, floor and wall framing to be aligned. The builder can add additional advanced framing techniques later to further reduce costs and increase energy efficiency.”

APA details several advanced framing techniques in the Advanced Framing Construction Guide, Form M400. The 24-page guide (shown at right) is available for free download or print purchase at www.apawood.org.

Getting Started

To ease the transition to new methods, some advanced framing techniques can be adopted independently.

“Builders can incorporate the tech-

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SPECIAL Focus APA on Engineered Wood

Case Study

Curved glulam beams bring sense of grandeur to LeMay Museum

floor, almost warehouse-like, but aesthetically enhanced with its wood structure and thoughtful display details.

Engineered by Western Wood Structures, the curved roof system was created with 19 glulam frames with 5-1/8-in. glulam purlins spaced 4 ft. on center as secondary framing.

The glulam beams, crafted by American Laminators, Drain, Or., measure 8-3/4 inches by 52-1/2 inches and arc

W

NINETEEN glulam frames were installed to create the unique arching roof of the LeMay Museum in Tacoma, Wa.

exhibit hall at the new LeMay Museum in Tacoma, Wa., visitors may find themselves gazing up at the ceiling as well as taking in the lines of gleaming classic cars. A soaring roof system made with curved glulam beams offers a striking sense of grandeur while simultaneously lending a warm, grounded aesthetic to the vast space.

Nicknamed “America’s Car Museum,” the 165,000-sq. ft. facility was created to celebrate America’s love affair with the automobile. Across its four-story, nine-acre campus, the museum will house up to 350 cars, trucks, and motorcycles from private owners, corporations, and the expansive Harold LeMay collection, from a 1906 Cadillac Model M to a 1965 Lotus racecar to a 1983 DeLorean DMC 12. Rotating exhibits, such as a collection of glass hood ornaments, also will be showcased.

Along with displaying some of the world’s most aweinspiring vehicles, the museum will also serve as a gathering place for automobile enthusiasts, with meeting spaces, a membership club, a show field, and a planned educational center.

Curve Appeal

The museum’s main hall is essentially a long exhibit

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Building Products Digest July 2012

Photos by APA–The Engineered Wood Association

HEN ENTERING THE

SOARING 104 ft. over the cars below, the glulam beams measure 8-3/4 in. by 52-1/2 in.

MUCH OF the glulam structure is covered by 1-1/8-in. plywood sheathing, with 1/2- and 5/8-in. plywood combined in areas of tighter curvature.

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104 ft. over the displays below.

Because the roof curves in two directions, each of the 757 roof purlins is unique, with varying compound miter cuts and varying lengths.

Each purlin hanger has a different skew and slope.

One-and-one-eighth-inch fully sanded plywood sheathing from Swanson Group Mfg. LLC covers the roof, with 1/2-in. and 5/8-in. sheets used around corners to meet the 11/8-in. thickness requirement while bending around the 17-ft. radius of curvature. Waterproof rigid insulation and a metal roof complete the structure.

The arch design—one of the largest wood moment frames in the world—has a one-hour fire-resistive rating and follows the “Special Requirements for Seismic Design of Structural Glued Laminated Timber Arch Members and Their Connections in Three-Hinged Arch Systems” from

Project Details

Project: LeMay-America’s Car Museum Location: Tacoma, Wa. Completed: Spring 2012 Architect: Grant Price Architects Contractor: JTM Construction Engineer: Western Wood Structures the 2009 National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program provisions. The provisions are intended to produce ductility in the arch systems by allowing the steel connections to yield plastically during a seismic event and prevent glulam members from failing in a brittle fashion.

At the south end of the structure, the roof system cantilevers over the last glulam arch, supporting the curved fascia and creating a covered outdoor gathering space.

The decision to use glulam beams wasn’t purely aesthetic, as it also was one of several features that allowed some of the cost savings necessary to meet a tight budget, says Alan Grant, co-director of Grant Price Architects, Los Angeles, Ca. Grant says that construction of the LeMay museum cost about $104 per sq. ft., whereas typical museums can range from $400 to $800 per sq. ft.

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33

GLULAM BEAMS create a sense of warmth inside the exhibit hall, a suitable contrast to the gleaming classic cars below.

curved, metal-topped roof is gleaming and streamlined—much like the aerodynamic surfaces of an automobile.

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Building Products Digest July 2012

The architects took great care to ensure the modern form and size still respected Tacoma’s largely historic

architecture, standing out from the surrounding buildings, including the adjacent Tacoma Dome, without overpowering them.

Inside, Grant remained conscious of the structure’s primary function— showcasing shiny automobiles—when considering materials. Flooring, for example, is dark stained concrete, much like the roadways automakers consider when designing a car’s shell for optimal visual effect. Grant also paid close attention to lighting selection, noting how spot or strip fixtures at auto shows often leave bright spots and glare in photographs. The solution turned out to be simple and inexpensive: hanging fixtures that disperse 40% of the light up and 60% down, with a glowing fuse across the front, creating a strong, bright light that sets the space aglow.

The June 2 grand opening of the LeMay Museum capped off nearly a decade of effort by its founders, benefactors and construction teams. The resulting space is not only one to be aesthetically and structurally admired, but one that succeeds in providing a place for car lovers to witness history, share passions, and preserve an American legacy.

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SPECIAL Focus APA on Engineered Wood

Safety by the numbers APA honors producers for safety strides

A

PA–T HE E NGINEERED Wood Association recently announced the winners of its 2011 Safety and Health Awards, a program that encourages and recognizes safety and operational excellence in the North American structural panel and engineered wood industry.

Nashville, Tn.-based LP and Canfor-LP OSB Limited Partnership, Fort St. John, B.C., won Safest Company Awards in their respective categories while Roseburg Forest Products Co., Riddle, Or., earned the coveted Innovation in Safety Award.

LP, a leading North American manufacturer of structural wood panels and engineered wood products, earned top honors among companies with four or more mills with a 2011 average Weighted Incident Rate (WIR) of 2.35. Canfor-LP, which produces oriented strand board, won its award in the category for companies with three or fewer mills. The company posted a perfect 0.00 WIR for 2011.

One key to the success for LP and the Canfor-LP OSB plant is instilling safety and health as a core company value, rather than just a “priority.” “If you treat safety as a core value, it’s what’s guiding your thoughts, actions and behavior,” said Keith Harned, LP’s corporate health and safety director. “We call it the LP Journey to Zero. We believe that nobody has to get hurt; the overriding theme is that no one should get hurt while working at LP. That’s something we live and breathe every day.”

Roseburg’s Riddle engineered wood products mill took the innovation prize for the implementation of the “Glass Walls” program. Every shift in every department has a cell leader who is responsible for monitoring safety, quality, delivery and cost information daily and briefing the rest of the crew through a “Report Out.” Building-Products.com

Safety is the first item of discussion at every Report Out, and each team member is encouraged to voice all safety concerns. Daily safety topics are also discussed. Along with the addition of mini safety audits, the Glass Wall program has significantly increased safety awareness and communication at the Riddle mill.

Begun in 1982, the APA awards program honors the managements and

employees of companies and mills with the lowest severity-weighted incidence rates based on guidelines established by OSHA. It employs a Weighted Incident Rate that is calculated using both the number and severity of recordable incidents. Since 2008 was the first year that WIR was used, awards and reports for 2009 through 2011 continue to also show Total Incident Rate (TIR), the measure used in previous years.

Sixty-seven APA member structural wood panel and engineered wood product facilities in the U.S., Canada and abroad participated in the 2011 program. A total of 26 mills representing nine APA member companies— Abitibi-LP Engineered Wood, Anthony Forest Products, Anthony EACOM, Calvert Co., Canfor-LP OSB, LP, Norbord, Roseburg Forest Products, and RoyOMartin—earned awards in various categories of the 2011 program. Some of the mills were

multiple award winners.

In addition to the Safest Company and Innovation awards, other competition categories include Safety Improvement, Annual Safety and Health Honor Roll, Three-Year Safety Average, and Incident Free Honor Society. Sixteen mills achieved a zero incident rate for the year and thus were named to the Incident Free Honor Society. The annual honor roll, three-year average and safety improvement categories are divided into two divisions based on hours worked annually—more than or fewer than 400,000 hours.

While the program awards are limited to APA members, data is collected from both member and non-member mills in order to provide a broadbased industry performance benchmark. A total of 89 mills reported data for 2011. The 2011 industry Total Incident and Weighted Incident Rates were 2.31 and 10.37, respectively, down slightly from 2.44 and 10.94, respectively, in 2010.

The winning facilities and companies will be recognized and their safety accomplishments celebrated during the Chairman’s Dinner at APA’s annual meeting in November in Amelia Island, Fl. The 2011 safety awards program was the fourth year under a revitalized safety program effort spearheaded by an APA Safety and Health Advisory Committee comprised of several APA member company safety professionals. Under the committee’s guidance, three main goals were established: make the APA program the premier safety awards program in the industry, encourage the sharing of best practices as a means to improve the industry’s safety culture and programs, and most importantly, improve the industry’s overall safety performance.

July 2012 Building Products Digest

35

NEW Products

Powerful Fasteners

Universal Fastener Outsourcing’s Ballistic NailScrews are available with coatings for interior and exteriors applications.

The 1” to 3” screws are mounted on a plastic strip and can be installed with gas or pneumatic nailers.

They can be removed like any ordinary screw.

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Replacement Windows

Asure replacement vinyl windows and patio doors from Simonton Windows are available in a range of sizes and styles.

A two-stepped sill design offers better resistance to water and air infiltration, as does patented Lap-Lok weatherstripping. The reverse brickmould frame can be ordered in either white or tan.

SIMONTON.COM (800) 746-6686

Look of Stacked Stone

Ply Gem’s Stone True Stack is a modular product with the look of stone.

Pieces are 1”, 13” and 18” long, with matching corner stones, for a custom look.

A 1/4” groove on the back creates a 1/2” gap that is easy to fill and blend with mortar.

Produced with real stone casts, the product comes in seven colors: Sonoma, Calgary, Cambria, Shenandoah, Tuscarora, Arkose and Flint.

PLYGEMSTONE.COM (888) 975-9436

36

Building Products Digest July 2012

Solar Roofing

Photovoltaic roofing systems from CertainTeed are designed for residential applications.

Apollo has integrated polycrystalline solar panels that lie flat with surrounding asphalt shingles. The product is lightweight, durable, and resistant to wind uplift.

PowerMax hides mounting clips for a sleek, uniform look. Under ideal conditions, the product can generate 100 watts per module.

CERTAINTEEDSOLAR.COM (800) 233-8990

Building-Products.com

Window & Siding Sealants

Spec Line sealants and adhesives from DAP Products are designed for window and siding installations.

Performance facts printed on each cartridge make it easy to pick the right product for each application.

DAP.COM

(888) 327-8477

Energy-Efficient Lift

Cat Lift Trucks’ new 2EPC5000-2EP6500 series features improved energy efficiency, higher performance levels, and better operator ergonomics.

The truck can operate up to two shifts on one battery charge. Sealed wet-disc brakes, electrical components, and connectors provide protection against adverse conditions.

CATLIFTTRUCK.COM (800) 228-5438

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July 2012 Building Products Digest

37

Lights for Decks

Fire-Protected Cedar Shakes & Shingles

SW Forest offers cedar shakes and shingles protected by the Fire Safe treatment.

The process begins with moisture removal in dry kilns, followed by pressure treatment that forces chemicals into the inner cells of the wood, reportedly creating a permanent fire resistance.

SWFOREST.COM (800) 806-9663

PVC Column Wrap

New PVC column wraps from WOLF Building Products fit 4”x4” and 6”x6” structural supports.

A patented snap design makes one-person installation quick and easy.

The wraps can be combined with other WOLF PVC mouldings, including crowns and bases.

WOLFLEADER.COM (800) 388-9653

Metal Joist Fastener

Deckfast fasteners from Starborn Industries can be used with steel and aluminum deck joists.

An epoxy coating matches popular decking products and provides corrosion resistance. A specially designed head can penetrate the hard outer layer of capstock decking products and selfcountersinks into ipé and other hardwoods.

STARBORNINDUSTRIES. COM (800) 596-7747

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Building Products Digest July 2012

AZEK Building Products has added illuminated post caps and lighting strips for decks.

The new post caps use multiple LEDs to provide ambient lighting. The Villa model is available in white and black, with frosted lenses on all sides. Island comes in white, black, brownstone, and kona.

The LED lighting strips come in 6’ and 8’ lengths that can be cut to fit under top rails, to provide continuous downlighting without visually distracting hot spots.

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Colorful Vinyl Siding

Narrow-Aisle Lift

The Jungheinrich EKX 410 forklift from Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America is designed to operate in narrow aisles.

Lift height has been increased to more than 30 ft., for full pallets as well as individual boxes or pieces.

JUNGHEINRICH-LIFT.COM (713) 365-1000

PlyGem’s American Splendor vinyl siding has color-enhanced resins for increased color retention and consistency, plus fade and weather resistance.

The proprietary RigiTuck rolled nail hem ensures a tight fit, while the Xact-Fit lock and curl design delivers six-layer attachment points per panel.

Three profiles and 24 colors are available in 12’6” lengths.

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Building-Products.com

Eco-Friendly Panels

PureBond Classic Core hardwood panels from Columbia Forest Products are manufactured with no added urea formaldehyde.

The panels are ideal for high-profile applications such as furniture, cabinetry and fixtures. Sizes include 4’x6’, 4’x8’, and 4’x10’ panels, which are compliant with CARB Phase 2 and may contribute to LEED IEG 4.4 credits.

CFPWOOD.COM (800) 637-1609

Pest-Blocking Insulation

Great Stuff Pestblock insulating foam sealant from Dow Building Solutions is designed to seal homes against pests and reduce air leakage.

The product provides a long-lasting, moistureresistant barrier, which expands to fill, seal and insulate gaps, cracks and holes up to 1”.

DOWBUILDINGSOLUTIONS.COM (800) 232-2436

Building-Products.com

July 2012 Building Products Digest

39

FAMILY Business

By James Olan Hutcheson

It’s my turn

O

NCE UPON A TIME,

family business patriarchs had it easy when it came to deciding who would take over the family business.

Centuries-old customs required that the eldest son received control of the family business upon the death of the father. No one ever retired. Business literally lived or died based on the often-unknown management skills of the male heir, which often were not revealed until dad died.

Today, family business succession is handled with more forethought and under the greater scrutiny of inheritance laws. Affluence, combined with people living longer complicates the difficult decisions of when and how to pass the reins of the family business—with the least harm to the business and family.

The question of who gets to run the family business is complicated, of course, by relationships within the family.

Numerous clients have confessed that they are troubled about how to pass the business without destruction. While many still plan to be an integral part of their business for several more years, they realize that their desire to work long hours had waned in recent years. They are slowing down. What worries many of them is deciding which of the heirs will make the better leader in the long run.

One client commented that he felt “a little like Solomon in the Bible, trying to divide my baby, my business, between two heirs. Somehow that seems almost easier than picking one over the other. I love what I do,” he said, “but I don’t see that same passion in either my daughter or son.”

But that passion might actually be there, just displayed in a different way because each person has a unique per-

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Building Products Digest July 2012

sonality. Indeed, the heirs may be eager to have their turn at running the business. These kinds of dilemmas are far from unusual, and they underscore the very subjective emotions that cloud the business choices a senior family member must make about the future of the business.

If it’s any comfort, the challenge of passing on the family business is a worldwide problem. A family feud over who should run the Hyundai Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, brewed up a dispute that involved the national government. Finally, the 84-year-old founder of Hyundai appointed one of his sons as the sole group chairman to end the family squabbles. But this decision came in the face of a national movement to discourage family dynasties that do not involve shareholders and board members.

The image of passing a baton on to the next person in a relay race is a familiar one. It is an apt image for businesses in which a family business leader hands over the responsibility to a child. Even under the best of circumstances, it can be a difficult and awkward time of transition.

For the elder leader, it means giving up control not only of the business but also of the parent-child relationship.

The relationship rarely stays the same at home once control is relinquished at the workplace. Moreover, the parent becomes dependent upon the success of the business in a different way and may feel vulnerable to the business decision being made by the child.

As in a relay, once a runner passes the baton, he spends the rest of the race as spectator and cheerleader, but no longer contributes directly to the outcome. For an entrepreneur who feels he has been the sole motivator for the birth and continued success of the business, this new limitedpartnership role requires a new understanding, a new patience. Furthermore, few people are prepared for the slowing down that all of us should expect as we get older.

It is important to see that a relay race is the perfect metaphor for life. We humans are designed to pass on our knowledge and possessions from generation to generation.

The human lifespan is a natural cycle that begins with a period of development and learning followed by a long middle period of accrued experience and activity followed by a gradual diminishing of energy and ability. When a senior family member acknowledges this natural cycle, the transition can be accomplished with less strain and less stress. Succession isn’t necessary the result of a “crisis” within the family business.

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Another complication can occur when the family business leader maintains financial control of the company while turning the day-to-day operation over to another member of the family.

Power is divided, and the next generation tier isn’t fully able to independently change or expand. The nowformer c.e.o. may be also obligated to pay employees and other overhead expenses even if the company experiences a downturn as the result of the transition. The time-worn issues involved with parent-child bonds of dependence are also a factor, with the child trying to establish new roles of independence.

As with the relay race, planning ahead is the key to success. Know your runners and their individual strengths. Who is the fastest at the start? Who has a sustained start? Who has a strong finish? In a family business, skills needn’t be dropped just because one family member is in transition to a position of less involvement.

The timing of any business transition is critical. Procrastination can become a healthy attribute when you’re trying to have the business suffer as little chaos as possible from any transition of power. In other circumstances, such as when a senior family executive’s declining powers result in poor decision-making, speed can be essential. In any event, it is necessary for the entrepreneur to work hard to plan a succession.

It’s important to realize that there is a window of opportunity for a smooth hand off of power and control. The children need time to develop the skill set necessary to carry the business forward. They need the concentrated mentoring of the outgoing c.e.o. or president. Similarly, the patriarch must realize that the children may want to make changes in day-to-day operations. Change is natural, even when someone else initiates it, even by a son or daughter.

The next generation needs to be allowed to take risks similar to what the senior entrepreneur took to gain his or her own competence and skill set. But watching the next generation take risks with your business takes a certain amount of lip biting.

And don’t forget the post-transition problems. Now that the entrepreneur has less responsibility to the family business, and more leisure time, what will he do with the energy and time once devoted to the business?

Building-Products.com

Planning retirement and leisure time may actually be necessary.

A succession plan that involves both the new relay runners at the helm of the business as well as the entrepreneur’s diminishing participation can help the business transition go smoothly. Here are essential elements of a succession plan: Make continued business leadership a key goal. This can be accomplished through a series of planned meetings with family-member owners to discuss their goal, wishes and concerns.

Gather, analyze and share financial information on the company and on current owners, including ownership percentages, tax records and tax commitments, value of the business, and organizational structure.

Remember that taxes may be a key factor in any transition of business. A comprehensive estate plan for any outgoing shareholder should be considered.

Strive for a balance of equity.

Answer these questions definitively: How many business assets will remain with the senior entrepreneur? How much will be passed onto heirs, both inside and outside the company?

Work hard to clear up the major muddy area of how much parental authority will be exercised over the children. How much should the senior entrepreneur pass on to the children?

How much should these children be required to earn and do for themselves?

These are difficult questions that require objectivity and, therefore, generally require an outside consultant who has no emotional investment.

These objective decisions must be made in the best interest of the business.

Once upon a time, it was simpler.

But today, with all that is at stake and all the complications of the day, it’s a wise leader who knows how to pass business responsibility to his children.

When asked who should run Ford Motor Co., Henry Ford said that “asking who will run the family business is a little like asking who will sing tenor in the choir—the tenor of course.”

– James Olan Hutcheson is managing partner and founder of ReGeneration Partners, a Dallas-based family business consulting firm. Reached him at (800) 4061112 or www.regeneration-partners.com.

Reprinted with permission of ReGeneration Partners. No portion of this article may be reproduced without its permission.

July 2012 Building Products Digest

41

ASSOCIATION Update Southern Building Material Association has selected the theme “The Tide Is Turning” for its annual summer conference July 26-29 at the Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront Resort, Virginia Beach, Va. Dr. Ed Seifried will address “Turning a Troubled Economy into a Recovering Economy” and Burman Clark will cover “The U.S. Supreme Court’s Ruling–How It Will Affect Your Health Insurance.”

Also on the agenda: the panel discussion “What Five Things Created by This Downtown Have Most Seriously changed the Way We Will Do Busi-

GULF SOUTH FOREST Products received the Presidential “E” Award, which recognizes expansion of U.S. exports and was instituted by President John F. Kennedy 50 years ago.

Pictured (l-r) is Gulf South’s president John Yohanan, U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, and Gulf South’s c.e.o. Sam Yohanan.

ness in the Future?,” roundtable discussion “The Future of Our Family Building Material Businesses,” exhibits, golf tournament, and committe and board meetings.

Northeastern Retail Lumber Association affiliates are keeping busy this summer.

Central New York Retail Lumber Dealers Association will gather for an Aug. 16 clambake at The Spinning Wheel, Syracuse.

Northeastern Young Lumber Execs will watch the Boston Red Sox battle the Anaheim Angels Aug. 23 at Fenway Park, Boston, Ma. The group will also host a Sept. 19-21 lumber tour in Maine.

Sept. 7 is the annual meeting of Retail Lumber Dealers Association of Maine and New Hampshire Retail Lumber Association at Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, Portsmouth, N.H. Sept. 13 is the annual meeting of Long Island Lumber Dealers Association at Villa Lombardi’s, Holbrook, N.Y.

Northwestern Lumber Association will host golf outings July 25 at the Golf Club at Cedar Creek, Onlalaska, Wi.; Aug. 23 at Hickory Grove Golf Course, Fennimore, Wi.; Aug. 27 at Royal St. Patrick Course, Wrightstown, Wi., and Sept. 27 at Lake Panorama National Golf Course, Panora, Ia.

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Aug. 16 is a Twins baseball game at Target Field, Minneapolis, Mn., to benefit the association’s scholarship program.

A shooting event at Oak Creek Sporting Club, Brainard, Ne., is scheduled for Sept. 26.

Mid-America Lumbermens Association will host a Sept. 27-28 trout fishing trip to Cotter, Ar.

Mid South Building Material Association will hold its mid-year meeting Aug. 3-4 at the Embassy Suites Hotel New Orleans Convention Center, New Orleans, La. The event begins with a social gathering, followed by a board of directors meeting and a joint Mississippi/Louisiana roundtable.

New Jersey Building Material Dealers Association plans an Aug. 20 golf outing to Knob Hill Golf Club, Manalapan, N.J., and an Aug. 24 fishing trip to Highlands Marina, Highlands, N.J.

Indiana Lumber & Builders Supply Association will gather for its annual Sycamore Scramble golf tournament Aug. 2 at Oak Tree Golf Course, Plainfield.

Michigan Lumber & Building Materials Association will hold its annual golf outing Aug. 2 at Hawk Hollow Golf Course, Bath.

Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association has scheduled a

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Building Products Digest July 2012

C for Capability – A for Accountability R for Responsibility and Reliability D for Dependability – S for Stability Building-Products.com

board meeting and golf outing for Sept. 20-21 at York Harbor Inn, York, Me.

National Hardwood Lumber Association will host its annual convention Sept. 12-15 at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Chicago, Il. Seminars will cover such topics as energy management and assessment, recruitment and retention, estate planning, and market trends.

Events will include golf at the Harborside International Golf Center to benefit the Hardwood Forest Foundation, plus cocktail receptions, dinners, and a trolley tour of Chicago.

Southern Forest Products Association is one of four organizations selected to receive funding from the Softwood Lumber Board to complete a joint project with the NAHB Research Center on the feasibility of raised wood floor construction.

American Wood Protection Association posthumously bestowed its Award of Merit on Dick Jackson, founder of Pacific Wood Preserving, who died March 15 of cancer.

Building-Products.com

IN Memoriam

Gerald C. Sapperstein, 85, former owner of several Pennsylvania retail and wholesale companies, died June 2 in Doylestown, Pa. After serving with the Merchant Marines during World War II, he opened wholesale distributor Canadian Forest Products and retailer Lumberjack in Conshohocken, Pa. In the 1960s, he helped open Mr. Plywood, Philadelphia, Pa.

Edward M. Ryan, 88, co-founder of Green Hills Lumber, Upper St. Clair, Pa., precursor of 84 Lumber, died June 1 in Upper St. Clair.

During World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and received a Purple Heart.

After the war, he started a homebuilding business that later became Ryan Homes. He also co-founded Green Hills with his boyhood friend, Joe Hardy, who took over the business in 1953 and renamed it 84 Lumber.

Kenneth L. “Tiger” Geesaman Jr., 46, president of McCune Lumber Co., Shippensburg, Pa., died May 31

in Chambersburg, Pa. At an early age, he joined the business acquired by his family in 1954.

Irvin Dean Dierking, 80, former owner of Dierking Lumber, Fairview, Ks., died May 9 in Sabetha, Ks. He purchased his own lumberyard after working for Meyer Lumber Co., Summerfield, Ks. Johnnie Jack Carriger, 90, retired manager of Steger Lumber, Durant, Ok., died June 7 in Durant.

He had recently retired from Steger, after working there for 60 years.

Richard “Rick” Hanover, 60, outside sales rep for Builders Hardware, Tampa, Fl., died May 10 in Plant City, Fl. He worked at Builders for almost 12 years. Previously, he worked 20 years in outside sales at Book & Co., Tampa, Fl. Orive E. “O.E” Linsin, 73, salesman for Norman Lumber, St. Louis, Mo., died May 14 in St. Louis.

He had worked at Norman since 1996.

July 2012 Building Products Digest

43

CLASSIFIED Marketplace Rates: $1.20 per word (25 word min.). Phone number counts as 1 word, address as 6. Centered copy or headline, $9 per line. Border, $9. Private box, $15. Column inch rate: $55 if art furnished “camera-ready” (advertiser sets the type), $65 if we set type. Send ad to Fax 949-852-0231 or dkoenig@ building-products.com. For more info, call (949) 852-1990. Make checks payable to Cutler Publishing. Deadline: 18th of previous month.

To reply to ads with private box numbers, send correspondence to box number shown, c/o BPD. Names of advertisers using a box number cannot be released.

WANTED TO BUY

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PRODUCTS FOR SALE

WANTED TO BUY

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

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

44

Building Products Digest July 2012

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

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The writing is clear, interesting and specific. The articles will challenge your thoughts on sales and will also make sales An Unfair Fight for you, your team, and your company.

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DATE Book

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

Mid-Hudson Lumber Dealers Assn. – July 9, golf, Otterkill Golf & Country Club, Campbell Hall, N.Y.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Rhode Island Lumber & Building Materials Dealers Association – July 11, Green Valley Country Club, Portsmouth, N.H.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Central N.Y. Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – July 14, day at races, Oswego Speedway, Oswego, N.Y.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Construction Suppliers Association – July 19, insight meeting, Montgomery, Al.; (678) 674-1860; www.gocsa.com.

Northwestern Lumber Association – July 25, golf, Golf Club at Cedar Creek, Onlalaska, Wi.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org.

Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association – July 25-28, annual conference, Reynolds Plantation, Greensboro, Ga.; (770) 631-6701; www.slma.org.

Southeast Building Conference – July 26-28, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fl.; (800) 261-9447; sebcshow.com.

Southern Building Material Association – July 26-29, summer conference, Wyndham Resort, Virginia Beach, Va.; (704) 3761503; www.southernbuilder.org.

Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Association – July 29-31, summer meeting, Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C.; (336) 8858315; www.appalachianwood.org.

Indiana Lumber & Builders’ Supply Assn. – Aug. 2, golf, Oak Tree Golf Course, Plainfield, In.; (877) 465-8627; www.ilbsa.org.

Michigan Lumber & Building Materials Association – Aug. 2, annual golf outing, Hawk Hollow Golf Course, Bath, Mi.; (517) 394-5225; www.mlbma.org.

Mid South Building Material Association – Aug. 3-4, mid-year meeting, Embassy Suites Hotel New Orleans Convention Center, New Orleans, La.; (601) 824-2884; www.mbmda.com.

Fulton, Mississippi • www.homanindustries.com (662) 862-2125 • Fax 662-862-4900

Your Southern Pine Specialty Remanufacturer What Do You Need?

Superior Service at Competitive Rates Made the Way You Want It Specializing in 6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10

True 2&Btr. with # 1 Stamped ___________________ Lumber Protected against Sapstain, Mold, Fungi with AntiBlu ___________________

Treatments • Wolmanized CA-C Good Housekeeping Seal SCS Certified Environmentally Preferable NAHB Research Center Green Approved

• CCA ___________________ Sourced from

SFI Certified Forests

Massachusetts Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 6, golf, Cyprian Keyes, Boylston, Ma.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Northern New York Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 15, fishing derby, Clayton, N.Y.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Central New York Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 16, clambake, Spinning Wheel, Syracuse, N.Y.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Northwestern Lumber Assn. – Aug. 16, Twins baseball game, Target Field, Minneapolis, Mn.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org.

Ace Hardware Corp. – Aug. 16-18, fall market, McCormick Place South, Chicago, Il.; (630) 990-7662; www.acehardware.com.

Orgill Inc. – Aug. 16-18, dealer market, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nv.; (800) 347-2860; www.orgill.com.

New Jersey Building Materials Dealers Assn. – Aug. 20, golf, Knob Hill Golf Course, Manalapan, N.J.; (908) 359-1184; njbmda.org.

New Jersey Building Materials Dealers Association – Aug. 20, golf outing, Knob Hill Golf Course, Manalapan, N.J.; Aug. 24, fishing trip, Municipal Harbor, Atlantic Highlands, N.J.; (908) 3591184; www.njbmda.org.

International Woodworking Fair – Aug. 22-25, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga.; (404) 693-8333; www.iwfatlanta.com.

Northeastern Young Lumber Execs – Aug. 23, Red Sox game, Fenway Park, Boston, Ma.; (518) 286-1010; nrla.org.

Southern Pressure Treaters’ Association – Aug. 23-25, summer meeting, Grove Park Inn, Asheville, N.C.; (318) 619-8589; www.spta.org.

Northwestern Lumber Association – Aug. 23, golf, Hickory Grove Golf Course, Fennimore, Wi.; Aug. 27, Royal St. Patrick Course, Wrightstown, Wi.; (763) 544-6822; www.nlassn.org.

Building-Products.com

July 2012 Building Products Digest

45

IDEA File

More dealers are

Lights Out

adding recycling to the list of services provided to customers.

Though it takes some effort, most agree that it’s well worth it—both in environmental and business terms.

One good example is Pete’s Ace Hardware, Castro Valley, Ca. The family-owned store has been recycling customers’ used batteries and fluorescent lights for the past year. However, the store’s efforts really took off last month when it began participating in a recycling program sponsored by the local waste management agency.

“We are excited to participate and hope that residents will see how easy it is to properly recycle their fluorescent light bulbs and tubes,” says owner Linda Roark.

The local agency provided advice and signs— “Recycle Here, Buy Here”—for participating dealers, plus ads in local newspapers that publicized the program’s June 9 kick-off.

According to store manager Jason Roark, the newspaper ads raised local awareness of recycling and the signs—placed in the front of the store and in the lighting aisle—were instrumental in encouraging homeowners to bring in their used bulbs. He says that store employees also discussed the recycling program in their interactions with customers.

Jason says that customers appreciated the store’s participation, which entails accepting, sorting, counting, and storing the bulbs in a back room before they are transported to a central recycling site once a month.

“There is some work involved and you’ve got to be organized,” he advises. “But it’s another service we offer the community.”

Latest Breaking Industry News for Dealers, Wholesalers & Manufacturers— Updated Daily Check out the redesigned

building-products.com 46

Building Products Digest July 2012

ADVERTISERS Index For more information on advertisers, call them directly or visit their websites [in brackets].

Advantage Trim & Lumber [www.advantagelumber.com]..........41

AERT [www.aertinc.com].................................................................5

Ainsworth [www.ainsworth.ca] ................................................20-21 Anthony Forest Products [www.anthonyforest.com] .................25

APA-The Engineered Wood Association [www.apawood.org] ..34

BlueLinx [www.blulinxco.com] .......................................................8 BW Creative Wood [www.bwcreativewood.com] ........................37

Capital [www.capital-lumber.com]................................................19

Chicago Suburban Lumber Sales ...................................................4 Coastal Plywood [www.coastalplywood.com].............................27 Crumpler Plastic Pipe [www.cpp-pipe.com] ................................45

Hoover Treated Wood Products [www.frtw.com] .............Cover IV J.H. Baxter [www.jhbaxter.com]....................................................11

Murphy Company [www.murphyplywood.com] ............................7

Nordic Engineered Wood Products [nordicewp.com] .......Cover II

Osmose [www.osmose.com] ................................................Cover I Overseas Hardwood Co. [www.ohc.net] ............................Cover III Quality Borate Co. [www.qualityborate.com] ..............................43 Reality Sales Training [www.realitysalestraining.com] ..............44

Redwood Empire [www.redwoodemp.com]...................................3

Roseburg Forest Products [www.rfpco.com] ..............................33

RoyOMartin [www.royomartin.com] .............................................29

Scotch Plywood Co. [www.scotchplywood.com]........................31

Sherwood Lumber [www.sherwoodlumber.com]........................11

Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]...................................17

Southern Shutter Co. [www.southernshutter.com].....................44 Swanson Group Sales Co. [www.swansongroupinc.com].........23

Tank Fab [www.tankfab.com]........................................................39

TriState Lumber [www.homanindustries.com]............................45

Wilson Lumber Co. [www.cypressusa.com]................................42 Building-Products.com

BPD

Building Products Digest

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