The Merchant April 2017 by 526 Media Group

APRIL 2017

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THE VOICE OF THE WEST’S LBM SUPPLY CHAIN — SINCE 1922

THE LATEST IN PRESSURE TREATED WOOD • HARDWARE • EWP ON THE HORIZON

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CONTENTS April 2017

Volume 96 n Number 4

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Special Report

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Features

KEEP YOU CURRENT AND FUEL YOUR SALES IN THE FAST-MOVING WORLD OF PRESSURE TREATED WOOD.

UNDERSTANDING TREATED WOOD

11 TOP 15 WOOD TREATERS 12 INDUSTRY TRENDS

TREATER BUNDLES DECK KITS

14 FIRST PERSON

WESTERN EWP FORECAST

16 RISI VIEWPOINT

CHANGES ON THE HORIZON FOR PARTICLEBOARD INDUSTRY?

APRIL 2017

The

MERCHANT

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THE VOICE OF THE WEST’S LBM SUPPLY CHAIN — SINCE 1922

THE LATEST IN PRESSURE TREATED WOOD • HARDWARE • EWP ON THE HORIZON

18 MARGIN BUILDERS

BARN DOOR TRACK HARDWARE

22 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

OHIO DEALER UP TO CHALLENGES

32 NAWLA: THINKING AHEAD

MILLENNIALS IN THE WORKPLACE

The Merchant Magazine Digitial Edition at www.building-products.com

68 EVENT RECAP

NAWLA LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

The Official Publication of

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Departments

34 WWPI TREATED WOOD UPDATE 10 FEATURE STORY TRENDS, TOOLS AND TIPS TO HELP

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8 ACROSS THE BOARD 24 OLSEN ON SALES 26 EVANGELIST MARKETING 46 APP WATCH 52 SELLING WITH KAHLE 54 MOVERS & SHAKERS 56 TALK BACK 57 ASSOCIATION UPDATE 58 NEW PRODUCTS 64 IN MEMORIAM 76 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE 76 ADVERTISERS INDEX 77 DATE BOOK 78 FLASHBACK

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ACROSS the Board By Patrick Adams

Adapt or die

is inevitable. I can’t think of anything ACME Buggy Whips could have done to adapt to a changing marketplace and remain relevant. I suppose the same goes for Eastman Kodak and Blockbuster Video. I’m also not exactly sure why I seem to get so upset when I see a company go away other than, in many cases, it’s a part of our history that is becoming, well, history. So, today you’re going to hear me go on a rant. Although we have watched the “end” coming now for a decade in the hands of an arrogant “suit” who is completely disconnected from the world around him unless his spreadsheet tells him so, Sears & Roebuck is an unnecessary victim. Other than Ford, Winchester and Levi’s, I can’t think of a more American company than Sears. Sears helped settle the West. At one point, you could order a car or a house from the Sears catalog! It was a national sign of the beginning of the holidays when the Sears Christmas catalog arrived on our doorstep with a thud and so began the weeks-long dreaming marathon of all the things that Santa might bring to us. As we grew older, the weekly ads of tools, appliances and other household necessities were reminders of our chore list. There was a time when if you needed new tires, a car battery, tools, a mattress, house paint, or appliances, there simply was no logical alternative to going to your trusted Sears. The employees actually knew what they were talking about and you could trust them to steer you in the right direction. Many “experts” will be armchair quarterbacks and in hindsight blame the likes of Amazon, Costco and Best Buy for their demise. However, I would argue that vacuum of need in the marketplace would not have existed had Sears adapted to a changing world. For this, I fault their leadership. Arrogance and fear crippled them from trying new things, from assuring the next generation found the same value as their parents and from believing that those in the grand Sears Tower might too find themselves irrelevant. For a decade, Sears “leadership” has believed the way to turnaround is to assume a staggering amount of debt, lay off senior experienced staff, sell prime property, and now begin auctioning off their prized brands. This is a “turnaround plan”? For the record, I realize that I am being a bit of an armchair quarterback, too. I have led many organizations over the years and I too have made judgment errors on strategy. Our company is 95 years old and compared to some in our industry, it is only middle-aged! During that time, we’ve made a few mistakes and I know you have as well. The difference as I see it is OMETIMES THE END

this: I try to quickly learn from my mistakes, I’m never afraid to admit that I was wrong, and I firmly believe there is an equally high risk of demise from not doing anything different! Just because a formula works for a while is in no way an indication of the likeliness of it working in the future. In attending colleges and talking with our recent grads, there is too much weight placed on the “formula” learned from textbooks and the “process” by which you start or run a business. I watch my daughter sometimes learn the “how” of the step-by-step math problem, but not the “why” of the overarching concept itself. In my opinion, the heart of the business resides in the why. Without the why, how do you plot the path forward and have the drive to persevere? To their leadership now, Sears is just a spreadsheet. To Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, it was their passion and their attempt to help the everyday man improve their lives. While these things can’t be measured on spreadsheets, in my opinion it is the heart of a business that gives it the will to survive and to make the tough decisions. I wonder what Sears would be like if family still ran it with the goal of helping their customers and valued employees? I know I have a clear idea of why we do what we do as a company. And like many of the companies in this great industry, I also have a clear idea of how we will continue to adapt, improve and continue to serve our customers and employees. “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” – Albert Einstein

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

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April 2017

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FEATURE Story By Jase DeBoer, ProWood

Keys to understanding treated lumber Embrace General Use Wood

PRESSURE TREATED continues to be called on for use in the vast majority of decking projects. (All photos courtesy ProWood)

just stand the test of time. In a world of ever-changing composites and polymers, one material remains dominant. Pressure treated lumber. Understanding and educating customers on the differences in treated lumber is critical for dealers, and will ultimately result in increased sales and reputation. OME THINGS

Treated Lumber is King As more and more homeowners look at decks as extensions of their home, the variety of low maintenance and wood-alternative decking and railing options continue to grow and diversify. Despite the recent growth of alternative materials for decking and railing, treated lumber is king. Recent studies indicate over 95% of decks use

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pressure treated lumber for the understructure, and over 70% of decks use treated lumber for the decking. With new treatment technologies and changes in standards, it also starts with the dealer. Homeowners, DIYers and professional builders all count on their dealers to offer the best product, and to recommend the right product for their projects. This comes with a great deal of responsibility, but also a great opportunity to educate customers and grow sales. There are differences in treated lumber, and customers need to be aware of the options. Whether deciding on what type of treated lumber to stock or simply recommending the right product for a project, here are some factors dealers should consider:

April 2017

With treated lumber being the dominant material for deck under-structures, understanding how your customer intends to use the lumber is an incredibly important discussion. Treated wood is often sold without knowing the intended use. There are varying levels of treatment retentions that are appropriate for different uses; however, many customers see the word “treated” and assume the material will hold up in any outdoor application. For that reason, many dealers are embracing the notion of carrying Ground Contact/General Use treated lumber to eliminate confusion and ensure their customers are covered. This takes away guess work, builds credibility, and promotes safety. According to AWPA standards, Ground Contact/General Use treated lumber should be used if any of the following apply to the project: • The lumber is difficult to replace or maintain • The lumber is critical to the integrity of the structure • The lumber is 6” or less from the ground—or touching the ground • The lumber will be subject to inadequate ventilation • The lumber will be exposed to frequent or prolonged moisture

Know Your Options Treated lumber presents a variety of options. There are different preservatives used for treatment, and at varying levels. The most common preservatives are copper-based and help the wood resist insect and termite infestation as well as rot and decay. Some manufacturers offer options that add additional value to the treated lumber: Building-Products.com

Color-treated lumber is a great option in markets that want the natural look and beauty of cedar or redwood, but desire the lasting benefits of treated southern yellow pine. KDAT lumber (kiln dried after treatment) is lighter than standard treated lumber, less likely to warp or twist, and allows builders to measure, cut and build more accurately. Other specialty treatment options are available such as borate treatment or fire retardant.

Research Code Compliance & Warranties Treated lumber should be treated to a reputable standard and also be inspected by a third party. The combination of these two elements indicates building code compliance. Dealers can easily find this information on the lumber end tag. Having a third party inspect boards at random is more credible than an inspection done by the manufacturer, and is required as part of building code compliance. Many manufacturers will offer a lifetime limited warranty on treated lumber. However, it is important for dealers to understand the details of those warranties—especially the definition of the term “limited.” Some may only warrant treated lumber used in “Above Ground/Light Duty” applications. Some warranties may not cover treated lumber that has been custom cut to make stair stringers. Dealers should ensure their customers are getting the proper protection.

Work with a Trusted Partner Dealers need a trusted partner to help them win. It’s not just about product—it’s about product, service, expertise and relationships. It’s about deliveries being on time— every time. It’s about selection and options. It’s about marketing support to help educate customers and drive sales. It’s about experienced representatives that go the extra mile. It’s about manufacturers who stand behind their product and believe they only win when their dealers win. Dealers should never settle for anything less. With pressure treated lumber remaining the dominant material used for decks, it’s important for dealers to be educated about the differences in treated lumber—both for deciding which treated lumber to stock, and to be a source of education and guidance for homeowners, DIYers and building professionals alike. The right treated lumber used in the appropriate application will result in a beautiful, safe deck or outdoor structure that will last for years. – Jase DeBoer is a category marketing mgr. for ProWood (www.prowood.com), a Universal Forest Products brand of pressure treated lumber.

2017

T op 15 Pressure Treaters The following are the 15 wood preserving companies in the U.S. that operate at least three locations. They are ordered by the number of treating plants they operate, NOT by production volumes.

Universal Forest Products, Grand Rapids, Mi., with the addition of five of Robbins Manufacturing’s six treating plants, now runs 24 treating plants nationwide, offering ProWood branded MCA, CA-C, borates, FRT, water repellent, and colorants. Great Southern Wood Preserving, Abbeville, Al., operates 14 treating plants in the South, Midwest, and midAtlantic. Treatments offered are ACQ, MCA, borates, CCA, FRT, water repellent, and colorants, marketed as YellaWood, YellaWood Select, YellaWood SuperSelect, N-Durz, FlameFreez, MasterDeck and RainWood. Cox Industries, Orangeburg, S.C., operates 13 treating facilities—four of them produce residential products, while the others specialize in industrials. Nearly all are all in the Southeast/mid-Atlantic. Treatments include CA, CCA, penta, QNap, FRT, and water repellent. Spartanburg Forest Products, Greer, S.C., has 10 treating plants in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Virginia, using MCA, CA-C, EL2 and water repellent. Hixson Lumber Sales, Pine Bluff, Ar., operates 10 treating plants in the Central U.S., from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, up through Arkansas, and into northern Illinois. Treatments include CCA, ACQ, MCA, borates, FRT and water repellent. Hoover Treated Wood Products, Thomson, Ga., now operates nine treating facilities in all regions of the U.S., after recently taking over Coastal Treated Products’ plants in Weldon, N.C.; Belington, W.V.; and Oxford, Pa. Best known for its fire retardant treatments, Pyro-Guard and Exterior FireX, Hoover also offers ACQ, MCA, CCA and other industrials. McFarland Cascade, Tacoma, Wa., owned by Stella Jones, last year acquired three industrial plants in Louisiana and one in Texas to bring its total to six U.S. treating facilities. The other three offer residential preservatives. Treatments cover CA-C, ACQ, borates, CCA, penta, QNap, penta, and creosote. Bestway Enterprises has five plants from the Northeast down to North Carolina, using MCA, FRT and CCA. Culpeper Wood Preservers, Culpeper, Va., has five treating facilities—four in the mid-Altantic, one in Shelbyville, In. Each offers a different mix of MCA, borates and/or CCA.

COLOR-TREATED lumber is ideal for customers who desire the look of redwood or cedar, as well as the added durability of pressure treatment.

Allweather Wood , Washougal, Wa., part of the Mendocino family of companies, is the largest water-borne wood treater west of the Mississippi, with four plants employ(Continued on page 13)

INDUSTRY Trends By David Koenig

Kits help treater sell more deck components A

M IDWESTERN WOOD treater has devised a glulam post-and-beam kit that makes it easier for contractors to build decks—and even simpler for dealers to sell them the components. “With the increasing size and complexity of decks, contractors were looking for ways to minimize the obstruction caused by multiple support posts,” explained Pat Bischel, president of Northern Crossarm Co., Chippewa Falls, Wi. “As we introduced our Brown KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) pressure treated wood, we began to get requests for a match-

ONCE PRICE/one SKU covers all components needed to build a support structure for an elevated deck. (All photos courtesy Northern Crossarm Co.)

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ing beam. As a result of those requests, we developed a kit that would be comprised of matching colored posts, a beam, and hardware. This meant one inventory item containing matching components necessary to support an elevated deck.” To determine which components would be offered in the kits, Northern Crossarm’s goal was to provide the dealer and the contractor a package that could be delivered to the jobsite, containing the basic components to support a deck package. “We looked to simplify the process by over-engineering the components in order to minimize inventory items a dealer would need to stock,” he said. For dealers, the kits are easy to inventory and simplify the sales process due to fewer SKUs. Pulling orders becomes a one-step process, rather than having to send a yard person out to round up multiple items.

And, with the kit, both contractor and dealer can be assured that the materials used in this portion of the project are properly engineered. “Dealers and contractors love the idea of purchasing one product that provides the major components of the framing package,” Bischel noted. “Contractors and homeowners like the finished look the brown posts, beam, and hardware offer the completed deck. The homeowner also likes the unobstructed views and access provided by only having two support posts for each beam.” Each kit includes one southern yellow pine glulam beam and two posts, treated with MCA to ground contact and colored brown; two powder-coated brown beam-to-post connection brackets; and 25 powder-coated brown joist hangers. Beam dimensions are all 5-1/4” by 15-1/8”, in 16’, 20’, or 24’ lengths. The 5-1/4” by 5-1/4” posts

DEALERS HAVE found that an assembled kit with signage can catch contractors’ attention and increase sales.

April 2017

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come in a standard 12’ length. Long posts can be special ordered. The kits initially were offered just with a 20-ft. beam, but—due to customers’ requests—a shorter and a longer option were introduced. Bischel expects to eventually add other sizes,

as well. The kits are being distributed in the Midwest by Northern Crossarm and Boise Cascade, Lakeville, Mn., and in the West by Rocky Mountain Wood Protection, Denver, Co., and Snavely Forest Products, Denver.

Top 15 Treaters (Continued from page 11)

ing ACQ, CA, borates, PTI, CCA, ACZA, FRT, and water repellent.

Sunbelt Forest Products, Bartow, Fl., treats with CA-C, borates, EL2 and water repellent from four facilities in the Southeast. Fortress Wood Products’ three North Carolina plants treat with CA-C, MCA, CCA, FRT and water repellent.

Biewer Lumber, Lansing, Mi., operates three Great Lakes States treating plants, drawing on MCA, ACQ, CA, FRT and water repellent. Conrad Forest Products , North Bend, Or., serves 13 western states from two plants in Oregon and one in California, offering CA, borates, ACZA, CCA, QNap, penta, creosote, interior and exterior FRT, and Bluwood.

THE KITS are able to clear a span up to 24 ft. and do not require extra posts for support that traditionally obstruct views in walkout type applications.

Southeast Wood Treating, Montgomery, Al., owns three treating plants in the South/Central U.S., offering CA-C, EL2 and water repellents.

Trusted Brands, Trusted Performance

Koppers Performance Chemicals is a leader in the research and development of new products and services in all areas of lumber preservation. We provide innovative wood preservative products, advanced engineering services and customized marketing services to our valued customers. We are a premier supplier of wood preservatives, globally recognized for our successful development and diversification of wood preservative technologies.

For more information visit www.kopperspc.com MicroPro pressure treated wood products are treated with Micronized Copper Azole. NatureWood pressure treated wood products are treated with Alkaline Copper Quaternary Compounds or Copper Azole. NexWood pressure treated wood products are treated with Propiconazole, Tebuconazole and Imidacloprid. CCA pressure treated wood products are treated with Chromated Copper Arsenate. MicroPro, NatureWood, Nexwood, Advance Guard, FirePro, and CCA treated wood products are produced by independently owned and operated wood treating facilities. MicroPro®, NatureWood®, NexWood®, Advance Guard®, and FirePro® are registered trademarks of Koppers Performance Chemicals Inc. © 4/2017

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April 2017

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FIRST Person By Tyler Freres, Freres Lumber Co.

7 predictions for this year’s wood products market P

America’s wood products industry are interested to see what 2017 will bring, after a year where log prices increased dramatically and finished wood product prices remained subdued at best. Here are my predictions for the 2017 wood products market: ROFESSIONALS IN

1. Substantial Increase in Demand. Housing starts are projected to be up 11% in 2017 and by another 11% in 2018. Wood products producers rarely take third-party forecasts as gospel, but, if true, there should be a substantial increase in demand in 2017. Increased industrial and commercial uses for veneer-based panels, as well as substitution of plywood for OSB, could lead to much brighter plywood panel markets this year. 2. Decreased Panel Supply. A major provider in the Pacific Northwest wood products market closed early this year. Omak Forest Products recently shut down all operations, which has taken a significant producer of sheathing and panels off the market. 3. Market Turbulence with Trade. The Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute, one of the largest and most enduring trade disputes between both nations, enters unknowns after the Softwood Lumber Agreement expired in 2015. With a new administration in the White House, there is buzz about potential import tariffs, which could increase uncertainty in wood products markets and affect the volume of panels entering the U.S. 4. Wood Product Commodities Challenged. U.S. commodity wood products will continue to be adversely affected by increased imports due to the strong U.S. dollar, but will North American demand be enough to overcome downward price pressure? U.S. companies have tried to compete head-to-head against cheap imports, but it has proven too painful. I think we will see additional product development in 2017 as U.S. companies try to realize the highest value out of expensive resources. 5. Conflict Over Resources. Oregon’s Elliott Forest debate is an indication of potential future conflicts regarding the responsible use of our nation’s resources. While the Governor’s plan called for assuming more state debt to buy part of the forest, would issuing $100 million in bonds really solve the problem? The State Land Board just ruled 2-1 14

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April 2017

to proceed with the sale for $220 million, because the state has a legal responsibility to generate revenue for the state’s school children. Linn County is pursuing a class action lawsuit against the state of Oregon alleging breach of contract for failing to maximize the long-term benefit to timber counties. They estimate that the value of foregone timber harvest is around $1.4 billion. Can the state afford to pay the counties back for the lost revenue resulting from lack of timber harvests?

6. Restrictive Legislation Hampers Oregon Manufacturers. Manufacturers have suffered greatly at the hands of the Oregon legislature. Minimum wage and paid sick leave have left employers scrambling to put in place policy thats meet the letter and spirit of the laws, while also trying to maintain a manufacturing environment. Predictive scheduling, under the guise of providing predictability, will rob employers and employees of opportunity for overtime and the flexibility to compete during the rigors of an unpredictable marketplace. New overtime rules limit opportunity for our employees to earn a higher paycheck, and limit the company’s ability to compete globally. 7. Promising Opportunities with Mass Timber. Mass timber construction has the potential to revitalize the wood products industry. Freres Lumber is excited to be part of this promising movement by developing its own proprietary Mass Plywood Panel. By the end of 2017, we intend to have a new production facility completed that can produce veneer-based panels 12 ft. wide by 48 ft. long by up to 24 inches thick. We have high hopes that we have developed an advanced engineered wood product that can compete globally and realize the full potential of our local renewable resources. – Tyler Freres is vice president of sales for Freres Lumber Co., Lyons, Or. (www.frereslumber.com). Reach him at (503) 859-2121. Building-Products.com

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RISI Viewpoint By Steve Honeyman, RISI

Does new mill spell changes on the horizon for particleboard industry? T

HE 21ST CENTURY has been rough on the North American particleboard market. Around the turn of the century, substitution for MDF ate into particleboard demand levels as MDF gained popularity. Then, just as things appeared to be turning up for particleboard, the global recession hit in 2008. All wood products were negatively affected by this downturn, but particleboard demand fell to levels unseen in almost 30 years. And now, as the market recovers, there is a very real risk that capacity may be added faster than the market can bear, forcing the closure of additional North American mills. After peaking in 2000, North American particleboard demand fell in nine of the following eleven years. As

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a result of this decade of decline in the particleboard market, many mills were permanently shut down. North American operational capacity in 2013 was estimated to have been at its lowest level since the 1970s, having fallen more than 47% from its 2002 peak. Operational capacity fell well below nameplate capacity as the mills that were still in operation were not running at full capacity. With the recovery in residential construction in recent years, particleboard demand has begun to recover as well. North American demand in 2016 was up more than 16% from the 2011 trough. While this is a positive sign for domestic producers, it hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t directly translated into increased demand for all North American pro-

April 2017

ducers. When adjusted for imports, demand on North American mills in 2016 had risen only 12.5% from cyclical lows, and reported shipments have increased just 9.7%. Clearly offshore imports have risen and taken market share from domestic producers, growing from less than 2% of total demand in 2009-2013 to 5% in 2016. Even though particleboard prices have remained steady over the past few years, the strong U.S. dollar has made North America an attractive market for foreign exporters. Despite the limited growth in particleboard demand and excess capacity hanging over the market, there has already been a major announcement of capacity expansion in North America. Arauco North America announced it will be opening North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest continuous press particleboard mill in Grayling, Mi., in 2018. This is the first greenfield mill the North American market has seen since 2001. Building-Products.com

With a reported capacity of 424 MMSF (750 MCM), the new mill will increase the nameplate capacity level of the North American market by 9%. Given the massive size of the announced Grayling mill, it’s fair to question the ability of the market to absorb this additional capacity. The new mill will not have a full year of operation until 2019, so there is time for market demand to grow enough to absorb the additional capacity, but even assuming strong growth in the coming years, there will likely be additional slack in the market. In 2016, the ratio of North American demand to nameplate capacity levels was 78%. Assuming average annual growth of 5% in North American particleboard demand between 2017 and 2019, the ratio of demand to nameplate capacity without Grayling would be 90% in 2019, but with the addition of the mill the ratio is forecast at just 83%. Should the market underperform or the U.S. dollar continue to strengthen, the result could be even more unused capacity. Capacity greatly exceeding demand means that producers will lack pricing power. Particleboard producers have already been operating at narrow margins, and with anticipated increases in input costs they will need the ability to raise prices or their margins will narrow further. The Grayling mill will be outfitted with new machinery and will likely have a lower operating cost than mills currently in operation with older equipment. It is also located in a region where average costs are lower and prices are higher. Since 2010, particleboard prices in the U.S. West have been significantly lower than in the U.S. East. Due to the elevated wood fiber prices in the U.S. West, average variable costs of production are higher for this region. With higher costs and lower prices, it is the U.S. West that has the narrowest operating margins and would therefore be at the highest risk of capacity closure should the market remain oversupplied for an extended period of time. – Steven Honeyman, economist, wood products, for RISI, is the author of the Particleboard and MDF Panel Commentary and co-author of the North American Wood Panels 5-Year Forecast and the North American Wood Panels 15-Year Forecast. Based in Bedford, Ma., he can be reached at (781) 734-8908 or shoneyman@risi.com. Building-Products.com

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MARGIN Builders By John Golesh, Goldberg Brothers

Stocking tips for barn door track hardware F

any home design magazine and you’re likely to see at least one home with barn doors in it. This eye-catching alternative to traditional hinge-mounted doors is hot with homeowners who want to personalize their homes with distinctive features. What’s more, homes for sale with “barn door” in their listing sold for 13% more than expected and 57 days faster, according to research by Zillow Digs. In light of this trend, homeowners and builders increasingly are asking dealers about barn door track hardware. As with virtually any building product, if you don’t stock it, you’re at risk of losing the sale to your competitor down the street who does stock it, or to the big box store on the edge of town, or an internet retailer. If you’re considering stocking barn door track hardware, read on for tips to be successful with this product segment. LIP THROUGH

are sufficient for most door widths and applications, including for single and double doors and nested doors.

Stocking Essentials When it comes to stocking barn door track hardware, dealers frequently ask three questions: • What sizes should we carry? • Which colors are most popular? • What are the price options? Fortunately, with barn door track hardware, stocking a few SKUs will take care of 90% of customers’ needs.

Colors

Sizes Popular sizes are hardware packs of tracks and rollers in 1-3/8” and 1-3/4” dimensions, which fit interior doors from most door manufacturers. Barn door track lengths of 5’, 6’, 7’ and 8’

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DESIGNERS are using barn door track hardware to create unique features, such as this corner entryway to a room. (All photos courtesy Goldberg Brothers)

Manufacturers offer barn door track hardware in a wide range of colors and finishes, from copper and chrome to white, brown, red and blue, among others. When beginning to stock barn door track hardware, it is usually sufficient to start with black, as that fits with virtually any home décor—from modern to rustic. Other colors can be offered via custom order until such time as you find which colors are most popular in your market and would be good to add to your stock.

April 2017

Pricing Similar to most building products, barn door track hardware is available in a wide range of prices and quality. As the old saying goes, “you get what you pay for.” As long as you’re working with a reputable manufacturer, their standard hardware will provide well-crafted products at a reasonable price. Some manufacturers also offer quality products with economical pricing for larger, multi-door projects, such as for multi-family housing, which is beneficial to stock for a range of price options. Across sizes, colors, pricing and more, such as accessories, a key to success with track hardware is to Building-Products.com

BARN DOOR track hardware complements virtually any style, including modern homes.

FOR A RUSTIC look, combine a traditional wood barn door design with barn door track hardware.

choose a manufacturer that will work with you to tailor a stocking order to your and your market’s specific needs.

Domestic or Import? In the push to stay competitive with big box stores and internet retailers, stocking low-price import hardware can seem appealing. However, you and your customers will feel a clear difference with American-made barn door track hardware, which is noticeably more solid and substantial. In addition to the goodwill created with customers by stocking made-in-the-USA products, domestic-based manufacturers are better able to deliver custom orders—and to deliver them quickly—allowing you to meet virtually any customer need without having to stock a plethora of SKUs.

Open a New Window of Opportunity Beyond being used for a wide range of interior door applications, barn door track hardware is also used for other decorative and functional applications. These include for interior window shutters, and cabinet and entertainment center doors, among other uses. Products like the Goldberg Brothers Shutter Series provide easy-to-install kits that enable stylish and space-saving barn doors in place of draperies and cabinet doors. Such kits enable dealers to grow their business in at least three ways. The first is by going after the lucrative window covering market, which LBM dealers traditionally have not participated in. The second is by expanding your millwork sales, as interior shutters on barn door track hardware typically require four shutters per window compared to two faux shutters mounted on the exterior of each window. Third is by enabling an add-on to your window sales, potentially including as profitable bundled products of hardware and windows. From HGTV to popular home improvement magazines and social media sites, barn doors have captured homeowners’ imaginations. Stocking well-crafted American barn door track hardware can be a non-space intensive way to expand your offerings and grow your business in serving this hot design trend. – John Golesh is president of Goldberg Brothers (www.goldbergbrothers.com), a Denver, Co.-based company specializing in American-made barn door track hardware.

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April 2017

BARN DOORS provide a visually interesting and space-saving alternative to traditional out-swing doors on cabinets and entertainment centers.

SHUTTER-STYLE barn door track hardware provides a way to grow your millwork sales. Building-Products.com

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COMPETITIVE Intelligence By Carla Waldemar

Challenges = opportunities for small town dealer A

RCHBOLD, A TINY town tucked into the northwest corner of Ohio, is reached by a trickle of asphalt off the grand Ohio Turnpike. Tiny, yes, but backwater? Oh, no. The town of 4,300, punching far about its weight in economic stats, boasts over 4,000 jobs. Hundreds of them sprout from titan industries like Sauder, the world’s largest manufacturer of ready-to-assemble furniture. Seventeen, from Lugbill. Lugbill Supply Center’s niche, right from the outset in 1962, was furnishing and erecting pre-engineered buildings manufactured by Varco Pruden Buildings. It’s what brought Dave Nafziger to town—well, back to the town he’d said goodbye to after college—when he accepted the job as Lugbill’s president in 2002. “I owned a construction company in a western suburb of Chicago, where we also utilized VP pre-engineered buildings. Knowing that, the company’s board asked me to visit and consider working here (as my dad had for 40 years).” Maybe it was the sweet, well-kept community. Maybe it was the family heritage. Or maybe they spiked his KoolAid. Whatever: One look and he and his wife, Deb, agreed. They sold the Illinois business in two weeks and their home in three days and headed over. (Today Deb is one of those 17 employees. And one of their sons is another.) One of Dave’s first ventures was to launch a wholesale plumbing company and a commercial plumbing contracting company in tandem with the building supply operation. “I

LUGBILL SUPPLY Center owner Dave Nafziger has had to continuously evolve his 55-year-old business, adding new ventures—and selling some—when an opporunity surfaces.

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April 2017

CHANGES ALSO occurred at home, where the Nafziger family adopted siblings from Haiti.

sold those in 2012 to our competitor as their fourteenth location. They were profitable, and we were able to sell at the right time, so we could focus on our core.” That core was Varco. It freed him to multiply those ops. “We have one customer in town that has used us for more than 6 million sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space. I’ve also put up buildings from Kalamazoo, Mi., to Clanton, Al. We’re currently working on a $3.5 million project for another customer. We do anything from a 60by-90-ft. ag building to a 1.5 million-sq. ft. distribution center. We provide steel and do some construction management—that’s what brings me to the table—but I won’t compete and go heads against our own commercial customers.” The niche provides about a nice portion of the company’s income, “and it’s just me, supervising, and I can travel. It’s a nice profit center.” Lugbills doesn’t neglect its local contractors, however. There’s plenty of TLC to go around. These pros constitute 70% of the operation’s accounts—pleased, Dave says, by the staff’s depth of product knowledge and pride in service. “Our pros tell me they could drive 25 miles to Lowe’s or Menards and find shingles, say, for $3 cheaper, but they realize that doesn’t make sense. Here, it’s all about relationships: We help them. We introduce them to new products and innovations. We host a contractors’ breakfast with our vendors and a contractors’ night with prizes. We deliver with a boom trick. We offer rebates for keeping their accounts current and send out checks. We also send checks at the end of the year if they’ve met their goals of annual buying. Plus, they’re all friends. It’s all about relationships,” he repeats with vigor. “When I came back here after Building-Products.com

NORTHWESTERN OHIO yard continues longtime niche: furnishing and erecting Varco Pruden pre-engineered buildings.

18 years, I saw some of the same contractors I’d known. Folks stay loyal. And we work hard for that: anything to keep them in front of us, and us in front of them.” Lugbill also enjoys a strong agricultural market, especially in the post-frame construction business. And it heeds its walk-in trade, too—that important 30%, whether local handymen or the burgeoning female market, for which it’s recently added a new paint center and extended its home goods section. “Two ladies on staff, too,” Dave adds. Speaking of staff: Among those 17, Dave just handed out two 40-year awards, one for 35 years, one for 15, and another for 10, explaining, “We have very little turnover.” A huge reason is how these folks are treated, which is what the boss defines as “servant leadership”—asking nothing of the staff he wouldn’t do, himself. “The Golden Rule applies all across the board. And we’re very family-friendly. If your kid’s got a softball game at 4:00, it’s ‘Go! Be with your family!’ They know they won’t get rich being in this industry, but we offer things that are more important.” Dave hires for attitude, not aptitude. “Give me someone with a great outlook on life and the desire to be a servant leader, and I will take them over a grizzled industry veteran with a negative attitude.” His 24-year-old son buys that. Utilizing his degree in PR and marketing, “he gets the whole technology thing,” says Dad. “He built our website and handles advertising and social media”—largely a robust Facebook presence, juiced to introduce new products and build Lugbill’s brand, and it’s paying off by attracting a new, younger market. “He’s doing all that stuff I hate,” shivers Dave, the president. These days Dave the president is also Dave the owner. “I knew the partners were talking about selling the business—they’d sent the financials to a competitor in Indiana—or even shutting it down, and I just couldn’t stand the thought of the business not being here in Archbold any longer, let alone what would happen to our employees. So we prayed about pushing everything we owned into the center of the table and jumping all in. “It was the right thing to do. It was a three-year process, and the local bank was willing to partner with us. As president, I had access to all the information. And Deb and I were newly empty-nesters (and loving it), with two boys either married or in college.” But one big decision overtook another. Deb had made her first trip to Haiti at the same time. She came back, Dave reports “with the inkling that the Lord was asking us to adopt a brother and sister. God’s timing and sense of humor were evident as we closed on the financials of the business and brought the kids, then ages 13 and 8, home to us within Building-Products.com

about two weeks of each other. But,” he’s quick to add, “we have a ton of support from our employees and our church family,” where the couple had absorbed its message about caring for widows and children: “Crazy! Adopting kids when I was 50! But we were called to do that crazy thing.” As Lugbill’s new owner, Dave knew that some changes would be required, “and change is difficult in this industry,” he understood. “I looked at co-ops, and joining one was the best decision I ever made. It changed the way we buy and do things. We got a lot better at merchandising. We use Margin Master, and we increase our margins one point a year by rounding up [the price tags] to our advantage, which customers don’t object to, but also doesn’t ruin your reputation for low prices, compared with the boxes. We also updated our computer system. Change,” he reiterates, “is necessary to remain viable. It’s hard, I know, for an employee to stand there in front of a customer and have to adapt to something new. But it’s vital.” A customer survey prompted more tweaks. “The main thing we learned from the survey was that we were not so smart,” he laughs. “In fact, we’d outsmarted ourselves by using just-in-time purchasing.” The result was half-empty shelves, which left customers the impression that Lugbill was going out of business. “We have a 12,000-sq. ft. showroom, and now the message is ‘Fill those pegs!’” More changes yet were prompted by the recent recession, during which “We paid some pretty high tuition—and I don’t want that to happen again. We’re doing a better job at preparing for those eventualities by keeping an eye on our staffing levels and expenses. We weren’t prepared for 2008. We were overstaffed. But we didn’t resort to layoffs. Now, through attrition, we’re leaner. We also learned to buy smarter—to negotiate better terms with our vendors. The formula now is pretty simple,” he says: “Sell more at better margins, and manage the cost structure.” It’s paid off. “In the future, as we alleviate some of our debt service, here’s how we want to split those profits: a portion to employees, a portion rolled back into the business, and a portion to missions, the community, and the church. That’s what drove us to succeed and purchase the business in 2013,” Dave explains, “and why we get up and do what we do every day.” Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net April 2017

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OLSEN On Sales By James Olsen

Relationship selling absolutely will accelerate the trust factor with customers. Warm calls are great calls. • Competence. We need to show competence early with customers. We need to know what we are good at and demonstrate it as early as possible.

First-Call Relationship Acceleration

I ASK sellers, “What is your sales approach or style?,” 99% of them say they are “relationship sellers.” Ask an experienced veteran what it takes to be successful in sales and they’ll say it’s a “relationship” business. What does relationship selling mean? To most sellers it means, “I’ll be as nice as possible, give great service, and hope the customer likes me best.” This strategy works, but doesn’t ensure the number one supplier position in the long run and doesn’t produce immediate results in the short run. HEN

Accelerating Realtionships Our human DNA screams for us to go slow in developing relationships. Our ancestors survived because they made the correct choices on the alliances they made. While our DNA screams for prudence, our companies and bosses scream for immediate, if not sooner, results. Our challenge is to fight our human nature and that of our clients, and create high-trust relationships, quickly. There are three things that will accelerate our (hightrust) relationships with clients faster: • Naive confidence. As unnatural as it may seem, we as sellers need to approach each encounter with customers, especially early in the relationship, with a naive confidence that they are going to do business with us. We may know in our hearts and minds that many people are going to say no early in the relationship, but we need to act like they are going to buy from us. Too many sellers act and sound as if the customer is going to say no and, lo and behold, they do. If we act “positively naive,” will customers say no to us? Yes, they will. But they will say yes sooner. We, as sellers, have a problem acting like people will trust us early because, even though we want people to trust us and buy from us early in the relationship, we empathize—too much—with their feeling of “let’s-wait-and-see-how-itworks-out.” All too human, but working against us. • References. Humans—our customers—want, need and deserve references. When we supply a letter of reference from a satisfied customer in a competitive market, we

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April 2017

The first call is not a sales call. We are qualifying our potential account. We are not trying to (overly) prove ourselves to them. If they fit our profile we know we can help them. If we act like we are trying too hard to sell them on the first call, we will fall into the “order-grubbing” pile of needy salespeople that are just around for the order. Resist all efforts by the customer or yourself to sell on the initial call. This shows confidence and competence and allows us to listen to the real needs of customers to set up a meaningful second call. Note: First call follow-up email and reference letters are critical for relationship acceleration.

Second-Call Relationship Acceleration Our first and second call work together. Our goals on the first call are to find out does our customer: • Buy what we sell • Buy it the way we sell it • Buy enough Most sellers have to re-prospect the customer on the second call, which is irritating and frustrating to the customer—not a good way to start (accelerate) a relationship. If they qualify, we know we can help them so on the second call we act in a positively naive way, meaning, acting like we believe they are going to buy from us. We project this in everything we say, especially in our tone, that we expect them to buy from us. We are going to come into the second call positively/ naively assumptively, expecting our customer to buy from us. Will many of them say no? Yes. But many will also feel and remember that feeling of “I-know-we-aregoing-to-do-business” for the third call and beyond. Creating relationships takes time. Keeping our attitude open and positive early will accelerate the relationships as we build and grow our business. James Olsen Reality Sales Training (503) 544-3572 james@realitysalestraining.com Building-Products.com

Building-Products.com

April 2017

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EVANGELIST Marketing By Alex Goldfayn

Key Revenue Indicators W

it all away, sales growth almost always comes down to just a few consistently repeating behaviors. The question is, which behaviors? This depends on your company, but they almost always come down to communications actions. That is, the more you talk to your customers—across all available channels—the more they will buy from you. The key, then, is to identify what these behaviors are for you, and then to track and measure them. I like developing Key Revenue Indicators (KRI) for my clients. These are the measures—or counts—of the communications behaviors that we determine lead most immediately to revenue growth. Imagine having a dashboard of a few key behaviors, measured across your company, that give you an instant snapshot of whether you are on track to grow. My clients who have such a dashboard enjoy two key and powerful advantages: • They ability to plan for strategic growth. Once we know what leads to sales growth, we track the counts of these behaviors and we know how much growth we can expect this year! How powerful is that?! There’s a massive difference between proactive strategic growth, which you can turn up and down as needed, like a rheostat, and the random, impossible-to-plan-for growth that happens when you’re reactively taking incoming orders all day. • The second key advantage you get when you have a KRI dashboard is peace of mind. You can sleep easy at night, knowing your business is on track to gain the growth you need this year because your staff is executing the communications that you know will lead to more sales. Having predictable revenue growth is a highly enjoyable way to live. So, let’s dive in: which communications behaviors determine growth? HEN YOU BOIL

Key Revenue Indicators First, a note: this list is all-inclusive. That is, you don’t need all of these indicators. You need around three. The question is, which of these activities will most easily generate the highest number of new sales for you? Also, as you read through these, think about quantities. How many, per person per day, do you think you need to implement? Proactive Phone Calls: Tom, it’s Matt. I was thinking about you, it has been a while since we talked. How are you? What are you working on these days? How can I help? The key with these is that they are proactive. That is,

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April 2017

you’re not answering the phone, taking orders. You’re picking up the phone to call people you can help. Asking for the Business: Should we write it up? Frankly, if you’re talking to a customer, you should pivot to the sale every… single… time. They’re on the phone with you—ask to help them! The Did You Know Question: Did you know we also do x, y, or z? Your average customer only knows about 20% of what they can buy from you. Imagine if you grow this number by just 10%, which is actually an increase in awareness of 50%! Quote and Proposal Follow-Ups: Tom, where are you at on that quote you asked for? I sent it last week. We have it in stock, but I have another customer asking about it. Do you still need it? My three-step quote follow-up system closes 20% of all out-standing quotes! This is free money. Asking for Referfals: Tom, who do you know, like yourself, who would benefit from working with you like you do? Or… Who would I enjoy working with as much as I enjoy working with you? People love giving referrals. All we need to do is ask them. Conferences and Conventions: How many new customers or orders do you pick up at a conference or convention? Do you need to exhibit or sponsor? How many do you need to do each year? Gatherings of Customers and Prospects: Think about events that bring your customers and prospects together. Let them meet each other and interact with each other. Does this grow your business? How much? Pick your top three actions. And it’s perfectly reasonable if your actions aren’t on this list. What are yours? How many do you have to do in a month, week, day? How will you track it, so can always know where you stand with your strategic, planned revenue growth. Because that’s the goal: having a tool that will inform you with certainty that you will make more money this year, next year, and as long as you wish. Alex Goldfayn The Revenue Growth Consultancy alex@evangelistmktg.com Building-Products.com

Blaze Strikes Rosboro Mill Rosboro’s Springfield, Or., lumber mill suffered an estimated $100,000 in damages in a March 13 fire. A spark in the compressor room ignited the blaze, which spread into the duct spaces in the ceiling and to the roof. Automatic sprinklers controlled the fire inside the mill until firefighters could arrive.

Management Firm Helms CRA Trade association management firm Hauck & Associates will provide full management services to the California Redwood Association.

“We’re pleased to have Brian Mandrier, senior vice president with Hauck, as the executive director for the CRA. Hauck brings plenty of quality experience in the association management field and will be able to guide the association for many years to come,” said Charlie Jourdain, past president of CRA. Jourdain, who had been with the group since 1988, is now managermarket development for Mendocino Forest Products. However, he will continue to be associated with the CRA on its board of directors and with membership development. Based in Washington, D.C., Hauck

also has an office in the San Francisco Bay Area. Other clients include the National Council on International Trade Development and the National Association of Professional Organizers.

SUPPLIER Briefs Conrad Forest Products , North Bend, Or., has acquired all the assets of Agwood Mill & Lumber, Ukiah, Ca., effective April 1. Conrad will assume the sales responsibilities for mill operations. Viance’s Ecolife Stabilized Weather-Resistant Wood is now being carried at 84 Lumber locations. Pinedale Lumber , Pinedale, Wy., lost a lumber warehouse in a March 1 fire. Utah Lumber, Ogden, Ut., has been formed by Tyrone Konecny and serves as exclusive lumber sales agent for Saratoga Forest Management, Saratoga, Wy., and Goshen Forest Products , Goshen, Or. Charity Isakson joins him in sales. Valley Supply Ace Hardware, Redding, Ca., received the OK to build a nearby 9,450-square-foot Ace rental and garden supply center.

Ace Hardware is constructing a new store in North Ogden, Ut. Orchard Supply Hardware held a grand opening March 18-19 at its new store in Huntington Beach, Ca.

J.M. Thomas Forest Products , Denver, Co., which softlaunched Fortress Deck’s Infinity composite decking and Hulk clips and fasteners into Colorado last year, will expand to a full launch this year.

BMC Stock Holdings, Atlanta, Ga., launched an offering of over 5 million shares of common stock to select stockholders, including affiliates of The Gores Group and Davidson Kempner Capital Management. No shares of common stock are being sold by BMC. PPG upped its bid to buy AkzoNobel to reflect a 40% premium over stock value after its earlier offer was rebuffed. Anniversaries: Giomi’s Ace Hardware, Yerington, Nv., 45th.

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April 2017

Building-Products.com

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PRIVACY WINDOWS, such as Hy-Lite’s Baroque (left) and Geometric Octagon (right), bring much-needed light to typically darker rooms.

Dealers Open Up to Privacy Windows Dealers are finding an opening in selling privacy windows to homeowners looking to add light to windowless spaces, such as laundry rooms, nurseries, and master bedroom walk-in closets. “Too many smaller rooms in the home are constructed with no ventilation or light coming in,” says Roger Murphy, president of block/window manufacturer Hy-Lite, Pensacola, Fl. “It’s really so easy to add light into a room. There doesn’t need to be much wall space to accommodate a transom acrylic block window placed above laundry machines or an oval decorative glass window in a hallway.” Murphy points out that privacy window units are easy to maintain while bringing natural sunlight into the home. “From basement hopper windows made of acrylic block to

a Mission-style transom window in a shower, these units fill our instinctive desire to add light to dark places and connect us with the outdoors,” he says. “The beauty of privacy windows is that they do indeed protect the privacy of the person inside the home. The obscure nature of these windows bring diffused light into the house while keeping prying eyes out.” Some of their most popular styles of smaller privacy windows include the Geometric style (an octagon-shaped window) and the oval-shaped Floral and Radiance windows. “These small windows, when installed in small rooms, can make a big impact,” says Murphy. “Their stylish designs accent the rooms plus allow natural light to infiltrate a guest bathroom, home office or laundry room.”

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April 2017

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THINKING Ahead By Devin Stuart, Roseburg

Millennials in the workplace Perceptions and realities A

INDUSTRY events and NAWLA regional meetings, I’m one of the youngest people in the room and one of the very few young women. On the trade-show floor, I’ve had attendees approach to ask, “Do you really work for Roseburg?” and “Does your father work in the industry?” These questions aren’t mean-spirited; rather, they stem from genuine curiosity and express a small amount of surprise and excitement to find me, a Millennial woman, doing a job that some may call decidedly un-Millennial. You may have read articles on social media sites or seen the stereotypes in television and film. The archetypal Millennial is lazy, entitled, and intent on breaking trail and doing things their own way. They want extra compensation for entrylevel work; they want to work from home; and, of course, they want their participation trophies. They befuddle bosses, confound their older coworkers, and complicate hiring managers’ jobs. Name the stereotype, and someone has voiced it—not just about Millennials, but also about those who came before them. Each generT

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ation finds a variation of these flaws within the young people of the time; the only difference now is the use of the Internet to propagate these perceptions. Subsequently, young people sometimes enter workplaces that have unrealistic or unfair expectations of them. Putting employees in a box, regardless of their age, only limits their potential to help the company grow and innovate.

April 2017

As an aging industry, wood products stands to reap considerable benefits by cultivating the energy and ingenuity of its youngest members. And with Millennials expected to comprise three-quarters of the overall workforce by 2025, it’s a wheel that’s already been set in motion.

Misconceptions A common perception of Millennials is that they lack ambi-

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A Special Series from North American Wholesale Lumber Association

tion and they don’t want to settle down and buy a house. This could be chalked up to a lack of personal drive, or it could be wariness due to years of poor economic conditions. However, doesn’t every generation struggle to balance opportunity with safety, and growth with stability? Within the workplace, most people across generations have similar goals and aspirations, with the differences lying in how those objectives are realized. For example, the belief that Millennials are tethered to their phones may ring true, but it’s this same fluency in technology that allows us to keep pace with the innovation necessary to do our jobs. Technology is rapidly evolving, and savvy workers of any generation will be well-suited to adapt to changes in technology and their environment at large. Like every generation entering the workforce, we bring a new set of eyes to old problems. Combining the fresh perspective of rookie workers with the practical experience and knowledge of tenured employees, an intergenerational workplace can both perfect outdated processes and pass on best practices to the next generation. In order to be part of the solution, however, Millennials must do their part to step up as well. It can be difficult to feel like an equal when you work with people your parent’s age. Likewise, it may be challenging for colleagues to take you seriously when you remind them of their child. To establish themselves and gain credibility with coworkers, young people first have to earn that credibility. Commitment and follow-through should be practiced by every employee, but Millennials in particular must learn to embody dependability if they want respect. Coming prepared to work each day and doing what you say you’re going to do is the most important step in building trust. If you do your job well, you’ll make your colleagues’ jobs easier and make yourself invaluable.

jectory with the company and providing resources to help them succeed shows young people that their position won’t just be another job—it can blossom into a fruitful career. Companies can invest in the long-term success of Millennial employees by encouraging their personal and professional growth. Attending industry events and NAWLA meetings is a fantastic way to help Millennials feel more invested in their company and the wood products industry as a whole. Veteran employees can introduce newer coworkers to peers and friends within the industry at these events, forging relationships that help support a long and rewarding career.

Problem Solving

– Devin Stuart is marketing product manager for Roseburg Forest Products, Springfield, Or. (www.roseburg.com), and a member of NAWLA’s Marketing Committee.

However, even uniquely talented Millennials can present a level of risk to some companies. It’s no secret that we’re known as the job-hopping generation. According to a 2016 Gallup poll, 60% of employed Millennials are open to new job opportunities, compared with 45% of non-Millennials. For many businesses, this indicates that a significant portion of their young workforce doesn’t envision a future with them. This doesn’t have to be the case. Most Millennials still crave job security and financial stability, so an uncertain future or lack of upward mobility in their current position may drive them to seek greener pastures elsewhere. From day one at Roseburg, my path forward was clear, and having a vision of the opportunities ahead gave me goals to work toward. Outlining a new employee’s potential tra-

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Coming Together Many generational stereotypes stem from expectations that one generation should act exactly the same as its predecessors despite being influenced by vastly different environments. However, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers were dealt different sets of cards—none of us will play the same hand at the same time. Still, we’re drawing from the same deck, and we share more than we think we do. The idea that everyone in a generation acts the same as their peers is not the most useful way to conceptualize the workforce. There are some blanket differences between generations, but I find these distinctions pale in comparison to the stark similarities they share. Maybe Millennials don’t really want to pay for cable or have a landline, but on the macro scale, our desires match those of Gen Xers and the Baby Boomers. We want the opportunity for growth, job security, and a reasonable work-life balance. Regardless of generation, people want to work under great management in careers that challenge and reward them. We want to see our companies and our industry grow and flourish, and we want to be part of the solution.

About NAWLA North American Wholesale Lumber Association is the association that delivers unparalleled access to relationships and resources that improve business strategy and performance through sales growth, cost savings, and operational efficiencies for wholesalers and manufacturers of forest products and other building materials that conduct business in North America. Learn more about how NAWLA can help your business at www.nawla.org.

April 2017

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Specifying

FRTW

Protecting wood from fire By Rodney Hardison, Lonza

Today, wood continues to be widely used in all types of building applications and is a valuable, renewable resource. Thanks to advances in technology, there are a variety of treatments available that render it less vulnerable to decay, insects and fire. As a building material, wood has a high ratio of strength to weight and a remarkable record for durability and performance as a structural material. It is a natural insulator, stores carbon, and consumes less energy to produce

than other building materials. Fire has always been a threat to wood, but fire retardants have a proven track record of protecting wood from flame spread or preventing wood from supporting its own combustion. Designers have long sought protection for the building, its contents and most importantly, for the building occupants. In the early 1900s, New York was the first city to adopt the use of fire retardant treated wood (FRTW) as an alternative to non-combustible

construction. Since the early development, many different types of fire retardant products have been innovated to protect wood, including products used in pressure-treatment facilities that push the chemical into the wood cell as well as recent advancements of surface applied treatments. While these types of fire retardant products exhibit some form of reduced combustibility, the acceptance criteria, required by the building code, is not the same for pressure impregnated FRTW and surface applied coatings. Pressure impregnated FRTW products are commonly used in many different structures including schools, multi-family homes, hotels, airports, shopping centers, sports stadiums, and convention centers. One example, Lonzaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dricon FRTW, is applied using a pressure treatment process. The Dricon preservative, along with other FRT wood products, must meet the requirements for demonstrating compliance with the building code, which can be found in an ICC Evaluation service document (AC66, Acceptance Criteria for Fire Retardant Treated Wood).

Testing

PLYWOOD AND lumber treated with proven fire retardants have a track record of protecting structures from flame spread. (All photos courtesy Lonza Wood Protection)

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Some of the most common questions about FRT Wood surround flame spread characteristics, smoke development indices, design values and how to use these products in a rated assembly. The test used to determine flame spread and smoke development is the ASTM E 84, Standard Test Method Building-Products.com

for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (“ASTM E 84”). ASTM E 84, also known as the Tunnel Test, compares surface burning characteristics of tested materials to those of asbestos cement board and untreated red oak lumber. A rating of 0 is assigned to asbestos cement board and a rating of 100 is assigned to untreated red oak flooring. Flame spread ratings of various species of untreated lumber range from 60 to 230. A flame spread index of 25 meets Class A requirements. During this test, smoke emissions are also measured and ratings are assigned to ensure that smoke development is equal to or less than 450. Many fire retardant products have a smoke development index equal to or less than 25. This is important since many believe smoke to be the number one killer in a fire event. In the tunnel test, wood is placed over a burner shooting a 4.5-foot flame along the underside of the wood. Flame spread and smoke development ratings are established during the first 10 minutes. However, the 10-minute test must be extended to 30 minutes and the flame spread not progress more than 10.5 ft. beyond the burners to meet the requirements of AC 66. Published in 2011, ASTM E 2768, Standard Test Method for Extended Duration Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials (30-minute Tunnel Test) (“ASTM E 2768) was developed as a separate protocol. The purpose of this fire-test-response standard is to evaluate the ability of a product to limit the surface spread of flame when evaluated for 30 minutes. This firetest-response standard uses the apparatus and procedure of Test Method ASTM E 84 with the total test period extended to 30 minutes. ASTM E 2768 was originally intended to be a stand-alone 30 minute test for FRTW and essentially replace ASTM E 84 extended. However, it was revised to include other materials and was never adopted into the IBC/IRC.

These new construction assemblies provide greater savings than ever before when FRTW construction is substituted for hourly rated steel or concrete construction. Some model codes and local building officials will accept the Component Additive Method (“CAM”) for calculating fire resistance in lieu of actual assembly testing. The CAM concept entails adding the resistance rating of individual components to qualify the resistance rating of the assembly. The lumber and plywood used in rated assemblies or CAM listings are usually not identified as being untreated or FRTW, but the model codes generally do require that any wood used in noncombustible types of construction be treated with a fire retardant. For more information on CAM, view the brochure, “Component Additive Method (CAM) for Calculating and Demonstrating Assembly Fire Endurance,” Publication T20 at www.awc.org/Publications/dca/dca4/DCA4.pd. Fire retardants offer many advantages over other methods of protection from flame spread and smoke development. Because of the tested performance of certain products, specifiers and architects can design with confidence and flexibility. Building owners and designers alike can have the confidence and peace of mind that comes with using the right FRT wood. – Rodney Hardison is senior manager, portfolio management for Lonza Wood Protection (www.wolmanizedwood.com).

Specifying & Labeling FRTW Not all products have the same design values and attributes. Specifiers should always review a product Evaluation Service Report (ESR) and make sure the ink stamp on the FRT Wood has all of the required information. Therefore, design professionals should be aware that product substitution carries with it significant risks. In accordance with AC 66 each piece of FRT Wood is required to be marked with an ink stamp bearing the ESR number, classification mark of a qualified testing laboratory, categorizing its surface burning (flame spread and smoke developed) characteristics. The mark further identifies the name and location of the treating plant and shows that the material complies with AWPA standards, has been dried after treatment, and qualifies as an Interior Type A, low hygroscopic product. A sample ink stamp is shown below.

Fire Ratings Fire ratings in hours are typically assigned to doors, walls, or deck assemblies, following testing in accordance with ASTM E 119 and E 136. References such as the Underwriters Laboratories “Fire Resistance Directory” specifically point out that FRTW may be substituted for untreated wood in any rated assembly. FRTW can be used in place of untreated wood in many of these designs and will enable the use of these assemblies in many building construction types that do not permit untreated wood. Building-Products.com

FIRE RETARDANTS offer distinct advantages over other methods of protection from flame spread and smoke development. April 2017

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

WWPI celebrates seven decades in business Lasting as long as the products it represents, Western Wood Preservers Institute will celebrate its 70th year in 2017. The Vancouver, Wa.-based organization represents preserved wood treaters, preservative makers and supporting industries in 16 western states and Canadian provinces. The organization was formed in 1947 as the Western Wood Preserving Operators Association (WWPOA). Representatives from 12 companies operating 19 treating plants in the region met at the Multnomah Hotel in downtown Portland, Or., pledging some $22,000 to conduct activities on behalf of the industry. In February, WWPI “returned home” for its 2017 winter meeting by gathering at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Portland—formerly known as the Multnomah Hotel. “We want to honor those pioneers in our industry who put aside competitive differences to come together to meet common interests,” said Jerry Farley, president of WWPI for 2017. “I think they would be pleased with what WWPI has become.” Farley works for J.H. Baxter, the only company out of the original 12 founding companies still operating today. William Bond was the first employee, hired in 1948 as staff and field engineer for WWPOA, and served for 20 years. His grandson David Bond and granddaughter Jayne Bond continue in the business as part of WWPI membership, operating Permapost Products Co. in Hillsboro, Or. Through the 1950s and ’60s, the association provided services on mostly industrial products, including utility poles, pilings, posts and timbers. In 1964, following reorganization at national treating groups, members decided to change the name to WWPI, with a focus on products treated in the West. A year later, membership was expanded beyond treaters to preservative makers and others affiliated with the treating business.

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April 2017

In the mid-1970s, with the advent of Outdoor Woodbranded lumber products, preserved wood moved into the do-it-yourself market with lumber for decks, benches, planter boxes and other outdoor applications. WWPI programs broadened to support these new products, while maintaining the important work in commercial/industrial markets. Over the next 40 years, WWPI services evolved to meet the changing needs of Western treaters, from regulatory and political advocacy to standards/codes, research and product education. New preservatives and products such as fire retardants have also become a focus for WWPI. Meanwhile, it has shifted from creating publications and exhibiting at trade shows to development of online content and exploring the power of social media. This has led to unprecedented growth in membership and industry representation. Today, WWPI’s treater membership features 24 companies, many with multiple treating operations. Together, these companies produce as much as 95% of the treated wood made in the region. The institute also boasts 12 associate member and 27 supporting member companies, featuring a diverse array of businesses from preservative makers to environmental consultants. Executive director Dallin Brooks, who leads the fourperson staff, said while WWPI has a rich history of service, the future holds even more promise. “There are still many misperceptions about our industry, but we represent a great product that is sustainable, safe and long lasting,” said Brooks. “We will see more opportunities for preserved wood in the future, as new designs for wood construction emerge in the West.” WWPI will commemorate its 70th anniversary throughout 2017, culminating in a membership celebration at the WWPI annual meeting this fall in Rancho Mirage, Ca. Building-Products.com

TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Big picture: Guide offers preserved wood overview The versatility and benefits of preserved wood products are showcased in a new, full-color publication available from Western Wood Preservers Institute. The eight-page guide, titled

Preserved Wood: Wood That Lasts offers an overview of the multitude of uses for preservative treated wood for residential, commercial and industrial uses. Readers can learn basic information on why western wood products are treated, the preservatives used today, standards, quality assurance, and a brief overview of WWPIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Management Practices for products used in or near water.

Full-color photographs show how western preserved wood is used today, from timber bridges, docks and retaining walls to outdoor decks, arbors and gazebos. A PDF version of the publication is available online in the Technical Library at www.preservedwood.org. Printed copies are available in limited quantities at no charge and can be ordered by contacting Butch Bernhardt at WWPI, butch@preservedwood.org.

COLORFUL NEW publication from WWPI shows off the beauty and spells out the basics of pressure treated wood.

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April 2017

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Preserved wood earns stripes on Marine course The U.S. Marine Corps’ search for a few good men also recently led it to seek preserved wood products that could serve in rigorous duty. Ten years ago, the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Or., built an obstacle course using untreated round poles, which were coated with an exterior finish. But after a few short years, the wet, rainy winters took its toll on the wood and it began to deteriorate and show

signs of decay. A professor in OSU’s Wood Science & Engineering Department was called to assess the wood’s condition. While testing the soundness of the wood, the professor’s hammer went through a pole section with a single swing. It was clear the course was unsafe and needed replacement. With College of Forestry assistance, Marine Captain Jeff Price, who serves as the operations officer for the OSU NROTC program, reached out to the treating

THUNDERBOLT WOOD TREATING “WE TREAT WOOD RIGHT”… Quality Wood Treating Services Since 1977 3400 Patterson Rd., Riverbank, CA 95367 • Fax: 209-869-4585

Miguel Gutierrez: (209) 747-7773 • miguel@thunderboltwt.com Byron Beck: (209) 765-9023 • byron@thunderboltwt.com

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April 2017

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At Royal Pacific youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll pay no more, but get extra. We guarantee it.

Hi-borÂŽ brand treated wood is a borate treated wood product designed for interior house framing in Hawaii. Hi-bor treated wood resists attack by Formosan and subterranean termites and numerous household insects and pests, as well as fungal decay. Hi-bor borate treated wood is also backed by a 20 year limited warranty*.

THANKS TO industry volunteers, the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in Corvallis, Or., has a safer, sturdier new obstacle course constructed of treated wood poles.

industry. And the industry stepped up to volunteer. McFarland Cascade, a Stella-Jones company, donated the wood poles. Lonza Wood Protection provided the ACZA (Chemonite) and borate preservatives, while J.H Baxter & Co. did the wood treating. Leavittâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Freight Service donated the transportation of the wood for treating and to the course site. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The support we received for this project from the industry and local community was phenomenal,â&#x20AC;? said Captain Price. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The rebuild wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have been possible without OSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial support and coordination, and all of the supplies and services donated by the timber and wood treating industries.â&#x20AC;? The course had to be constructed to USMC specifications for obstacle courses. To ensure long service life for the wood, holes and cuts for constructing the various obstacles were done prior to treating. After the treated wood was delivered to the site, a construction crew from Pacific Excavation removed the old wood and built the new course within two weeks. The Lt. Col. Nelson Olf Obstacle Course was dedicated in July 2016 and is now used regularly during NROTC training. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ability to train on the rebuilt course is an asset to our future Marine officers. This is the same course layout they will see when they go through evaluations at Quantico as part of their entry-level training,â&#x20AC;? said Captain Price. Unlike the wood utilized in the previous course, the preserved wood will be able to answer the call in service for NROTC students for decades to come. Building-Products.com

FireProÂŽ brand fire retardant treated wood is treated with a patented formulation that contains no phosphates and has been shown to exhibit exceptional fire performance properties without compromising other critical engineering properties such as strength, durability, corrosivity, and hygroscopicity. FirePro treated wood is also backed by a 50 year limited warranty*.

Advance GuardÂŽ borate pressure treated lumber is recommended for sill plate, furring strips, joists, studs, roof trusses, blocking, rafters, beams, and other framing applications. Advance Guard is also recommended for fascia, trim, wall sheathing, roof sheathing, and sub-floors. Advance Guard borate pressure treated lumber is also backed by a lifetime limited warranty*.

Providing Customer Satisfaction in All We Do

1 0 #PY t .D.JOOWJMMF 03 t '"9 540 800%

%JLF 3PBE t 3BJOJFS 03 t 'BY * See product warranty for details. Hi-borÂŽ, FireProÂŽ and Advance GuardÂŽ treated wood products are produced by independently owned and operated wood treating facilities. Hi-borÂŽ, FireProÂŽ and Advance GuardÂŽ are registered trademarks of Koppers, Inc. ÂŠ10/2014

April 2017

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Online model advises use of treated wood near water A new, user-friendly online tool will help those selling and using preserved wood in or around water and sensitive environments. Work was completed this winter on an online Preserved Wood Environmental Assessment Modeling Tool, hosted by Oregon State University on a website at wwpi.info/enviromodel. There is a patchwork of local, state and federal regulations that can affect the use of preserved wood near or in water, from industrial marine pilings to recreational docks on lakes and rivers. The online model allows users to assess one of 11 preservatives based on the conditions where it will be used, including fresh or salt water.

NEW ONLINE model allows users to assess preservatives based on where they will be used.

* ROUGH TIMBERS * UTILITY POLES * PRESSURE TREATED LUMBER FIRE RETARDANT TREATED * LUMBER AND PLYWOOD

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April 2017

As the information is entered on the wood exposed to water and the conditions of the water, sediment and rainfall, the model determines whether it has a high, medium or no impact on water quality. Data can be entered in either Imperial or metric measurements. The impact statements generated by the model correspond with the determinations defined by the federal NOAA Fisheries agency. A full report showing detailed data on the assessment can be created to gain approval from local regulators. Users can also register and save assessments on specific projects for later use. With the online model completed, Western Wood Preservers Institute and OSU will conduct workshops for regulators to explain how the model works and detail the lack of risks in using treated wood in and near water. Building-Products.com

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Treaters mount new effort on fire retardant treated wood Recognizing the growing demand for fire retardanttreated wood, treating companies with Western Wood Preservers Institute have agreed to support a new education and promotion program for these wood products. Sales of fire retardant-infused (FR) wood have increased strongly in recent years, fueled by rising multifamily housing, multistory wood structures and low-rise hotel/motel construction. FR lumber and plywood are often

ROBUST MULTIFAMILY construction has been a boon to manufacturers and sellers of fire retardant treated wood. (FirePro photo by Koppers Performance Chemicals)

used in code-approved applications such as outer and common walls in wood construction. It’s also used in wood roof and rafter systems, which can eliminate the need for sprinkler systems in some construction. Multifamily has been a bright spot in housing construction since the depths of the Great Recession in 2008-’09. Multiple-unit housing starts have nearly tripled over the past seven years. In 2016, multifamily starts comprised 36% of all housing starts vs. 20% in 2009. The new program will educate architects, specifiers and others on the many benefits of wood pressure treated with fire retardants. The retardants infused into the wood are designed to slow the spread of fire and reduce smoke, allowing sufficient time for occupants to escape the structure. The fire retardants used by western treaters that will be highlighted in the program include D-Blaze, Dricon and FirePro for interior uses and Exterior Fire-X for exterior applications. A new website will be launched in early summer and other publications and materials supporting the specification and use of FR wood will be developed. The website and materials will supplement the information available from preservative companies for their respective fire retardants. WWPI also will continue to advocate the use of pressure treated FRTW before regulators and building code officials.

TREATERS

WITH INTEGRITY, TAKING CARE OF TOMORROW’S NEEDS TODAY

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909-350-1214 15500 Valencia Ave. (Box 1070), Fontana, CA 92335 Fax 909-350-9623 • email – fwl-fwp@pacbell.net

www.fontanawholesalelumber.com

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April 2017

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TREATED WOOD

WWPI SPECIAL REPORT

Easily update old treated wood specifications While the Use Category system for preserved wood has been in place for more than a decade, wholesalers and retailers often receive specifications that list the commodity or C Standards. WWPI has an easy-to-use reference guide to convert those old specifications to the current treating standards. The two-page PreserveTech: Converting to AWPA Use Categories from C Standards helps distributors update specifications to the proper preserved wood product under todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standards. The AWPA Use Categories set the level of preservative protection in the wood for the service conditions where it will be used. The previous C Standards, by comparison, were listed by the wood commodity, from sawn lumber to round poles and plywood. Using the guide, distributors can locate the C Standard that may be shown in a specification, find the condition where it is intended to be used, and get the appropriate Use Category for the product in question. A PDF version of the specification conversion publication is available at no charge online in the Technical Library at www.preservedwood.org. DOWNLOAD a free new spec guide for easily converting the prior commodity treating standards to current rules.

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April 2017

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Peterman Lumber Adds Room for Expansion Peterman Lumber, Fontana, Ca., has purchased an additional 2.5 acres of undeveloped property adjacent to the 11 acres that it is currently operating on. “The acquisition of the new property will allow us the opportunity to build additional lumber sheds and enclosed buildings for our weathersensitive panel products,” said CEO Pete Peterman. “Going forward, it will not only allow us to better service our valued customers, but our other two locations in Las Vegas, Nv., and Phoenix, Az., as well.” The projects on the new property are tentatively slated to start in 2018, and should accommodate another 10 years of growth, Peterman said. Founded in 1979, Peterman Lumber is a wholesale distributor of hardwood lumber, panel products, and related wood products. It maintains a $12-million inventory among its three locations.

BMD Buys Custom Garage Door Manufacturer Home Factories Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Building Material Distributors Inc., Galt, Ca., has acquired garage door manufacturer Carriage House Door Co., Sacramento, Ca. Founded in 1995, Carriage House Door manufactures and distributes premium, custom wood and steel garage doors and entrance gates from

its facilities in Sacramento and Old Fort, N.C. BMD president/CEO Jeffrey Gore said, “With operations on both coasts, this acquisition provides for exciting future possibilities and synergies as our strength in marketing, sales and operations combined with their ability to design and build premium products will result in increased sales and profits for both companies.” “Our relationship with BMD will allow us to provide better sales and marketing support for our customers,” added Shawn Guthrie, general manager-East for Carriage House Door. BMD operates distribution centers in Galt, Perris and Eureka, Ca.; Colorado Springs, Co.; Centralia, Wa.; Memphis, Tn.; Dunn, N.C.; and Santa Fe, N.M.; and Marvin Design Gallery showrooms in Santa Fe and Montrose, Co.

Georgia-Pacific Wood Products, Atlanta, Ga., has signed a patent license agreement with Huber Engineered Woods, Charlotte, N.C., to settle litigation related to GP’s ForceField System products. Huber, the maker of ZIP Systembranded products, has a portfolio of patents and related pending applications for a structural roof and wall system incorporating water resistant and air barrier technologies that streamline the weatherization process. These technologies provide an advantaged means to weatherize a home.

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APP Watch

G-P Settles Huber Lawsuit

Thanks to our customers and vendors as we begin our 32nd year

The confidential settlement terms grant to GP a license to offer its ForceField System products with the payment of an undisclosed upfront amount and ongoing royalties. “Our license with Huber provides GP with the flexibility to meet our customers’ needs for products that install more quickly than housewrap,” said Clarence Young, G-P’s vice president of OSB. “We are pleased to bring closure to the lawsuit with Huber so that we can continue to serve our customers with innovative products that solve real challenges in the building community.”

April 2017

App: Shingle Styles Produced by: TAMKO Price: Free Platforms: iOS and Android tablets TAMKO Building Products has launched version 3.0 of its Shingle Styles app. The visualizer—which enables homeowners and contractors to experience Tamko shingles—has been made portable and accessible on popular platforms. Improvements in the visualizer make it easier to explore color and style. In addition, the visualizer now functions without a Wi-Fi connection. When connected to a network or Wi-Fi, additional features are available such as product details and other links to the company’s newly refreshed website. The content, information and images on the app focus on color and style. – Download from iTunes App Store or GooglePlay

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Nu Forest Settling into Larger Site After being based for 35 years in Healdsburg, Ca., Nu Forest Products has begun moving to a larger, 26-acre site in Cloverdale, Ca., allowing the wholesaler/remanufacturer to consolidate multiple operations on one site. The new location will provide a more efficient and effective production line, more storage, and new and larger office spaces, while allowing the company to grow from 70 employees to more than 80. Phone service switched from the old to the new yard on March 20. Its eight acres in Healdsburg were purchased by a resort operator, who would like to redevelop the property into a hotel and high-density housing enclave. In honor of the land’s milling past, the firm would like to call the development the Mill District, and use one of its tall sawdust extractors as a design element.

Oldcastle Buying MoistureShield MoistureShield and ChoiceDek composite decking producer AERT, Springdale, Ar., has agreed to be acquired by Oldcastle Architectural, Atlanta, Ga., for $117 million. Founded in 1988, AERT operates a manufacturing plant at its Springdale headquarters and recycling facilities in Lowell, Ar., and Watts, Ok. Part of Oldcastle, considered the largest building material producer in North America, Oldcastle Architectural has 206 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Brands include Belgard Hardscapes, Sakrete packaged concrete, Bonsal American cement mixes, Glen-Gery clay bricks, Quik-Brik veneers, Westile concrete roof tiles, Trenwyth masonry units, Concrete Designs Inc. architectural precast products, and Oldcastle lawn and garden products. MoistureShield and ChoiceDek will mark its entry into decking. The deal is anticipated to close during the second quarter of 2017.

Global Softwood Exports Rising Global softwood lumber trade increased 12% year-overyear to reach a new record-high of 121 million cu. ft. in 2016, according to Wood Resources International. Since the global financial recession in 2009, there has been a steady climb in international trade of lumber, with shipments the past seven years increasing as much as 66%. While it’s no surprise that China is a major driver for the dramatic rise in lumber shipments worldwide the past seven years, it is interesting to note that the U.S. has actually increased softwood lumber imports more than China. Lumber exports from British Columbia reached their highest levels since 2006 in 2016. Lumber shipments from the province to the U.S. were up 25%, while exports to Asia fell about 8%. Lumber prices in the Nordic countries were at historically low levels during most of 2015 and 2016. During the first 10 months of 2016, Finland increased lumber exports by 10%, on pace for a record year. It is interesting to note that the three biggest export markets for Finnish sawmills are all outside Europe: Egypt, Japan and China. China imported record high volumes of softwood lumber in 2016, with import volumes in the fourth quarter up about 20% compared to the year earlier. Japanese softwood lumber imports in 2016 were the highest they have been in three years as total wood demand in the country picked up 3.6% from 2015. There has been a slow but steady shift in the sourcing of lumber away from

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April 2017

North America to Europe and Eastern Russia the past few years. From 2015 to 2016, the North American market share fell from 39% to 35%, while the market share of lumber from Russia and the Nordic countries increased from 39% to 42% year-over-year. Exports of Russian lumber jumped 10% in 2016, contributing to a 26% increase over the last three years. More than half the wood was shipped to China.

Information Bank Launched for Mass Timber Construction reThink Wood has launched the reThink Wood Research Library to serve as the go-to industry resource for information on the latest advancements in wood’s performance and advantages in the built environment. Today, mass timber technologies, including CLT, glulam and nail laminated timber, are gaining traction in the U.S. for mid-rise and tall wood structures. The new research library will be frequently updated with the latest research on wood building products and systems worldwide. As documented in the repository, a growing body of research, real-life events, and building code development continue to prove that mass timber structures can meet or exceed the most demanding design requirements. Wood is inherently ductile and substantially lighter than steel and concrete, making wood structures better equipped to withstand high wind and seismic forces, enabling its use in a wide range of building types. “The future of mass timber in the U.S. is really starting to heat up,” said Lucas Epp, head of engineering at StructureCraft. “In the next few years, there will be considerably more mass timber buildings built than we have today. The industry is starting to see that this type of construction is fast, cost effective, and sustainable.”

AWPA OK’s Micronized Wood In the coming weeks, wood treated with micronized preservatives will officially be AWPA standardized, with the publication of the next American Wood Protection Association Book of Standards. Previously, there were AWPA standards for the chemicals, but not for wood products treated with those chemicals. Instead, preservative manufacturers Lonza and Koppers maintained ICC-ES reports to establish and certify appropriate retention levels. Now, wood treaters using either of the two systems of micronized copper azole (MCA and MCA-C) will be able to legally claim conformance of their treated wood to AWPA Standard U1. Nonetheless, at least for now, both Lonza and Koppers will continue to reference ICC-ES. Producers can not switch to AWPA end tags until the changes to AWPA U1 are effective and until they conform to the updated retentions, standards and procedures. Building-Products.com

Finally, a composite decking that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t look like plastic! Naturale composite decking by NewTechWood. Same UltraShield technology you trust, with the natural look you want, at a very reasonable price.

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Ace Climbs to 5,000 Stores Worldwide

WHERE E THE LUMBER R INDUSTR RY GROWS ACCESS OVER 20,00 00 LUMBER COMPANIE A S GET CREDIT RAT TINGS & REPORT TS USE DYNAMIC SEARCH TOOLS

Ace Hardware Corp. has surpassed the 5,000 mark in its global store count, the co-op announced during its recent spring convention in Atlanta, Ga. “At a time when a majority of brick and mortar retailers are facing declining store counts, decreased customer transactions, stalling sales and massive layoffs, I’m delighted to share that Ace’s global store count has surpassed 5,000 locations,” said John Venhuizen, Ace president and CEO. Ace Hardware stores can be found around the world, from Indonesia to Nicaragua and Anchorage, Ak., to Miami, Fl. Stores can be found in more than 60 countries and in all 50 U.S. states. The 5,000th store to join the Ace organization is owned by Tim and Kerri Jacobs. The Jacobs family has acquired the 140-year-old WeakleyWatson hardware store in Brownwood, Tx., and will be affiliated with Ace going forward. Internationally, Ace retailers are opening stores throughout Asia, Latin America and the Middle east, along with new markets being explored from all corners of the globe. News of milestone comes on the heels of a significant period of growth for the 93-year-old retailer. It just completed its fourth consecutive year of increased customer transactions, five years in a row of net new store growth, and seven years in a row of increased same-store sales. In 2016 alone, Ace opened 207 new stores around the world, generating an estimated 4,000 new retail jobs, adding to the existing 100,000 redvested associates that deliver helpful service daily in Ace stores. Ace also estimates that in 2016, its familyowned businesses paid more than $3

billion in wages and generated more than $750 million in operating income. New store growth at Ace is generated through three main vehicles; first, from existing Ace stores that decide to branch out and open additional stores; second, from competitor hardware stores that decide to affiliate with Ace; and third, from new investors, individuals entering the industry for the first time. Looking ahead, Ace plans to continue its growth momentum by opening more than 150 new stores in the U.S. in 2017. Continuing its focus on 20/20 Vision, the company’s longterm retail growth strategy, Ace will continue to equip its retail store owners with proven strategies designed to strengthen their existing business and, in many cases, open new stores. This summer, Ace retail stores will celebrate the brand’s 5,000th store milestone with an in-store promotion for customers. A social media campaign to showcase the unique and individual stories of Ace stores is also planned.

ECi Adds Builder Software ECi Software Solutions, Fort Worth, Tx., has acquired Mark Systems, Mount Holly, N.J., maker of the Integrated Homebuilder Management System, Internet TookKit, and LotVue. Scott Duman, president and CEO of Mark Systems, has been named president of ECi’s Residential Construction Group under its Building & Construction Division. With the addition of Mark Systems, ECi now serves more than 3,200 customers in the lumber, building and construction, and hardware industries.

LUMBER BLUE BOOK Learn more at lumberbluebook.com 630-668-3500

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April 2017

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SELLING with Kahle By Dave Kahle

Build a professional rep with your customers I

JUST FIRED my accountants. They really hadn’t done anything wrong. They were responsive when I called. They appeared to keep up with the latest information in their profession. Their work was neat, accurate and timely. Their prices were fair. They conducted themselves professionally. But, I fired them anyway. Here’s why. While they consistently reacted professionally, they never, ever pro-acted. They never came to me with an idea, never offered a suggestion that I didn’t first initiate. Never suggested a change for my benefit. I wanted someone to think about me, to hold my best interests up before their regular scrutiny, to extend themselves in order to keep me at the forefront. My life insurance agent, on the other hand, makes it a point of contacting me at least twice a year, more likely three or four times. While there always is a bit of self-interest motivating these contacts (he always asks for referrals), I always take his calls. He can be counted on to share ideas with me based on his knowledge of my business and my personal affairs. I don’t know if he has ever tried to sell me something I didn’t need (like more life insurance), but he has consistently demonstrated that he’s thinking of me by making recommendations and exposing me to ideas that I would not have had otherwise. He recently, right out of the blue, approached me with an idea for a different kind of business retirement plan. Only one of 100 people qualifies for this kind of plan. But, he knew me well enough to know that my business did, and to make it a point to educate me about it. Hmmm. Keeping my interests at the forefront… knowing me and my business well enough to be able to regularly scan the horizon and find things that would fit me… proactively presenting solutions and ideas that would benefit me and my business. Could there be a lesson in here somewhere? Of course. People like to know that you are thinking of them. (Observe the greeting card industry, which is built on that thought.) They like to know that you are considering their interests. They want you to understand their businesses well enough that you can scan the horizon, and spot

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April 2017

things that may help them. When they consistently see that in the people from whom they buy, they quickly develop loyalty to those people. Why is that important? You know that it is far more difficult to see your customers today than it was just a few years ago. People just don’t have the time to spend with salespeople today. Their jobs are more demanding, their task lists are overwhelming. More and more, they are asking the question, “Why should I see you?” Ultimately, the answer to that question will, to a great degree, determine your success. They will make the decision to spend time with you based on what they think of you, and what they expect to get from the time they invest with you. In other words, they make the decision based on your reputation. In the long run, your reputation will be your greatest asset. While there are lots of other elements to your reputation, you develop that reputation in large measure by your proven and consistent ability to show that you are thinking of them. That doesn’t mean that you show up every month and leave them a catalogue, or that you regularly spew samples of the latest gadget on their desk. It’s not a “throw a lot of mud against the wall and see if anything sticks” approach. The world is full of salespeople who focus on their product instead of the customer. Don’t do that. Rather, spend time coming to know their business goals and objectives and finding products, services and ideas that you believe will help them—whether you sell them or not. Then make a point of showing those to them and explaining exactly how you think your recommendation will help them reach their goals. Do this, sincerely, regularly and with forethought and sensitivity. In return, they’ll come to respect you. They’ll see you as an important and integral part of their business. You’ll develop a reputation as a valuable professional. In the long run, nothing is more valuable. – Dave Kahle is a sales trainer, presenter and author of 12 books, including the best-selling How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime. Reach him at (616) 451-9377 or dave@davekahle.com. Building-Products.com

Tie® Of fer your customers the best solution for installing Simpson Strong--T ® connectors with the Strong-Drive SCN Smooth-Shank and stainless-steel SCNR Rink-Shank Connector nails. These structural nails are available in several sizes and are compa attible with many power nailers. The collated SCN nails also feature an orange tip to help guide connector hole alignment. SCNR

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MOVERS & Shakers Greg Fuller, former longtime CEO of the old All American Home Center, Downey, Ca., has joined Do it Best Corp., as regional sales and business development mgr. for the western U.S. John Heideman, ex-HPM Building Supply, has joined Mendocino Forest Products, as Kapolei, Hi.based general mgr. for the Hawaiian Islands and Guam. Dane Waters is a new commodity buyer for Idaho Pacific Lumber Co., Meridian, Id. James Hand, ex-Universal Forest Products, has joined Boise Cascade Building Materials Distribution, Lathrop, Ca., as national accounts field representative. Marco Benson is a new contractor outside sales specialist with Huttig Building Products, Sacramento, Ca. Scott Knutsen, ex-Washington Cedar & Supply, is new to outside sales at Kingston Lumber Supply, Poulsbo, Wa. David Hosmar has rejoined Parr Lumber, Portland, Or., in sales.

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Hicham Mahassine has been named director of financial operations for Golden State Lumber, Petaluma, Ca. Danny Hennessy is new to national sales from Vancouver, Wa. Scott Reed has joined Dixieline Lumber/Builders FirstSource, Bakersfield, Ca., in truss design and sales. Adam Hill is a new Santa Rosa, Ca.based dealers sales rep for Simpson Strong-Tie, Pleasanton, Ca. Steven Acosta, ex-Loweâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, is new to inside sales at American Building Supply, Rialto, Ca. Mike Garcia, ex-Colorado Specialties, has been named president of Peak Building Supply, Aurora, Co. Peete Kikerpill, ex-R EHAU North America, has joined Crystal Pacific Window & Door, in commercial sales to Southern California, based in Riverside, Ca. Eric Palmer, ex-Builders, is a new Renton, Wa.-based outside sales rep for Wild River Door Products, Grants Pass, Or.

April 2017

Tristan Rivers, ex-Loweâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, has joined the inside sales team at Lakeside Lumber Products, Tualatin, Or. Jim Schumacher, ex-Parr Lumber, has been appointed director of sales for Accents & Interiors, Woodinville, Wa. James Blair, ex-Stanley Black & Decker, has moved to PPG Industries, as Sacramento, Ca.based business development mgr. Greg Quitiquit Jr. has been appointed VP of operations at Evergreen Hardwoods, Mercer Island, Wa. Dianna Poore is new to inside sales at International Wood Products, Tumwater, Wa. Mary Allen, CPA, has joined Big Creek Lumber, Davenport, Ca., as controller. Heather Strong, ex-RedBuilt, is now senior director-western division, design & construction services for WoodWorks. Michell Moore, Sierra Pacific Windows, Red Bluff, Ca., retired after 17 years as purchasing assistant. Mick Curtis, ex-Konecny Brothers Lumber Co., has been named operations mgr. for VMS Logistics Corp., Ogden, Ut.

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Rory Lynch has joined Stimson Lumber Co., Portland, Or., as corporate recruiter. Joe Saad, ex-Allied Building Products, has joined the sales force at Foundation Building Materials, Murrieta, Ca. Dustin Godfrey, ex-CWallA, is now Meridian, Id., territory mgr. for Dominion Building Products. Lisa Hamblet, BMC Stock Holdings, Atlanta, Ga., is adding pro remodeling to her responsibilities and assuming the title of executive VPeBusiness & pro remodeling. John Tisera, ex-HD Supply, has moved to BlueLinx, Atlanta, Ga., as senior VP of sales & marketing. Joe Smith, Johns Manville, Denver, Co., has been promoted to senior vice president & general mgr. of roofing systems. Katie Kiepura, ex-Robert Bosch Tool Corp., is now a merchant with Ace Hardware Corp., Oak Brook, Il. Mike McCrobie has been promoted to chief procurement officer for 84 Lumber Co., Eighty Four, Pa. John Short is new to Huttig Building Products, St. Louis, Mo., as VP of human resources. Shane Burnworth has been promoted to merchandise mgr. for farm & ranch with Do it Best Corp., Fort Wayne, In. Benoit Bazin has been appointed president and CEO of CertainTeed Corp., Malvern, Pa., succeeding John Crowe, who retired at the end of 2016. Josh Poole, Tremco, and Will Lorenz, General Coatings Manufacturing, were elected to the Roof Coatings Manufacturers Association board of directors. Matt Lendzinski, Dow Chemical, received RCMAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nelligan Industry Statesman Award. Ryan Blad, 838 Coatings, won the Emerging Leader Award. Jeff Nobers, former head of PR for 84 Lumber, is now executive director of the Builders Guild of Western Pennsylvania. Thomas Gennarelli, director of logistics & planning, Roseburg Forest Products, Springfield, Or., was elected president of the Pacific Northwest Association of Rail Shippers. Mike Raffone has been amplified to public speaker for Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report co-owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

Building-Products.com

www.superiorwoodtreating.com

April 2017

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TALK Back We welcome your feedback. Send comments to letters@building-products.com.

PARTING WORDS Spot on comments about Kent Marks in the March Merchant Magazine (“Final Words of Advice,” p. 8)! I had to show them to my wife, Margie. She and Kent instantly hit it off—and became like the best of friends when they were together at industry events—inseparable at the cocktail receptions. Special guy, bigger than life. Thanks for the tribute. Dan Semsak, VP, Sales & Marketing Pacific Woodtech Corp. Burlington, Wa. Patrick, thank you so much for writing the piece on Kent Marks. What a shock to all of us and, as you say, we never know what tomorrow brings. Untimely deaths always set us back, but they also cause us to reflect on what’s important and how we live out our daily lives—a final parting gift from Kent. I just ran into him at IBS and he seemed so happy. May he rest in peace. Steve Killgore, Senior VP Roseburg Forest Products Springfield, Or. I just opened the March edition and my eyes teared up. I was a great friend of Kent; we started to work together when he was at BlueLinx and I was at

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Murphy Co. We both shared a common interest in EWP products, but our friendship was much deeper. We were much like college buddies or high school mates. We talked about basketball, he loved the sport as I do, vacations, family and general life issues. Kent was a big personality who loved people, the industry, he especially loved his wife and kids, and was excited to be a new grandpa. I miss him dearly, and I think of our conversations often. Thank you for the tribute to Kent. As I reflect on my career in the wood products industry, I know one thing is for sure—it is about the people. I have made a commitment to myself to make sure I recognize, support and reach out to my friends in this industry and acknowledge their impact on my career and life. As you say, “Don’t wait to share what’s on your mind or heart because you never know what tomorrow will bring.” Thank you and Godspeed, Kent. Jim Enright, President/CEO Pacific Woodtech Corp. Burlington Wa. Thank you for the article on Kent Marks. Kent had a unique way of making me feel a part of his team and I honestly hadn’t known him very long. He was truly a special person with an uncanny appeal. He will be greatly missed. Andrew Cook Dairyman’s Supply Co. Mayfield, Ky.

April 2017

Nice article about Kent Marks. I knew him the last 10 years or so, golfed with him in Idaho, and you are correct in your assessment. What I find interesting about the lumber industry is that there are also subsets of the industry. Some of us (including Kent) are in the engineered lumber subset and everyone truly knows everyone. Nick Fitzgerald, Branch Manager BPI Lumber & Engineered Wood Council Bluffs, Ia. As always, you never disappoint with your opening letter to the members. Sorry for the loss of your friend and colleague to the industry. Anthony Muck DMSi Omaha, Ne.

CEDAR CORRECTION I had to call your attention to the caption under the picture of 4x4 western red cedar on page 11 of your recent March publication stating that the product in the picture is 10x10 timbers. It’s quite obvious that if they were 10x10, the units would be almost 8 ft. wide and 8 ft. tall. At least you know we are reading your magazine! Jim Sherman Hall Forest Products. Puyallup Wa.

Hampton Plays Ball with MLS Hampton Lumber, Portland, Or., signed a multiyear sponsorship deal with Major League Soccer’s Portland Timbers to serve as the team’s Official Wood Products Sponsor. The partnership is effective from the start of the 2017 MLS season and through the 2019 season. This season, Hampton will supply the Victory Log for the Timbers from the family’s forestland and serve as a sponsor for the annual Stand Together Week and the Timbers’ TREES Youth Soccer Camp program. “We’re in the sawmilling business so the Timbers’ culture is a natural fit for us,” noted co-owner David Hampton. “But our values as a company align well, too. We know that people and commitment to community are what makes an organization truly great.”

Building-Products.com

ASSOCIATION Update Western Building Materials Association will host an outside sales workshop April 26 at its Kincaid Learning Center, Olympia, Wa. Led by industry expert Bill Lee, the class is suitable for retail members’ sales personnel and supplier members’ outside sales representatives. Students will leave the workshop equipped to deal with customer objections, especially regarding price. They will also be better prepared to make high quality prospect calls and will understand the importance of new business to both their success as well as their company’s success.

spring meeting April 30-May 3 at Grand Fiesta Americana. The event brings together nearly 300 industry leaders, spouses and guests for board and committee meetings, policy discussions, educational sessions, and social events.

conference, which will take place at KC Marriott Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, Mo. This year’s theme is “Gearing Up Your Transloading Business” and will focus on international markets and Mexico opportunities, logistics’ role and impacts on transloading, and transloading growth through mergers, acquisitions and facility expansion.

Transload Distribution Association’s annual conference is just around the corner on May 2-4. TDA is celebrating 25 years of hosting the

National Wood Flooring Association is looking forward to its annual conference April 11-14 at the Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Az.

West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association is inviting members to register for its Southern California golf tournament April 13 at Black Gold Golf Club, Yorba Linda, Ca., followed by lunch and an awards presentation. North American Wholesale Lumber Association is holding its British Columbia annual meeting April 27 at the Vancouver Club, Vancouver, B.C. Attendees will hear from a panel before enjoying cocktail and social hour. Panelists Jason Fisher, associate deputy minister, Forest Sector at Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations, Province of B.C.; Susan Yurkovich, president and chief executive officer, Council of Forest Industries; and Duncan Davies, president and chief executive officer, Interfor Corp.; will be among the panelists speaking. Southern Califonia Hoo-Hoo Club will honor member Tony Cambpell, who passed away on March 10 (see page 64), at its April 26 speaker meeting at San Dimas Canyon Golf Course, San Dimas, Ca. Golf will precede the meeting. Sacramento Hoo-Hoo Club will tee off at its annual Silver Dollar Golf Tournament May 12 at the Alta Sierra Country Club, Grass Valley, Ca. Tacoma Olympia Hoo-Hoo Club’s next board meeting is set for April 19 in Tacoma, Wa. Composite Panel Association will meet in Los Cabos, Mexico, for its Building-Products.com

April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

NEW Products

Next-Gen Decking

Secured Foundation To make it easier for contractors to secure older homes to their foundations, Simpson Strong-Tie has launched two next-generation foundation plates that provide higher strength than before, giving installers greater spacing flexibility when attaching first-floor framing to the foundation. The plates are specifically designed for locations with limited vertical clearance.

The next generation Kebony Clear is here and offers a complete line of clear-grain decking and cladding products for both residential, public and commercial applications. Made from thermally-modified radiata pine and developed expressly for outdoor installations that require a clear, premium-looking finish, its look works well for sustainable, modern decks, facades and landscape architecture projects.

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Vintage Trim Stands Out Universal Forest Products has a new paneling and trim product if a vintage, rustic look is what your customers are looking for. The UFP-Edge Rustic collection features new lumber that has been distressed, primed and painted to have the authentic look and feel of vintage barn wood. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s available in both 1x6 shiplap interior siding up to 12 ft. long and 1x4 trim boards up to 8 ft. long, with several color options.

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Access trennding industry insight and participate in valuable networkingg opportunities with local custoomers and suppliers inn your area. Attend onne of the upcoming NAW WLA RRegional meetings:

Groovy Decking Royal Building Products has added to its Zuri Premium composite decking line with Zuri Grooved Boards. The boards offer key features to make any deck builderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life easy such as fastener application with pre-threaded screws for fast installation. Zuri Premium Decking offers the classic beauty of exotic wood with minimal maintenance issues.

n ROYALBUILDINGPRODUCTS.COM (855) 769-2585

Building-Products.com

Vancouver: April 27 Birmingham: May 4 San Diego: D June 27

Learn more and register at www.naw wla.org/regionals April 2017

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Darker Hues that Stand Out

Shine On Floor Coating

Hickory is a popular light brown hue with natural wood tone variegation and an attractive color option for Deckorators Vault composite decking. The color stands well on its own and also pairs perfectly darker brown hues. Made with patented Eovations technology, Deckorators Vault is a viable wood-alternative that offers ultimate stability.

Dur-A-Flex, Inc. expanded its Accelera Fast-Track Flooring family with the introduction of Accelera S. The product is a smooth, high-gloss floor system consisting of two coats of a single pigmented material, each coat offering cure times as fast as two hours. The system replaces the customary primer, base coat and topcoat—a three-day process of the past— and allows contractors to complete a full floor system, prep through topcoat, in as little as a single day.

n DECKORATORS.COM

n DUR-A-FLEX.COM (877) 251-5418

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Complete Wood Protection BoraSol MC™ for Surface MOLD & MILDEW … Long Lasting

BoraSol WP® for Wood Boring Insects & Interior Wood Rot … Permanently

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A Comprehensive Lumber Industr y Introduction

Self-Adhering Flashing TAMKO’s TW-105 flashing is comprised of a selfadhering rubberized asphalt sheet membrane with a polymer film on the surface and a removable split release film on the adhesive side. An accessory product used for balcony and breezeway detail, it works in conjunction with TAMKO’s TW-60 self-adhered sheet waterproofing membrane, TWM-1 Mastic and TWP-1 Quick Dry Primer or TWP-2 Water Based Primer. n TAMKO.COM (800) 641-4691

WOOD O BAS SICS Summer and Fall Reggistration Ope p n Prepare Your New Hires for Success Summer

Ceiling Revolution PennBarry has kicked off Zephyr Revolution, a line of precision ceiling, inline and wall-mount exhaust fans that are both quiet and powerful. Featuring direct drive EC motors, precision-tuned centrifugal wheels, and a CFD optimized inlet, the exhaust fans are capable of achieving airflow and pressure performance of units more than twice its size. The fans’ class-leading size, weight and power make them an ideal choice for space-constrained applications.

n PENNBARRY.COM (972) 212-4700

Building-Products.com

Virginia T Teech July 17-20, 2017

Fall Oregon State Universit y September 11-14, 2017

Visit nawla.org / WoodBasics to learn more and register. April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

Hardwood-Look Porch Ceilings

Easy Installation Where It Matters

Versatex Building Products has a solution for the LBM professional who desires and specifies the rich character of hardwood tongue-and-groove ceilings. Canvas Series cellular PVC trim system combines the beauty of black cherry, walnut, or tropical macore with the performance advantages of premium PVC. Engineered for porch ceilings and other situations with minimal UV exposure, the product is easy-toinstall and maintenance free.

DuPont’s Tyvek Protec roofing underlayments are lightweight and durable, making them a good secondary moisture layer and easy to install. Tyvek Protec 120, 160, and 200 are designed with increasing durability and strength. The products are suitable for professional roofing and exterior contractors in new construction or re-roofing projects as a secondary water barrier on steep-sloped roofs under asphalt shingle, tile, metal, cedar or slate.

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Industrial and Treated Lumber Specialists

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New Regional Meeting! Bits of Strength

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To keep up with the pace of the evolving industry, Bosch developed Impact Tough Impact Driver Bits— upgraded with design functionality and toughness to deliver 10 time more life than standard impact bits. The line includes an impact-rated line of screw driving bits, double-ended bits, nut setters, sockets and bit holders, each enhanced to handle next-gen high torque impact drivers.

n BOSCHTOOLS.COM (877) 267-2499

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL MEETING

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Wrap it Up The patent-pending TAB Wrapper Tornado line of orbital wrapping machines from TAB Industries cocoons palletized loads in multiple layers of plastic film to create a fully enclosed, weather-resistant barrier against the elements. This allows valuable products to be stored on their pallets outdoors and in semi-enclosed areas without fear of rust, contact damage or deterioration.

n TABWRAPPER.COM (610) 921-0012

Locking Bit Holders When searching for a way to hold a bit securely in place during fastening applications, turn to Milwaukee’s Shockwave locking bit holders. The tool creates as secure a lock as needed in certain applications and is strong and durable featuring two magnets to maximize magnetic transfer and holding power to the fastener.

n MILWAUKEETOOL.COM (800) 729-3878

Building-Products.com

Networking with industry leaders, cocktails, a powerful, educational presentation and tickets to a baseball game… all for $99!!!!! 3:00 – Registration, cocktails, networking 4:30 – Industry Panel discussion 5:30 – Networking, cocktails 6:30 – San Diego Padres game All registered attendees are invited to join us in special VIP seats in the Toyota Terrace to watch the San Diego Padres take on the Atlanta Braves! REGISTER BY APRIL 30 AND YOUR PADRES TICKET IS INCLUDED IN YOUR REGISTRATION PRICE!

Learn more andd register at www.nawla.orgg/regionals April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

IN Memoriam Nancy Lee Daniels, 80, longtime Oregon plywood sales rep, died March 20 in Grants Pass, Or. She spent 50 years in the plywood industry before retiring from Swanson Group Sales, Glendale, Or., at the end of last year. Brent L. Hall, 76, general manager of ProBuild, Kalispell, Mt., died March 3 in Kalispell. After serving as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, he founded Tri-City Lumber, Kalispell, in 1976 with John Hammett and Cecil Noble, whom Hall and Hammett bought out in 1981. Hall stayed on as general manager when the partners sold out to Anderson Lumber in 1999 and to Stock Building Supply in 2003. When Stock closed the yard in 2009, he convinced ProBuild to reopen it. Anthony R. “Tony” Campbell, 54, Irvine, Ca.-based account manager for Universal Forest Products, Riverside, Ca., died March 8. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he started his career as an account manager with Mendocino Forest Products in 1990, moving to UFPI in 2002. William Anthony Whelan, 95, former president and CEO of Roseburg Forest Products, Springfield, Or., passed away Jan. 23 in Lake Oswego. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1943 with a degree in engineering, then enlisted in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of master sergeant and fighting in Okinawa. After the war, he moved to Klamath Falls, Or., and became owner of Klamath Tool Co. He sold the business, then entered the lumber industry with U.S. Plywood, later serving as president and CEO of Pope & Talbot, Portland, Or.; consultant and VP of manufacturing at Timber Products Co., Springfield; and finally Roseburg Forest Products. After retiring, he joined the Ford Family Foundation as a trustee. He also served with the Western Wood Products Association and National Forest Products Association. Paul Fisher Ehinger, 93, principal for Paul F. Ehinger & Associates, Eugene, Or., passed away Feb. 27. In 1952, after serving in the Korean

The Merchant Magazine

War, he joined Edward Hines Lumber, Westfir, Or., as a forest engineer, working his way up to general manager in 1960 and VP of all of Hines’ western operations in 1965. In 1977, as senior VP, he was in charge of selling off Hines’ facilities in the West. He left Hines and formed his forest products consultant business in 1983. He served on the APA/Douglas Fir Plywood Association board of trustees for 18 years, as president of the board for two years in the early 1970s, and in 2010 was presented its W.E. Difford Medal for contributions to the industry. David Lund Weston, 90, longtime Portland, Or., area lumber and plywood broker, passed away March 9. He worked for Dant & Russell, Oregon Pacific Forest Products, Wickes Forest Products, and Simon, Crabtree and Ryan, before retiring in 1990. Earl Wilfred Peterson, 91, former Montana lumberyard manager, passed away Feb. 13. After serving in the U.S. Army, he joined Grogan-Robinson Lumber, Great Falls, Mt., later managing their yards in Highwood and Geraldine, Mt. In 1967, after 17 years with the company, he left the industry in 1967 to become a farmer. Milton Schultz, 84, longtime West Coast lumberman, passed away Feb. 14, after years of suffering from Parkinson’s disease. After graduating from Oregon State University in 1955, he spent two years in Germany as a lieutenant in the Army Engineer Corps. He then started his 49-year lumber career, spending six years with Brooks Scanlon Lumber Co., Bend, Or., and nearly four years with Weyerhaeuser, Bend, before joining Paul Bunyan Lumber Co., Redding, Ca., as general manager in 1965. When the mill was sold in 1987, he became manager of Burney Forest Power, Burney, Ca., retiring in 2006. Jay C. Schrader, 81, former owner of JAHO Hardware, Del Norte, Co., died Jan. 31 in Mesa, Az., of kidney cancer metastasis. In the early 1960s, he joined Rominger’s Plumbing & Electrical Hardware, Del Norte, Co., purchasing the business in 1968 and renaming it JAHO.

April 2017

Mark John McGuire, 63, founder of Cascade Lumber, Camano Island, Wa., passed away Feb. 22 from a brain aneurysm. After spending his younger years working for the family business, McGuire Lumber, Yakima, Wa., he co-founded Cascade Lumber in 1985, but was forced to sell out a few years later when he was diagnosed with MS and his partner fell ill. Nonetheless, he went on to own and operate his own trucking business. Michael Byron Goff, former coowner of Weatherly’s, Eugene, Or., died Feb. 27. A graduate of Oregon State University, he worked for and later owned Weatherly’s with partner Len Bolton. Don Nelson, 69, former co-owner of Nelson’s Ace Hardware, Whitefish, Mt., died Feb. 17. A veteran of the U.S. Naval Air Force, he joined the family hardware store in 1974. He sold his portion of the business in 2005, to lead tours and humanitarian trips to Nepal. Harold E. Mabie, 90, retired owner and president of King Lumber Co., Pueblo, Co., died March 7. A Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he operated the business for 45 years, closing and liquidating it in 1987. Robert Dwayne “Bob” Reeves, 83, longtime Central California lumber wholesaler, passed away Dec. 28 in Oakdale, Ca., after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. A U.S. Army veteran, he spent more than 60 years in wholesale lumber sales, starting at age 18 with Diamond Lumber and retiring with Chintimini Forest Products at age 79. Robert James Crawford, 84, retired manager of Roseburg Forest Products’ particleboard division, died Dec. 22. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in the Ordnance Corps and received his masters degree in forestry from the University of Washington. In 1958, he became plant manager at Pope & Talbot, Oakridge, Or., leaving to join Roseburg in 1966. He retired in 2000. Manuel Cobarubia Ponce, 91, who spent 22 years as a lumber grader with American Forest Products, Fresno, Ca., died Feb. 12. Building-Products.com

LMC sets new records LMC dealers gained market share and hit new heights in 2016, president John Somerville shared during its annual meeting in New Orleans, La. LMC year-end dealer purchases exceeded $3.8 billion—a 13.4% increase over 2015 and an all-time record year in the co-op’s history.

Nineteen new stockholder companies joined LMC in 2016, while existing dealers added 32 new locations. The strong numbers contributed to a bustling atmosphere on the show floor March 8-10. Dealers took advantage of pallet buys, extended dating, and “at show only” specials.

A New Products Area featured nearly 100 entries. Best New Product Awards recognized Coeur d’Alene Wood’s Xcelerated Barnwood (1st place), Simpson Strong-Tie’s Outdoor Accents decorative hardware (2nd), and Huber Engineered Woods’ AdvanTech Subfloor Adhesive (3rd).

LMC: [1] Harris Gant, Andy Chatman. [2] Marty Hawkins, Eddie Cox. [3] Phil Fortson, Chuck Colston, Bradley Marks. [4] Greg Bates, Sue Cuming. [5] Sam McMurry, Michael Dorman, Julie Baker, Ryan Williams, Barron Shiel, John

Kipp. [6] Paul Watterson, Johnny Martin. [7] Wayne Miller, Kelly Matthews. [8] Tony Butler, Curt Allen, Richie LeBlanc. [9] Jim Dudley, Jeff Womack. [10] Eric Ortiz, Bob Maeda. [11] Mark McLean, Bob Dando, Ashlee Cribb, Malory

Hillhouse. [12] Dennis McWhirter. [13] Craig Little, Bill Schlottman. [14] Todd Lund, Randy “Chip” Chippeaux. [15] Joe Angelo, Barbara Hart, Mark Dwyer. (More photos on next two pages)

Building-Products.com

April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

LMC Photos by The Merchant Magazine

LMC (continued from previous page): [16] Scott Ballantyne, Paul McRae, Daniel Quillian. [17] Steve Firko, John Smith. [18] Greg Sinclair, Andy Faircloth. [19] Dean Clark, Rich Coster. [20] Blair Buchanan, Kristen Lockhart, Phil Harman. [21] Chris Bartimioli, Chad

The Merchant Magazine

Warren. [22] Rob Endres, Craig Evans, Mark Swinth. [23] Tess Lindsey. [24] Kelly Jones, Lou Taback, Darin Curran. [25] Paul Waldon, John Branstetter. [26] Don Wineland, James Morris. [27] John Fitzgerald, Rich Kessler, Roger Dankel. [28] Jake Nansel, Derek Hall, April 2017

Don James, Christian Skarring, Bryan Hoexum. [29] Bart Bender, Donna Whitaker, Rick Fortunaso. [30] Bobby Massingill, David Mobley, Paul DuPont. [31] Chris Levey. [32] Tom Miclea, Kevin Brennan, Michael Grant. (More photos on next page) Building-Products.com

LMC Photos by The Merchant Magazine

MORE LMC (continued from previous pages): [33] Andy Williams, Brett Shuler. [34] Kris Lewis, Rob Endres, Leslie Southwick. [35] Jerrett Long, Wade Wheeler. [36] Jeff Relken, Mike Ryan, Mark Foltz, Jack Delaney, Russ Buttilana, Jonathan Wierengo. [37] Corey Wardle, Rick Friesen, Mark Stevenson. [38] Jay Smith, Roelif Loveland, Joe Guinta.

Wholesale Industrial Lumber

REEL

LUMBER SERVICE

1321 N. Kraemer Blvd. (Box 879), Anaheim, Ca. 92806 Fax 714-630-3190 (714) 632-1988 • (800) 675-REEL 3518 Chicago Ave., Riverside, Ca. 92507

(951) 781-0564

www.reellumber.com Building-Products.com

t Reel Lumber Service, we supply domestic and foreign hardwoods. Our products and services include: • Hardwood Lumber & Pine • Hardwood Plywood & Veneers • Melamine Plywood • Hardwood Moulding (alder, cherry, mahogany, MDF, maple, red oak, paint grade, pecan hickory, white oak, walnut, beech) • Milling (moulding profiles, S2S, SLR1E, SLR2E, & resawn lumber) • Woodworking Accessories (appliques, ornaments, butcher blocks, corbels, etc.) • Woodworking Supplies (deft finishes, color putty, adhesives, etc.)

ur products are widely used in interior finish carpentry, furniture, cabinetry and hundreds of industrial and manufacturing applications. We stock a complete line of complementary products to complete virtually any woodworking or millwork project.

April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

NAWLA comes together at Leadership Summit North American Wholesale Lumber Association’s annual Leadership Summit was nothing short of a success as members from all over the country came to Westin La Paloma Resort, Tucson, Az., March 12-14. After settling in at the “ice breaker” reception, a joint board of directors and committees session took place where Rob Hruby, Aly Kingsley, Anthony Muck, and Steve Rustja were honored for their service to the association. Presenters included Nick Arkle, CEO, Gorman Brothers;

Steve Bobb, CMO, BNSF Railroad; Jim Cline, president and CEO of Trex Co.; Matthew Missad, CEO, Universal Forest Products; Dick Molpus, president, Molpus Woodlands Group; and Claudia St. John, Affinity HR Group. The event was capped by a “Legends of Lumber” panel moderated by Grant Phillips, Collins, and featuring Steve Boyd, Manufacturers Reserve Supply; Steve Weekes, Weekes Forest Products; and Steve Killgore, Roseburg.

AT THE SUMMIT [1] Rob Hruby, Aly Kingsley, Anthony Muck, and Steve Rustja were honored for their service to the association. [2] Jim Houser, Anthony Muck, and Bob McSorley accepted a trophy from Ian McLean (in green) following the Wine, Dine + Nine event. [3] Margie & Dan Semsak. [4] David Seymour, Alden Robbins. [5] Walker & Jeannie Russell, Jeff Norman. [6] Mary Lou Carlson, Buck Hutchison. [7] Anthony Muck, Marc Saracco. [8] Joshua Tyler. [9] Iain MacDonald, Mike & Dawn Holm, Chris Knowles, Susana MacDonald. [10] Kyle & Kelly Little, Heather & Aaron Sulzer. [11] Mike Mordell, Tom Corrick, Jason Ringblom. [12] Tom Gennarelli, Darrell Dudley. [13] Mark & Gail Kelly. (More photos on next 2 pages)

The Merchant Magazine

April 2017

Building-Products.com

NAWLA LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Photos by The Merchant Magazine

NAWLA (continued from previous page) keynote presentation on “A Key Link for Supply Chains” was delivered by [14] BNSF chief marketing officer Steve Bobb. [15] Sally & Steve Killgore. [16] Ashlee Cribb, Walter Woliver. [17] Paul Owen, Ben Barclay, Brett & Karen Slaughter. [18] Kent & Marcy Beveridge, Carly Building-Products.com

& Kevin Dodds. [19] Jim Robbins Sr., Phil Duke. [20] Mike McCollum, Sabrina Enright. [21] Bart Bartholomew, Heather Sulzer. [22] Joshua Goodman, Aaron Sulzer. [23] Ricardo Roman, Sean Kelly. [24] Robb Shrader, Ben Barclay. [25] Ashley Cribb, Walter Woliver. [26] Mark Erikson, Mark Auxier. [27] Cindy & Jim April 2017

McGinnis, Carli & Davis McGinnis. [28] Bill & Kathy Price. [29] Jason Ringblom, Harris Gant. [30] Claudia St. John, Mark Wells. [31] Kellie Radzik, Jim Houser. [32] Brad & Barry Schneider, Mary Ann & John Stockhausen, Lawrence Newton. [33] Bob McSorley. (More photos on next page) n

The Merchant Magazine

NAWLA LEADERSHIP SUMMIT Photos by The Merchant Magazine

NAWLAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LEADERSHIP Summit (continued) wrapped up with a Legends of Lumber Panel [34] moderated by Grant Phillips and featuring Steve Weekes, Steve Kilgore, and Steve Boyd. [35] Cal German, Mary Jo Nyblad. [36] Sally Killgore, Jim Enright. [37] Kathy Price, Shenell Phillips, Brandi Reeves, Dawn Holm. [38]

The Merchant Magazine

Shelly Elston, John Stockhausen. [39] David & Daphne Cox. [40] Curt Stuckey, Henry German. [41] Susana & Iain MacDonald. [42] Warren Reeves, Dave Destiche. [43] Tom LeVere, Shenell & Grant Phillips. [44] Mike Mordell, Craig Sichling. [45] Michael Pritikin, Thomes Black, Scott Elston. [46] David Jeffers,

April 2017

Gary Dzurka. [47] David Fortin, Greg Porcaro. [48] Samantha Rustja, Steven & Elizabeth Rustja, Evan Srustjad. [49] Brad & Karin Schneider. [50] Jodi & Todd Lindsey. [51] Julie & Ian McLean. [52] Brandon Desyatuik, Jared Carroll, Morgan Wellens. [53] Kim & Nick Fitzgerald, Jen & Lee Schull, Michael Wade. Building-Products.com

BOISE CASCADE GOLF Photos by The Merchant

BOISE CASCADEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S annual golf tournament in Yorba Linda, Ca., was another success as members of the industry came out March 10 to network with fellow professionals over 18 holes. [1] Gary Carpendale, Matt Latendresse, Ed Russell, Shawn Knight, Mike & Lavonn Carey. [2] Ryan Lauterborn, Torry Grube. [3] Mike Plutner, Carlton Jennings. [4] Carlos Gonzalez, Christy Palmer. [5] Adam Druck, Pat McCumber. [6] Tino Benavidez. [7] Kim Wood, Tyler Wood, Lance Devol, Gary Vaughn. [8] Bill Bevacco, Gene Bevacco. [9] Andrew Manke. [10] John Schoeder,

The Merchant Magazine

April 2017

Jason Schulze, Jim Nicodemus. [11] Oliver Barnes. [12] Nicole Kearby, Lynn Hale. [13] Lynn Bethurum. [14] Ron Hillman, Steve Black. [15] Rex Klopfer, Rick Deen. [16] Armando Mirroquin, Mark Fix, Tom Martin, Ryan Treffers. [17] Bill Sullivan, Bob Golding. [18] Chris Rebolledo, Rafael Garcia, Mike Olsen, Ryan Augustine. [19] Jose Covarrubias, Cipi Covarrubias. [20] Valente Covarrubias, Victor Martinez. [21] Jorge Mondragon. [22] Moses Saenz, Heath Stai, Jeff Dahl. [23] Jennifer Bufford, Kim Wood, Denise Bough, Samantha Winstead. (More photos Building-Products.com

BOISE CASCADE GOLF Photos by The Merchant

BOISE TOURNAMENT (continued from previous page) allowed LBM professionals to catch up with colleagues and friends. [24] Drew Peacock, Chris Johnson, Damien Simpson, and Gavin Morris. [25] Dave Gorham, Charmaine Jennings. [26] Wayne Murry, Craig Larson. [27] Brandon Deasee, Kenny Martinez. [28] Andrew Van Leesten, Pedro Estevez. [29] Huyvu Lam, Bob Nagle. [30] Mike Kemp, Mario Shields. [31] Bart Weber, Jeff Norihiro. [32] Adam Kenney. [33] Joe Lozano, Jill Hughes. [34] Pat Building-Products.com

Hawthorne, Levi Stauffer, Pat Dresch. [35] Deonn Deford. [36] Troy Huff, Chad Huffman. [37] Scott Whitman, Matt Manke, Bill McBroom. [38] Jonathan Freeman, Chris Johnson, Mo Shearer. [39] Alfie Henshaw. [40] Mike & Debbie Quezambra, Craig Bua. [41] Rudy Peralta. [42] Fabio Gaipa, John Mayhew. [43] Greg Kantzalis, Tom Kantzalis. [44] Sergio Paz, David Vigil. [45] Ed Miron. [46] John Cook, Steve Sadler. [47] Luis Rojas, Pete Meichtry, David Cruz. (More photos on next page) April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

BOISE CASCADE GOLF Photos by The Merchant

MORE GOLF (continued): [48] Boise Cascadeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vendors parked throughout the course offering food and refreshments. Trex even offered prizes to anyone who could sink their putt using a special putter crafted from composite decking. [49] Kurt Matthews, Mark Scambray, Guy Bennett, Craig Huendorff. [50] Mark Brothers, Jake Brosterhous, Dillon Wedermann, Adam Armstrong. [51] Ed Nichols, Rolando Robles, Robert Clarke, Rudy Lopez. [52] Matt Latendresse, Ed Russell. [53] Shawn Knight, Gary Carpendale.

The Merchant Magazine

[54] Ron Macaskill, Richard Nuttall, Rick Shrock, Kip Floyd. [55] Scott Sell, Miguel Hernandez, Mark Huff. [56] Kevin Ulibarri. [57] Paul Corso, Scott Middaugh. [58] Drew Peacock, Chris Johnson, Damien Simpson, Gavin Morris. [59] Jim Geihl, Bob Derham. [60] Brian Armstrong. [61] Raymond Torres, Red Boicourt. [62] Keith Lyng. [63] Joe Morin, Stephanie Ornelas, Darren Myers, Daniel Hines. [64] Steve Osterman. [65] Jerry Best. [66] Amanda Nichols, Cindy Richardson.

April 2017

Building-Products.com

CLASSIFIED Marketplace

LUMBER CARRIERS from Berkot

• Several models available • Balanced for ease of handling • May be modified to your specifications See our full product line at www.BerkotMfg.com

BERKOT MFG. CO., INC.

12350 Montague St. Unit F, Pacoima, CA 91331 • Phone (818) 272-2000 Manufactured in the U.S. since 1954

ADVERTISERS Index

HELP WANTED OUTSIDE SALES/ MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Belco Forest Products, a leading manufacturer of treated wood trim products, seeks a Market Development Manager for their NW region. Our category is booming. This is a great step-up opportunity for a dedicated business developer with 5+ years in sales. Visit the career page of belcofp.com for details.

National Hardware Show [www.nationalhardwareshow.com] 75

Allweather Wood [www.allweatherwood.com]

National Nail [www.nationalnail.com]

Bear Forest Products [www.bearfp.com]

NewTechWood [www.newtechwood.com]

Berkot Mfg. Co. [www.berkotmfg.com]

Norbord Industries [www.norbord.com]

Blue Book Services [www.bluebookservices.com]

Norman Distribution Inc. [www.normandist.com]

Camo [www.camofasteners.com]

North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. [nawla.org] 59, 61, 63

C&E Lumber Co. [www.lodgepolepine.com]

Pelican Bay Forest Products [www.pelicanbayfp.com]

California Cascade [www.californiacascade.com]

PPG [www.ppgmachineappliedcoatings.com]

Capital Lumber [www.capital-lumber.com]

ProWood Lumber [www.prowooodlumber.com/dealer]

Deckorators [www.deckorators.com]

Quality Borate Co. [www.qualityborate.com]

REA Jet [www.reajetus.com]

Dricon [www.dricon.com]

Cover I

Eagle Forest Products [www.eaglefp.net]

Reel Lumber Service [www.reellumber.com]

Eco Chemical [www.ecochemical.com]

RFP Lumber [www.rfplumber.com]

Exterior Wood Inc. [www.exteriorwood.com]

Roseburg Forest Products [www.roseburg.com]

Feeney [www.feeneyinc.com/merch-bpd]

Royal Pacific Industries

Fontana Wholesale Lumber [fontanawholesalelumber.com] 44

Sacramento Hoo-Hoo Club

Gemini Forest Products [www.geminiforest.com]

Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]

Hoover Treated Wood Products [www.frtw.com]

Superior Wood Treating [www.superiorwoodtreating.com]

Huff Lumber Co. [www.hufflumber.net]

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

Humboldt Redwood [www.getredwood.com]

Tando Building Products [www.tandobp.com]

International Beams [www.internationalbeams.com]

Cover III

Thunderbolt Wood Treating [thunderboltwoodtreating.com] 40

J.H. Baxter [www.jhbaxter.com]

TruWood [www.truwoodsiding.com]

Jones Wholesale Lumber [www.joneswholesale.com]

Universal Forest Products [www.ufpedge.com]

Keller Lumber[www.kellerlumbercompany.com]

Utah Wood Preserving Co. [www.utahtreatedwood.com]

Kop-Coat [www.kop-coat.com]

Viance [www.treatedwood.com]

Koppers [www.kopperspc.com]

Western Wood Preserving [westernwoodpreserving.com] Cover II

Lonza [www.lonza.com]

The Merchant Magazine

Cover I n

April 2017

Cover IV

Weyerhaeuser [www.weyerhaeuser.com/distribution]

Building-Products.com

DATE Book Listings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend. Los Angeles Hardwood Lumberman’s Club – April 8, day at the races, Santa Anita Racetrack, Arcadia, Ca.; www.lahlc.net. American Wood Protection Assn. – April 9-11, annual meeting, Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, Nv.; (205) 733-4077; www.awpa.com. West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association – April 13, golf tournament, Black Gold Golf Course, Yorba Linda, Ca.; (800) 266-4344; www.lumberassociation.org. National Wood Flooring Association – April 11-14, conference & wood flooring expo, Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix, Az.; (800) 422-4556; www.nwfaexpo.org. Tacoma-Olympia Hoo-Hoo Club – April 19, board meeting, Tacoma, Wa.; (253) 531-1834; tbilski614@aol.com. Allweather Wood – April 20, open house, Loveland, Co.; (970) 6122230; www.allweatherwood.com.

888-807-2580

International Wood Composites Symposium – April 21-22, Seattle, Wa.; (800) 942-4978; www.woodsymposium.wsu.edu.

www.pelicanbayfp.com

J&W Lumber – April 22, 60th diamond anniversary event, USS Midway Museum, San Diego, Ca.; charmaine@jwlumber.com.

DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS Colton / Fontana / Modesto / Salinas / Stockton, CA

Tacoma-Olympia Hoo-Hoo Club – April 22, Earth Day celebration, Snake Lake, Tacoma, Wa.; (253) 531-1834; tbilski614@aol.com.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES Framing Lumber / Pallet Stock / Industrial Lumber / Softwoods Hardwoods / Cedar / Fencing / Decking / Redwood Custom Cut Stock / Treated Lumber / Tile Battens 3-Hole & Slotted Vents / Custom Cutting / Remanufacturing Heat Treating / Fire & CCA Treating

Southern California Hoo-Hoo Club – April 26, speaker meeting/ golf, San Dimas Canyon Golf Course, San Dimas, Ca.; www.hoohoo117.com. Western Building Material Association – April 26, Bill Lee outside sales workshop, WBMA Hq., Olympia, Wa.; (360) 943-3054; www.wbma.org.

Bend, OR

“Focused on the future with respect for tradition”

Woodworking Industry Conference – April 26-28, Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, Ca.; www.woodworkingindustryconference.com. North American Wholesale Lumber Association – April 27, regional meeting, Vancouver Club, Vancouver, B.C.; (312) 321-5133; www.nawla.org. Olympic Logging Conference – April 27-29, Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria, B.C.; www.olympicloggingconference.com. Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association – April 29May 3, annual convention & exhibitors showcase, Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Ut.; (847) 680-3500; www.mheda.org. Composite Panel Association – April 30-May 3, spring meeting, Grand Fiesta Americana in Los Cabos, Mexico; (703) 724-1128; www.compositepanel.com.

get ready TO

TEE IT UP AT our WORLD famous Silver Dollar Tournament

Transload Distribution Association – May 2-4, conference, KC Marriot Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, Mo.; (503) 656-4282; www.transload.org.

Friday 5/12/17 Alta Sierra Country Club Grass Valley, California

Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association – May 7-9, annual convention, Hilton New Orleans Riverside, New Orleans, La.; (703) 435-2900; www.hpva.org.

Sacramento Hoo-Hoo Club – May 12, golf tournament, Alta Sierra Country Club, Grass Valley, Ca.; (916) 971-2372; jeff.squires@ paccoast.com. Western Forestry & Conservation Assn. – May 15, Using Your Mobile Device for High-Precision GPS Forestry Data Collection, Olympia, Wa.; May 18, Springfield, Or.; www.westernforestry.org.

RAMEN SAC

National Hardware Show – May 9-11, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nv.; (888) 425-9377; www.nationalhardwareshow.com.

LUB 109 OC

HOO-HO TO

Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association – May 7-9, annual convention, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, Ponte Vedra, Fl.; (703) 264-1690; www.kcma.org.

To play, contact: Golf Chair Jeff Squires Phone (916) 971-2372 jeff.squires@paccoast.com

N V — ING CALIFOR — SIN C E 1939

Do it Best Corp. – May 19-22, spring market, Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, In.; (260) 748-5300; www.doitbestcorp.com.

Building-Products.com

April 2017

The Merchant Magazine

FLASHBack 80 Years Ago This Month

he Merchant Magazine, formerly known as The California Lumber Merchant, served as not only an educational tool to the industry, but something that brought professionals together as a community. Through club updates, memorials of dear industry friends, and news on where fellow peers were going, the magazine made an impact. While one might think a lot has changed in 80 years, today, The Merchant still makes it a point to bring the LBM industry together through event coverage and personnel changes in “Movers and Shakers.” Here are a few other things that were covered 80 years ago: • A Los Angeles, Ca., lumber wholesaler appeared in the picture Maytime, starring Nelson Eddy, making him the lumber industry's only moving picture star. Arthur Twohy of L.A.’s Albion Lumber bought and collected vintage automobiles as a hobby when he was approached by several producers. Turns out his cars were in high demand by film productions everywhere who wanted to portray “oldschool” scenes, thus making Twohy a star.

LONG BEFORE days of advanced graphic design, companies had to be extra clever with their advertisements to stand out and highlight their product’s best features. Here, Curtis Silentite Windows of Clinton, Ia., wanted to prove to Merchant readers just how durable its products were. “At Cincinnati, a 5-year-old Curtis Silentite unit took a flood bath for five days in the Pierson Lumber Company’s office. When they lifted it out of the muck, it worked as well as before,” the ad read.

• The Lumber Clerks and Lumbermen’s Union, San Franscisco local, made a demand for a 33-hour week and an increase in wages. The lumber dealers were opposed to anything less than the present 44hour week which had been in effect for six months, contending that such a short week would inflict a hardship on firms in the business of merchandising lumber and building materials. • The California redwood was named the official state tree of California by legislative enactment. The motive behind the bill was simply to direct attention to the unique characteristics and qualities of redwood, and to stimulate a greater interest in its beauty, its usefulness and its value to California.

APRIL 1937 edition of The California Lumber Merchant focused on redwood among other industry topics.

The Merchant Magazine

• A new use for redwood was found by an eastern novelty manufacturer, who stood out by making adjustable stilts from redwood, which he branded as “Our Gang Stilts.” The name was used by courtesy of the Hal Roach Studios, producer of the Our Gang/Little Rascals comedy shorts, which intended to feature the stilts in one of the gang’s comedies. The manufacturer said it chose redwood because it is one of the lightest softwoods. April 2017

LITTLE RASCAL Alfalfa Switzer tries out the Our Gang-branded stilts, produced from California redwood and adjustable 3-1/2”wide cast-iron steps.

Building-Products.com