THE ZPOST

Features and Benefits

. Can be used for most any style wood fence

. Can be used as a line, gate, corner and end post

No additional hardware or brackets needed

. Kickboards can be installed on either side r Top caps can be installed with no additional hardware

. Powder coating enhances the look of wood-not that ugly galvanized look r 30yearwuranty

.

Withstands winds up to 73 MPH r Acts as a natural gate stop

. Homeowner savings are undeniable and proven

The Z post can be plated and turn tight radiuses

. The Z post can be concealed with a 4" board

. Many more features and benefits you will discover using the Z post

Remember, "You're out of line if it's not a Z Post fence."

For zip code search, please refer to our website wwza.zpostinc.corn. Contractors and homeowners agree, it is "The Best PostYet."

Aaailable sizes: 7'l

When will this end?

I, along with many, was hoping to see an upward spike as we hit the latter part of 2009. As I write this in August, the good news is that for the first time for a long while, my colleagues and I have started to hear some consistent positive news. However, there is nothing to suggest the spike we were hoping for.

The news is not jumping-for-joy news but a feeling that the bottom has been reached and that there is a glimmer of movement up. Cautious optimism is how some are interpreting it. That being said, there is a sense that we will not see a real upturn until 2nd or 3rd quarter next year. My hope is that many distressed companies in this industry will be able to ride out a third damaging winter before the sun might start to shine again.

It has always been my belief that this industry will not see real growth until the market sees real declines in foreclosures and housing inventory. Then, six to nine months after the general economy feels better, we the con- sumers will start to go out and spend money again. I do not believe that starting point has arrived yet, unfortunately.

The overall picture is still muddied. While I think the economy isn't getting worse, those green shoots everyone is writing about, like my garden under water restrictions, can quickly wither and die. I, like many, am concerned with the current high unemployment, the high cost of the stimulus package, the threat of higher taxation to pay for it, and sometimes a feeling that maybe we are being misled slightly by the resurgence of the stock market into believing that the tumaround is actually better that it is-although I am grateful that I might be able to afford to retire now at 70 and not 75! And by the way, to the brokers who told me to just ride it out-never again!

This recession has been shocking to all of us. I cannot imagine any other time in history when every sector of our citizenry has been affected so quickly. I am often afraid to open my email or even to take calls in case it is more bad news. There is hardly a business that has not been impacted. You can tell how bad it is when you see investors rewarding companies that hit revised targets reflecting profit results of 70Vo and 80% down.

Meanwhile, as their pay, bonuses, benefits and 401/k's are cut, employees begin to question whom-and what-they are working for. Today you have, I guarantee you, many employees working for you who are not excited and wished they were doing something else. Frankly, much of that sentiment may be unfair as we have all had to do something to hunker down. But business leaders need to understand that sentiment against business-especially big business-is stronger and more vitriolic than ever before. I think it will play alarge part in changing corporate culture, how people choose their next job and the industry they will enter into. I wonder how much young talent will avoid entering this industry (which would be a tragic mistake), when they read the market collapsed 70+7o.

I am now wondering how corporate structures will change. Large organizations are already getting used to having flatter management structures, fewer employees, and by necessity a less structured decision tree. Innovation and new ideas will very much be the name of the game to jump out of the quagmire. Large companies will have to become much more collaborative and operate much like small companies do if they are going to succeed.

The biggest change will be many deciding that they do not want to work for anyone else again (much as I did l0 years ago). The one good thing to come out of this bad time will be the return to good old entrepreneurship. In the new wave flexibility, speed to market and new ideas will become more vital then ever. It is these companies that will be hiring the "I want to leave crowd" because none of us want to go back to how it has been the last 20 years or so.

So when this ends, the market will be very different from how it was only three years ago. There will be fewer companies overall, but among them will be a number of new upstarts who operate in ways that many will find appealing, as opposed to the stodgy companies they are working with today-assuming they still have a job.

Plyivood

Overlays, Sanded, Siding, Sheathing, Sturd-l-Flc CC PTS, BBOES, 9'and l0' panels

Dimension

2x4,2x6,2x8, 2xl0 Grn Doug Fir

Studs

2x4,2x6 Grn Doug Fir, KD Doug Fir; Hem Fir, Vvhite Fir, Cedar 4x4 Grn Doug Fir, Hem Fir, \y'fhite Fir 3 5/8 x 3 5/8 KD Cedar