Their Solution bisTrack'" buying, sales, inventory and accounting software

As a wholesale distributor of lumber and building materials specializing in engineered wood, the traders at Stockton Wholesale Lumber Company are focused on buying and selling product at the best prices. Accurate costing is necessaryto calculate margins and commissions. Steve Beckham, Stockton's Ceneral Manager, says "Costing is a strength of the bisTrack system."

Steve elaborates: "lt's critical in our business, especially engineered wood, to know what is bought, cut and soldand how much it costs us to do that. With bisTrack, we have faith in the cost information we have."

"Progressive Solutions is a company that has been in the business a long time, and that counts," Steve remarks. "l have already recommended bisTrack to several people,"

Software to power your business

Mills Face Worker Shortage

Finding enough workers with the technical skills needed to run today's high-tech plants can be a challenge.

"We have to look a little harder and longer to find the people than we did three or four years ago," said Daniel DeWitte, general mgr. of Pacific Woodtech, Burlington, Wa.

Training is the way to solve the problem, according to Rafeeka Gafoor, business services manager for the Northwest Workforce Development Council. "We listen to the private sector," she said. "We ask what they need, and then we work with jobseekers and current workers to provide them with the tools to advance within the industry."

Access to training programs is important for companies moving into an area, or considering an expansion. "A key factor is whether they can find enough local workers," said Don Wick, director of the Economic Development Association of Skagit County, Wa.

Physical skills are also important, said Scott Breckenridge of Tri-County Truss near Burlington. He's found that many applicants are young people who've never had to work hard.

They may be able to get the job, he said, but they have trouble keeping it more than a month. "For somebody who's been playing Nintendo for the past l0 years. sometimes just getting offthe couch can be a trick," he said.

SPI Mill Back To Full Speed

Sierra Pacific Industries, Redding, Ca., resumed full operations at its Standard (Sonora), Ca., sawmill in Tuolumne County, utilizing fire salvage logs from the EI Dorado National Forest in Amador County.

"Even though we are incurring high trucking costs taking these logs to Tuolumne County, we see this as an opportunity to get back to full production," said SPI spokesperson Ed Bond. In February, the mill laid off workers and reduced its manufacturing schedule from the normal 80 hours to 60. It is now back to 80 hours, and 20 workers were hired.

Production at Chinese Camp, SPI's other mill in Tuolumne County, remains on a 60-hour per week schedule due to a continuing shortage of timber sales from the Stanislaus National Forest.

In late September, the Stanislaus offered 900,000 bd. ft. of dead, dying or hazardous timber for sale. Jerry Snyder, Stanislaus spokesperson, said about 15 million bd. ft. of timber should be cut this year. He expects that number to go to 20 million bd. ft. next year.

Color Me Spanish, Depot

Home Depot has introduced a new line of paints, named Colores Origenes, targeted at Hispanic customers.

"Research shows that painting is one of the most common home improvement projects undertaken by Hispanic customers," said Tom Taylor, executive v.p. of merchandising and marketing.

Developed with Behr, the new line features more than 70 colors that have Spanish names and reflect Hispanic culture.

According to research conducted by the chain, 597o of Hispanics speak Spanish all the time and are more likely to purchase brands advertised in Spanish. Advertising for the paint will be in Spanish, while signage and promotional materials in the stores will be bilingual.

Only select stores will stock the new line, but all stores will be able to mix the colors.