BUILDING MORE COMMON GROUND

By DALLIN BROOKS, Executive Director

It is a great honor to be the Executive Director of the National Hardwood Lumber Association. As I often tell people, I can influence an entire industry for good or bad. Of course, I only ever want to do good. But as you know, you can’t make everybody happy. I have already heard contradictory “NHLA needs to…” from a number of companies. Our efforts to do good don’t benefit everyone equally, but just because some members will not benefit as much as others doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. So, I want to put forward an idea to you. Identify something that NHLA does that benefits you. Once you have found it, let us know how we can improve it, because improving it for you probably helps others too. We have far more common issues than competing issues at NHLA.

We must hear compliments and complaints to improve customer/ member service at NHLA. The only way to focus on each individual member is to listen to what helps and hinders your business and membership. Things are not perfect at NHLA or in the hardwood markets. But we will gladly try to improve what we can at NHLA and in the overall hardwood markets.

I wish everyone could hear what I am hearing and share their opinions with me. I know that isn’t possible, but together as a staff, we will work hard to get as close as possible.

First, I must say that if you are not fully engaged with NHLA, you get less out of NHLA. That has been made clear in the limited time I have been in this position. Companies who use NHLA services all tell me, “There is value in each of them.” Second, if you reach out to any NHLA staff member, they will provide you with good customer service. Share and see that we care, we will be more flexible, we will work hard to help your business grow, and we will work to stabilize the hardwood markets. Finally, I would like to say that giving your BEST benefits everyone. It is easy to see that a mill fire impacts everyone else’s insurance premiums, and the same for truck accidents, but it’s harder to see that the markets you develop help everyone too.

A member once asked, “Why are you working to develop the guardrail post-market? I don’t sell guardrail posts, and this project costs the association a lot of money.” My reply was simple. What will it cost you to have the mill 50 miles away stop selling guardrails posts and start selling lumber? I know it is not your market, but it keeps your competitor out of your market, which is worth protecting. The same is true for all other work that we do. It might not benefit you directly, but helping one market develop products will help your other markets too. We all start on a single common ground of milling hardwood lumber. Where it goes from there is what makes each of you valuable and profitable. So, the work we do for one does benefit everyone.

Your common issues are common ground, but what makes you different is also common ground, and NHLA is here to help everyone do everything they can to build that common ground higher so we can all benefit.

Dallin Brooks NHLA Executive Director dallin@nhla.com | 360-823-3898