bpd august 2015

AUGUST 2015

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

BuildingProducts Digest

SALES & MARKETING SPECIAL ISSUE EDI MILLWORK & TRIM

BPD

810-824-4890 | A real person will answer your call

WE DO BUSINESS THE SAME WAYStructural Wood Systems is a specialty lumberyard for homebuilders. We supply comprehensive structural design, plus a pre-cut, pre-labeled framing system. We look at each project as if we were building it ourselves.

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4 Building Products Digest August 2015

August 2015 Volume 34 Number 6

BPD BuildingProducts Digest

Special Features8 ONE ON ONE

WITH MAZE NAILS’ ROELIF LOVELAND

12 MANAGEMENT TIPS4 STEPS TO START BUYING GREEN

14 MARGIN BUILDERSSHARING PVC TRIM EXPERTISE

16 FEATURE STORYNEW MATERIAL WORLD FOR MILLWORK

20 FOREST ECONOMICSPAUL JANNKE ON THE MARKET REBOUND

26 NAWLA–THINKING AHEADHOW EDI CAN HELP YOU

29 SALES & MARKETING SPECIAL ISSUE• SALES CULTURE • MARKETING PLANS• PR • SUPPLIER SELECTION• TREND FORECASTING • THE BASICS• REVENUE GROWTH • PRICING

52 INDUSTRY TRENDSSPRAY FOAM MEETS ZNE RULES

In Every Issue6 ACROSS THE BOARD

18 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

48 FAMILY BUSINESS

50 MOVERS & SHAKERS

54 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: CYPRESS

58 APP WATCH

60 NEW PRODUCTS

64 ASSOCIATION UPDATE

66 IN MEMORIAM

66 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

67 DATE BOOK

68 FLASHBACK

68 ADVERTISERS INDEX

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Making memoriesI RECENTLY FOUND MYSELF on an amazing business trip

with my family in one of our nation’s most beautifulspots. My wife and daughter had never been there and weall said, “This is a trip we will never forget.” This, com-bined with getting older and occasionally being surprised atwhat I can’t remember, got me thinking about what makessomething unforgettable? Is it random or can we improvethe chances of something being truly memorable?

I usually can’t remember the last movie I saw with mywife or sometimes, even what I had for dinner the nightbefore. But, I can vividly remember the first time I took thewoman who would eventually become my wife out on ourfirst official date. It was a perfect summer evening in Julyin southern California. She looked great and when I gotinto the car, I could smell her perfume. When she occasion-ally wears it now, it takes me back to that night. I took herto a little restaurant with a patio high on a cliff that droppeddown to the ocean below. We could hear the waves, see thebirds, and smell the salt mist in the air. As we held hands atthe table, I kept thinking how soft her skin was. I rememberour dinner being just okay, but then hearing something atthe table next to us that made us both laugh out loud.

Now, why do I remember something like this in suchgreat detail while other things get lost so quickly? I thinkit’s because the things that are most memorable are thingsthat engage all of our five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch,smell). Think about it—I’ll bet you remember the test drivebefore you bought the car you’re driving—that new carsmell, the feel of the

6 Building Products Digest August 2015 Building-Products.com

ACROSS the BoardBy Patrick Adams

Patrick S. AdamsPublisher/[email protected]

leather, the sound of the engine, the look of the lines of thebody.

What about your favorite coffee shop? I’ll bet you’vehad better coffee somewhere else. Why is this one yourfavorite? Think about the smell of popcorn or chocolatechip cookies—it will trigger a memory. Ever pass astranger on the street and get a whiff of perfume thatreminds you of someone?

Lasting memories are experiences that engage our sens-es. In today’s business, I struggle with how to set us apartin a crowded market. How do I show customers that I trulyappreciate their business and show the market that we careabout their success? They say “talk is cheap” and “actionsspeak louder than words,” and I’m the strongest believer ofthat. Is it possible to make your interactions with your cus-tomers an “experience” that engages the senses in a mean-ingful way? Perhaps… I think this is why the traditionalvisit from a sales rep will never go away—because it con-nects the customer to the business using all of the senses ina meaningful way.

This is why when people ask me if I am scared that printpublications will go away in favor of digital, I laugh.Digital can never do what print publications can! Thinkabout it—when I see the Wall Street Journal arrive, I thinkof my Grandfather who has read it every day for decades. Ihear the sound of the thud in my driveway when the deliv-ery boy throws it at 4:30 a.m. and the sound of the paper asyou turn its pages. I smell the fresh ink and feel the paperthat only newspapers have. Reading the paper while youhave your coffee is a morning ritual as American as applepie, and rolling up your favorite magazine to carry in yourback pocket is simply convenient!

It’s not to say that things like digital, TV, radio and oth-ers don’t have their places now and into the future. But,there’s a credibility and experience that goes along withprint. It’s not about a generation, or a tradition; it’s aboutengaging the senses so that what you read becomes all themore memorable!

As the marketplace continues to become more competi-tive, we are all challenged with how to build deeper andmore meaningful relationships with our customers. Howdo you combine the five senses to create an experiencethat builds a lasting and meaningful memory for your cus-tomers? I remember a quote: “I’ve learned that peoplewill forget what you said, people will forget what youdid, but people will never forget how you made themfeel.” I am thankful that we get to play a role in the mem-ories of this industry, and I look forward finding newways to make new memories of success with you all.


Maze Nails drivenfor over a centuryMAZE NAILS has managed to

remain afloat as a successfulnail manufacturing company whilestaying true to its promise of high-quality products for over 100 years.

BPD publisher Patrick Adamstoured its 93-year-old factory in Peru,Il., with Maze president RoelifLoveland. As the two strolled throughthe 1922 building, Loveland touchedon the history of Maze as well as theimportance of quality over quantity, astrong work ethic, and how customerloyalty is crucial.

Maze brothers secured a cut nailmachine in 1886 and started makingpure zinc nails. As the zinc nailsbegan to take off, word spread abouttheir new venture and soon other deal-ers arrived, insisting that the brothersmake the nails available to them too,thus turning their lumberyard into anail enterprise. In 1922, the brotherswere making so many nails, theymoved into the factory where thecompany still resides today.

“Maze Nails has always been acompany filled with extremely capa-ble people—in the factory, in theoffice and out on the road. They knowwhat needs to be done—and they doit,” said Loveland, when asked if heever felt the weight of running thebusiness, being as old as it is.

“We’ve been hiring new talent tothe company—including several sixthgeneration Maze family members—and they are meshing nicely with us‘old-timers.’

“It’s always been our mission tokeep providing quality made-in-the-USA nails—dependable, well-madenails that will do the job.”

Maze Nails has made a presence asone of the country’s leading nailproviders, through the good and thehard times. By World War I, the com-pany set its sights on the goal of creat-ing an economical steel core nail,which provided dependable corrosionresistance and drivability.

The company also managed tokeep itself afloat through WWII,when the country was experiencing ametal shortage.

“Our buyers back then had toscrounge high and low for both steelwire and the zinc to galvanize the fin-ished nails. We’ve purchased top-quality steel from Keystone Steel andWire for many decades—so I’m surethat being a loyal customer of theirsback then paid off during times ofshortage,” Loveland explained.

The Maze men continued to pushthe company forward as a nail manu-facturer, experimenting with electro-plating, tumbler, and hot-galvanizingnails, and built a unique, fully-auto-mated zinc coating system trade-marked at Stormguard.

Today, over a century later, Mazemanufactures nails for worldwide dis-tribution. The Maze Lumber yard isstill in business and is the oldest lum-ber dealer in the state of Illinois. Thecompany has not only made a namefor itself as a leading nail manufactur-er, but also a loyal employer—andwhat makes them stay?

“A lot of our employees arrivedhere well before I started. We are asmall but mighty company whereevery person makes a significant dif-ference. Our people know that and itreally brings out the best in them.

One of the things we love to do iswe put customer compliments on dis-play, and amazingly we get a lot ofthem. I think that’s huge in gettingthese guys to realize how importantquality is. Also taking people throughour mill, and giving them a chance toexplain what they’re doing is reallyimportant to them. The feedback weget drives them to realize our business

One On OneWith Roelif Loveland, President, Maze Nails

ROELIF LOVELAND

It may surprise some people toknow that Maze Nails was not alwaysjust a nail company. In 1848, founderSamuel Nesbitt Maze started a lum-beryard along the edge of the IllinoisRiver. Unsatisfied with the stainingand streaking caused by the cedarshingle nails they had to sell, the

Building-Products.com August 2015 Building Products Digest 9

is important.”Like most businesses, the market

downturn in 2008 affected Maze, andthe company had to take measures toweather the storm.

“We ran into some scary times. Wemade some fairly significant changesin our staffing during the downturn—and got lean (but not mean). I alsosteadfastly believe that there is noother nail maker with the sameextreme, high level of customer ser-vice,” Loveland said.

“It’s all a scary time. Business hasnever been so difficult. There’s beensome anti-dumping against theChinese. Our problem with that, whileit sounds good and we generally sup-port it, is the price of the Chinese nailsis so low that even if they place 100%tariff on the Chinese nails, it doesn’tmake any difference in our business.

“Times have definitely changed,but we just keep moving forward, pro-duce the highest quality products wecan, and stay close to our customers.Our products continue to be a hugefactor in setting us apart from the restof the industry—both the quality of theproducts and the sheer variety thatMaze can offer to a lumberyard.”

Despite the amount of competitionin the industry, the company has beenable to stay well connected with themarketplace and the needs of theircustomers.

Nails are a product that appears sosimple, but with over 2,800 SKUs, thecompany is far from simplistic. Every

single one is unique for a specificapplication, and Maze has a uniquestory in that it’s one of the last nailcompanies standing in America.

“We always like to keep ouremployees happy and excited. Wewant them to know how unusual it isthat they’re an American nail makerand we’re still in business,” saidLoveland when asked how he makesthis work.

From the outside, it may look likewe are competing with China but wereally aren’t. They are the low end.We strive for the high-end businessand there are people who want thehigh-end product.

If there are 20 people buying nailsat Home Depot, I might get one ofthem, maybe not any that day. But theones who are going to get the goodquality nails will pay good money forthem and I can spread good moneyamongst our people.

We can’t compete with the Chineseand that’s really what drove a lot ofthe other nail companies out of busi-ness. They were trying to compete withthe Chinese, and they would continueto lower their value, the product quali-ty suffered immensely, and their mar-gins were horrible. It’s almost a mat-ter of putting blinders on. You’ve gotto play your own game.”

Looking forward, Loveland isfocusing on the quality of their prod-uct, making sure his customers as wellas his staff are well educated and up todate with the latest industry news.

“We’re constantly working with the

market to find the next need so we canstay ahead from a product perspec-tive. I believe that the constructionindustry will continue to use nails inboth hand drive and pneumatic formatfor decades to come, so there’s plentyof opportunity for a quality, domesticnail maker like Maze.”

Educating the marketplace is alsoextremely vital to the business.

“That’s a big issue now because alot of the labor is foreign, some don’tspeak English, and the bridge of com-munication is not as sturdy,”explained Loveland.

“So if you have a situation wherethey’re getting hired to do a big sidingjob for a complex, he’s looking for thelowest priced siding, the lowest pricednails. He’s getting paid by the square,so he’s going for the lowest cost, and

SINCE 1922: BPD publisher Patrick Adams toured Maze Nails’ factory in Peru, Il., with president Roelif Loveland, the original windows still in tact. Thebuilding, which currently still resides at the orignial 1922 location, still serves as Maze headquarters today. Plans are in the works for a refurbishment forthe 93-year-old facility.


because of the communication barrier,it makes it more difficult.

“Our mission is to get to con-sumers, using our website as a toolthat we’ve been constantly updating.Any way that we can try to get to thateventual consumer is really good.Unfortunately that’s the expensiveroute.”

As times have changed over the lastdecade, Loveland is working to makesure Maze is keeping up with theevolving industry, staying well con-nected with retailers and distributors.

“The main benefit of being on thephones all day and at dozens of tradeshows is that Maze Nails is very well-connected—and is regularly contactedby makers of building products thatrequire new and unique fasteners.We’re asked to design the most effec-tive nails for their new materials—andthat gets us a jump on the market.We’ve got about 45 outside sales repsthroughout the U.S. They are in retail-ers every single day, telling our story.”

As president and fifth generation tofounder Samuel Nesbitt Maze,Loveland was destined to be a part ofthe business, but didn’t necessarilyexpect to be growing up.

“I got out of college with a degreein geology and there was a lot ofopportunity in Texas. As I was puttingout resumes that way, our advertisingmanager quit.

“I was lucky to have a dad whonever put pressure on me. So when ajob became available, I gave it ashot,” explained Loveland, tearswelling up in his eyes.

“There are forks in life, and I hap-pened to pick the right fork. It’s beenan absolute pleasure. As we get older,we realize what’s important in life.”

When asked if he could offer onepiece of wisdom to the industry,Loveland replied:

“Keep your eye on the ball withwhat it is your customers need. Even ifthey don’t appreciate the quality at thetime that they’re paying for it, they’ll

PURE ZINC: When Maze started making pure zinc nails, it caught the attention of other dealers and word began to spread. The nails were favoredprimarily due to their strong protection and durability.

OVER 100 YEARS ago, the Maze brothers were tired of the staining and streaking caused by thenails they had to use, driving them to invest in a cut nail machine, the start of Maze Nails.

appreciate it 50 years from now whentheir siding looks beautiful, and theirnext-door neighbors have stains andstreaks, wondering what happened.

“In a lot of ways, we protect peoplebecause they don’t know. We can’tknow everything that goes on aroundus. We need manufacturers that canprotect us. When you climb in your car,you trust that someone did a good jobmanufacturing that airbag, don’t you?”


• Make comparisons between your current practices andgreen purchasing goals. Now that you’ve done your home-work, it’s time to evaluate the gaps between where you areand where you would like to be. Talk to your suppliers andmanufacturer reps. Ask them what makes their productssustainable. This will help you analyze what changes canbe made in your purchasing practices.

As you compare current practices and ideal practices,you may reveal trickier aspects of meeting your goals withregards to both budget and demand.

• Identify products that satisfy your new criteria. Onceyou’ve determined what your company can accomplish, it’stime to dive into the array of products available to suppli-ers. This can be challenging, particularly because there arefew central hubs that connect buyers to bulk suppliers.

Quantity Quotes (quantityquotes.net) is one such hubthat makes finding and selecting green and energy-efficientproducts easy. The site allows buyers to make quick pricecomparisons between large quantities of green, Energy Starand WaterSense qualified products. It even provides achannel for buyers and suppliers to engage in direct negoti-ations for discounted prices. There are other options in themarket as well.

• Draft an environmentally preferred purchasing policy.After taking stock of existing products and materials, mak-ing comparisons and identifying products that are sustain-able or green, it’s time to draft your policy.

Drawing up your action plan can be accomplished in anumber of ways, depending on your company’s environ-mental goals. Perhaps a five-step incremental processmakes the most sense for your budget, or you might chooseto focus your efforts on one specific aspect of green build-ing, such as recycled materials or energy efficiency.

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. You can incorpo-rate existing standards, such as the Energy Star label forenergy-efficient products and the WaterSense label forwater efficiency, and reference these in your policy.Whichever way you decide to green your purchases, besure to set specific goals that are both reasonable and mea-surable.

By using the above steps as a guide, as well as availableonline tools, you can get started on a path to creating yourown environmentally preferred purchasing policy.

– Stephanie Stern is a program manager at StopWaste.

PURCHASING ECO-FRIENDLY building materials and sup-plies can mean long-term financial savings and a reduc-

tion of carbon emissions—a win-win for both consumersand the environment. But with so many choices, and so fewcentralized resources, it can be difficult to identify whichproducts are really the best for your company.

Here are four easy steps to help you develop your owngreen purchasing best practices:

• Take stock of your current purchasing practices. Tounderstand where you should improve, you must firstunderstand what your organization purchases and whereyour money is going.

Review the items you are currently buying and theirtotal costs, paying close attention to materials your compa-ny is most likely to replace and if they meet certain envi-ronmental and energy efficiency criteria. An easy place tostart might be with energy-efficient lighting, includingcompact florescent lights or LED bulbs and light fixtures,or insulation.

MAnAGeMenT TipsBy Stephanie Stern, StopWaste

Green purchasing:4 steps to get started

CENTRAL HUBS, such as Quantity Quotes, connect green buyers tobulk suppliers.

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Build trust, market shareby sharing PVC trimexpertise with buildersIF YOU’VE EVER wondered whether

distributor-sponsored demonstra-tions for builders are worth the trou-ble, just check in with Steve Kramerof Riverhead Building Supply or Joe

over the past several years, but earlyin the game I was prepared for it.”

He said he remembered more thanone distributor-sponsored demonstra-tion introducing PVC trim, and so healready knew how it behaved when hespotted an opportunity to apply it.“For example, we were taking theconcept of a Shaker-style frame-and-panel wainscot and installing it out-side the house, a situation that wouldnever really work well using wood.The joints and edges would trapwater, and then you’d have swellingand leaking issues.

“Instead we built it from PVCcomponents, and it was absolutelywonderful. After more than a decadeyou still have this impervious sidingeffect around three sides of a structurethat’s held up to severe weatherexceptionally well. It was actuallyvery easy to build, even though theresult looks like you spent a ton oftime putting it together.”

The second type of challenge, henoted, can pop up after you’ve com-mitted to PVC, and then find youhave to execute a tricky piece ofdesign. “We were working on a pro-ject that called for an arched mould-ing over a window. It looked good onpaper, and with enough time and bud-get, a millwork shop could haveassembled it out of wood.

“But could we get the same effect,working in the field, with PVC? Yes,we could. I remembered anotherdemo that showed how, with a littlebit of heat, you can do things with

MARGIn BuildersBy Rick Kapres, Versatex

USING PVC trim for an exterior frame-and-panel system dodges the pitfalls of wood, suchas joints and edges that could trap water.

(All photos courtesy Versatex)

Cracco of Modern Yankee Builders. Recently we asked these two veter-

an professionals to talk about whateach has gained from product-orient-ed training, and to illustrate theirobservations with stories about a spe-cific class of products—exteriormouldings and trim made fromextruded PVC.

“It’s always a good idea to makesure customers know how thingswork,” said Kramer, a purchasingagent at the Calverton, N.Y.-baseddistributor. “Just from a standpoint ofself-preservation,” he said jokingly,“we like to sell things that stay sold.So it’s in our best interest to help peo-ple understand the product they haveto install. Otherwise, we’re the first tohear about it if anything goes wrong.”

On the other hand, Cracco—ownerof the Cumberland, R.I., design/buildremodeling firm—says he appreciatesbeing on the receiving end of productdemonstrations. He recalled manyinstallation demos, at JLC Live NewEngland in Providence, R.I., and atthe Remodeling Expo in Baltimorethat planted solutions in his mindbefore he ever knew he’d need them.

“When you’re working with trim,you run into two kinds of challenges,”he said. “The first is pretty straight-forward. You see places on a housewhere conventional trim materials getexposed to a lot of water, and tend torot pretty quickly. The homeownerdoesn’t want to hear about mainte-nance, so you look into alternatives.This has grown into a major concern


CURVED TRIM such as on these windows and pergolas is now possible with cellular PVC.

PVC that are impossible with wood.We were already using an industrialheating blanket to curve PVC deckinginto outdoor stair treads. So we soft-ened up an appropriate length ofmoulding and passed it up to the car-penters on the scaffolding. They heldit in place with their hands and a fewwell-placed Cortex fasteners until itcooled off, and in a few minutes wehad a curved trim piece that fit justperfectly. All we had to do was take itdown, miter it, and then fasten it inplace permanently.

“In both cases,” Cracco said,“without the kind of exposure thatdistributors and manufacturers offer attrade shows and local events, wemight have been scratching our headsinstead of getting the job done.”

“Glad we could help,” saidKramer. “Whatever material you’redemonstrating, it’s crucial to have anexpert installer who can answer ques-tions, make sure all the installationdetails are covered, and then open upsome new possibilities. When we pro-duce the Riverhead Building Show,for instance, we know that at thispoint builders know the basics—whatPVC trim is, and how it’s going toperform. So now, instead of the ques-

tion, ‘What can’t we do with it,’we’re ready to answer the question,‘What else can we do with it?’”

– Rick Kapres is VP of sales and mar-keting for Versatex Building Products,

manufacturer of Versatex brand cellularPVC exterior trim materials and systems,such as trimboards, sheet, bead board,soffit, and moldings and prefabricatedcorners. He can be reached viawww.versatex.com.

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A new material worldgreets millwork industryIT’S A FAST developing world. We

live in an era of rapid technicaladvancement, particularly in the fieldof material science. What industry areyou working in?

Twenty-five years ago you proba-bly would have responded, “I amemployed in the millwork, windowand door industry, and design and fab-ricate products from wood.” Othersfrom our industry would haveanswered “aluminum” or even“vinyl.” Today this would be inaccu-rate—with few exceptions we are nolonger in a material-specific industry.

Some market-leading millworkmanufacturers still promote theirimage as being wood products fabrica-tors when in reality they use non-wood modern hybrid materials for alarge percentage of their products.Industry forecasters still tend to definemarket statistics and market share interms of material types such as wood,aluminum, vinyl or fiberglass, whichcan be misleading.

This fundamental advancement inmaterial usage is not confined to themillwork industry. Automobiles usedto be almost exclusively constructedfrom steel; today, composite plastics,ABS, aluminum and other advancedmaterials are used in large volumes.

One of the most dramatic advance-ments has been in the aircraft industry.The airframes of commercial aircrafthave historically been fabricated fromaluminum but Boeing is now leadingthe way forward by constructing thefuselage of the new 787 Dreamlinerfrom high-tech plastic composites. Inthe immediate future you will be trav-eling in a “plastic” tube rather than analuminum one!

What has driven this fundamentalchange in material use? In transporta-tion, the driving factor (apologies for

FeATURe StoryBy Geoffrey Card, GPI Millworks

the pun) has been the need to saveenergy by making significant savingsin the weight of both automobiles andaircraft.

The millwork industry in generalhas been influenced by many factorsincluding energy-saving regulationsfrom federally inspired organizations

high-performance materials with supe-rior structural strength capabilities.Modern efficient manufacturing meth-ods have also demanded the adoptionof more consistent modern materials.

The U.S. residential window anddoor market divides into two principlesectors—new construction and remod-eling/replacement. As large as the newconstruction sector is, it is importantto realize that the replacement sectorhas for many years been larger interms of both product unit volume andsales value.

Homeowners are motivated tospend more on their window replace-ments than the builder could justify atthe time of original construction.Homeowners are motivated by energysavings, cost and inconvenience ofregular maintenance (pride of owner-ship), sound reduction, and by com-fortable living conditions, not to men-tion the value of their property. Theywill spend more for high-performingproducts that meet their requirements,and this motivates many of the indus-try changes to modern materials.

Today’s industry doesn’t generallydesign and manufacture all the multi-plicity of components used in its prod-ucts. All industries, including mill-work and windows, work closely withcomponent designers, manufacturersand suppliers. Component suppliershave been responsible for introducingmany of the modern hybrid materialssuch as vinyl/aluminum door thresh-old, vinyl tray panels, fiberglass pul-truded pre-assembled French doorastragals, fiberglass reinforcing mem-bers, weatherproofing systems, extrud-ed cellular door frame and windowprofiles, and more.

Demands from consumers formaintenance-free, thermally improvedwindow and door systems drove the

FIBERGLASS PULTRUDED profiles offer simi-lar advantages to vinyl plus added advantagesfor the construction of windows and doors.

(All images courtesy GPI Millworks)

such as the NFRC and specificallyfrom consumers who increasinglydemand products that do not rot andproducts that eliminate the need forregular maintenance such as paintingand staining.

Structural codes are also beingrevised and products are required towithstand the worst that nature canimpose. Compliance with all thisdemands the adoption of modern,


dramatic development of the vinyl(UPVC) markets in both Europe andNorth America. Vinyl window anddoor products were not generallydesigned and developed by specificwindow fabrication companies butgrew from the vinyl extrusion industrywho realized a market-driven opportu-nity, employed window and door sys-tems designers and licensed regionalmanufactures to fabricate and markettheir products. Systems support wasgiven in the form of lineal vinylextruded material supply, technicaltraining, technical manuals, producttesting, and national marketing.

The residential vinyl window mar-ket share in the U.K. and Europe grewthrough the 1980s to exceed 70% ofthe market and in the U.S. in the mid-1990’s rapidly overtook all othermaterials to dominate the residentialmarkets. This growth was reinforcedby a great deal of industry investmentin the development of both materialand performance standards for vinylproducts principally by the industrymembers of American ArchitecturalManufacturers Association and by likeorganizations in other countries.

Even vinyl windows and doorshave their disadvantages. Vinyl needs

profile reinforcement for the construc-tion of larger unit sizes. It also has afairly high degree of expansion in hotclimates. This is why the vast majorityof extruded vinyl windows and doorsare marketed in white-colored finish.Solutions to this weakness are becom-

COMPONENT SUPPLIERS have been respon-sible for introducing many of the modern hybridmaterials such as fiberglass pultruded pre-assembled door astragals, designed much likethis rendering of GPI MIllwork's all fiberglass T-astragal with double woolpile.

ing available with major advance-ments in the processing and pultrusionof GRP –fiberglass.

Fiberglass pultruded profiles havesimilar advantages to vinyl with twoadditional advantages for the construc-tion of windows and doors. Firstly,profile to profile they have a sectionmodulus (rigidity) on average of eighttimes that of the equivalent vinyl pro-file. Secondly, they are reinforcedwith thousands of glass strands whichhave no measurable expansion or con-traction when subjected to extremetemperature variation.

The practice advantage of all thisis that the window/door designer caneliminate the use of profile reinforce-ment and use very dark color finishesin the hottest southern climates.

The use of modern synthetic mate-rials will continue to increase in ourindustry to everyone’s advantage. Myforecast is that the adoption of pul-trude fiberglass profiles and completefiberglass product systems will dra-matically gain market share over thenext few years.

– Geoffrey Card works as a consultantfor GPI Millworks, Atlanta, Ga. Reach himvia gpimillworks.com.


Spahn & Rose makesnew home for the future

COMPeTITIVe IntelligenceBy Carla Waldemar

THE ONLY THING you can count on in today’s businessworld is that you can’t count on anything. So, change

with the times or wave as the winners fly by.Dubuque, Ia.-based Spahn & Rose had been founded by

a couple of young go-getters back in 1904. A hundred yearslater, however, it was still operating on the same, long-agooutmoded site. But, change came knocking. Upon the sud-den death of Chuck Spahn, for the first time in the corpora-tion’s history, the new CEO and president selected was anon-family member. John Hannan had signed on with thecompany in 1991 and by 2002 had worked his way to thecorner office.

Hannan proceeded to color outside the lines on occasion,viewing his outlook as “a little more aggressive in updatingfacilities.” (S&R owns 25 yards radiating from the cornerof the Midwest where Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois meet.)

“Aggressive” is an understatement for what that mindsetled to—a dramatic change from the aged, unwieldy facilityof 1904 to a brand-new mothership, in a new location andbuilt from scratch.

It opened in April, but the planning had begun a goodfive years earlier: machinations almost as complex as theInvasion of Normandy. First off, it was important to docu-ment for the board the many factors that proved the projecta sound decision: The 1904 site was hard to find, inconve-nient to access, and far from any high-traffic retail area. No

FAMILY TRUST: CEO John Hannan looks over Spahn & Rose’s latestrebuild, in Dubuque, Ia.

off-street parking. No room to expand to meet customers’clamor for more choices. Its warehouses were separated bycity streets and insufficient for demand, requiring leasingother off-site buildings. The city’s recent street improve-ments sacrificed direct rail access, eliminated access toloading docks, and imposed trucks’ weight restrictions.Bottom line: inefficiencies were stunting growth in marketshare and customer service. Options? The choice was clear.

The first step, natch, was choosing a new site. (Evencrossing the river into Illinois or Wisconsin was under con-sideration). Hannan hired an engineering firm to weigh inon the most efficient uses at potential locations, and con-ferred with the city of Dubuque about possible financialincentives. The winning site selected provides muchgreater visibility and access and adjoins retail operationsthat already drive traffic, including a busy supermarket.

Site? Check. Next up, design. Hannan and his teamcriss-crossed the country visiting other yards to gain inputon what worked, what didn’t. The lessons they gleanedincluded how best to display products. “We learned that thebest way was to make things look professional. Classy. Wealso learned we needed to have a wide variety of productsright there inside the showroom, not merely in catalogs oron the Internet. We learned where to best position the salesstaff within the showroom with easy access (answer: deadcenter), and to position items like millwork and cabinetsaround the perimeter.

“We also asked our staff for input early in the process.For the outside, we showed them the architectural drawingswith potential floor plan and loading dock. And for thoseworking inside the showroom, evaluating how departmentscould interact. In hardware, what items to add and whatsize of a work area. We also showed the architects the pho-tos we’d taken on our travels. Then the architects inter-viewed our employees as to their likes, dislikes, and needs.

“We got the engineers involved early as well, as to thebest possible layout.” Engineers also helped with solutionsthat affected the environment. “The site contained a build-ing that was not well-situated, so a local outfit tore it down,piece by piece, and re-assembled it elsewhere. We had thesite’s concrete and asphalt excavated, crushed, and re-usedas sub-base. Nothing,” Hannan proudly stresses, “nothingwas hauled away.”

The new building operates on sensor-activated LEDlights and the showroom not only sports solar panels to col-lect energy, but a huge computer screen indicating to thestaff and fascinated customers just how much is being pro-duced, moment by moment.


ing. We told them, ‘Expect a lot of new customers to walkin the door.’ (Pros at last have their own separate entrance,too.) We knew we needed to train our people to be preparedfor the opportunity to gain a lot of new customers.”

And it’s working. Business is up 20% over last year,aided, also, by a smart publicity campaign leading up to theGrand Opening. “In our old store, we posted architecturaldrawings of the new building to build excitement in thecommunity. We used teaser ads on radio, in print, and inour statement stuffers. And when the warehouse was com-pleted, we held our monthly contractor lunch in that newlocation, plus gave them a tour of the new showroom underconstruction. That really got them excited!” he reports. Thegrand opening for the community featured a promotionoffering a free grill with purchase of selected decking.“That idea generated a lot of new business,” Hannanreports.

But you won’t catch him with his feet up on his desk.The region’s big boxes and strong independents are breath-ing fire nearby. “What makes S&R better?” a reporterposed. Says the boss, “We have a larger number of expertsin product knowledge and customer service. A largerinventory, due to our financial strength. A new showroomwith nothing like it around. And,” underscoring all of theabove, “a history. Being in businesssince 1904 adds credibility. Theytrust that you’ll do what you sayyou’ll do.”

So, what’s ahead? Perhaps yetanother change. The company’swebsite states that Spahn & Roseprefers penetrating small mar-kets. But, says the CEO withconfidence, “going forward,that may change, too. We haveplans and hopes for growth.”

Carla [email protected]

BEFORE & AFTER: Store went from standard (at left) to showplace (above).

Result: a new 72,000-sq. ft warehouse with Sunbeltracking to allow maximum storage space, six drive-thrulanes, and three loading dock bays. The new showroom,with 28,000 sq. ft. on the main floor and a mezzanine host-ing badly needed offices and conference rooms for contrac-tors and their customers and employee training sessions.(Before? None of the above.)

“It’s easily the nicest, most professional showroom inour area,” Hannan can boast, going above-and-beyond notonly with additional SKUs throughout, but consciouslyadding items to increase walk-in, retail traffic. “Lots ofpeople thought we only served contractors,” he realized,then set about to change that perception. Pros do provide70% of the mix, but Hannan realizes that “homeowners aredriving a lot of the decisions. Now they can come in, getideas, and talk to our people.”

And these homeowners love-love-love the star of theshowroom, a complete 1,100-sq. ft. model home. “We builtit as large as possible, to incorporate a wide variety ofbrands and colors, and it’s been a very effective sellingtool,” he reports.

So has S&R’s building itself, and by savvy planning.The exterior has become a marketing billboard, employing“many products we actually sell, like siding, stone,columns, and shingles. Down the line, if someone asks howProduct X will look in five years, we can send him outsideto see for himself.” Vendors, of course, are delighted withthe showcase effect. “It shows them we’ll make a commit-ment to their product.”

And staff? “We started training well ahead of the open-


FOReST economicsBy Paul F. Jannke

INVENTORIES ARE A key indicator of market balances. Oneof the most closely watched markers in the oil and gas

industries, for example, is the weekly natural gas storageand the Cushing, OK ending stock reports. By contrast,information on the ebbs and flows of lumber stocks islargely lacking.

To get a sense for supply/demand balances, intelligenceon stocks at two levels in the supply chain would be desir-able: at mills, and between mills and final users.

Unfortunately, data collection of lumber stocks at themill level is sketchy and, if done, tardily disseminated.Mill inventories in Canada are compiled by StatisticsCanada, but are reported with a lag of about two months.In the U.S. South and Northeast, they are not collected atall. Only the Western Wood Products Association gathersmill inventory data in the West from a sample of firmswhich they publish weekly.

Data on stocks between mills and end-users are evensparser. Each month the Census reports inventories for“merchant wholesalers” including “lumber” (NAICS4233). The data for March 2015 was released on May 8,but is of limited utility because the number is not differen-tiated by product (i.e., lumber, plywood, millwork etc.),nor given in volumetric measures. Rather, they are basedon dollars unadjusted for price changes.

Within the industry most insights on inventory condi-tions are based on hearsay. Only Random Lengths attemptsa quantitative description of retail stocks based on a sub-jective index of inventories supplied monthly by a sampleof their retail correspondents.

For inventories between mills and end-users, the idealmeans to get such data would be by way of regular statisti-cal surveys. That being beyond my means, I have devel-oped another way based on two measures: volume flowsinto and out of the distribution system.

The accounting framework to track and systematicallyupdate estimates of inflows and outflows is summarized in

Lumberinventoriespoint to market rebound

the table above.The variables for outflows are compiled from the regu-

lar Census reports that track the economy such as housingstarts, the average size of homes, value of construction putin place and so on. The weakest link is residential remodel-ing. Originally I used the estimates from the Harvard JointCenter for Housing Studies, but later supplemented thosewith data on remodeling permits compiled by Buildfax andmonthly retail sales by “Building material and supply deal-ers” (NAICS 4441) reported by the Census.

For the usage rate in each of these sectors, I obtained

Bottom line: High lumber inventories in early 2015 ledto weak pricing through April. Recent production curtail-ments and increased consumption has pushed inventoriesback to more “normal” levels. Consequently, we expect ris-ing pressure on prices in the third quarter.

(The above analysis was taken from Henry Spelter’s LumberMarket Status and Trends (LMST), a weekly publication of FEA.In it, Spelter describes how Forest Economic Advisors estimatesinventories, a very important indicator for market direction. Formore information on subscribing to the LMST please contactDavid Battaglia at [email protected].)

– Paul F. Jannke is a principal of Forest Economic AdvisorsLLC (www.getfea.com), the premier source for North Americanwood products analysis and infor-mation. With 20 years’ experiencestudying lumber markets and pro-viding reliable, insightful fore-casts, he has become the indus-try’s top economic analyst. He isthe author of FEA’s LumberAdvisor and Lumber QuarterlyForecasting Service publications.


Paul F. JannkeForest Economic Advisors, LLC

(978) 496-6336 [email protected]

estimates from various U.S. Forest Service and industrymarket tracking studies. Those factors can change and thusa check on their validity is that over several years encom-passing a business cycle the grand total of estimated enduse should approximate apparent end use (shipments plusnet imports). To the extent that they significantly deviate, Iadjust the factors periodically to bring the two into line.

I track inflows into the distribution chain from dailyreports on Canadian exports into the U.S. and by projectingU.S. lumber shipments using proxies from weekly WWPAshipment data and rail traffic. The import estimates have anerror range of less than 0.5% while the shipment variabili-ty, as compared to final WWPA tallies, is +/- 2.5% (chart1). The current data I estimate are found in the weeklytables printed in bold face.

Chart 1Preliminary v. Reported U.S. Shipments

Chart 2Inventory/End Use Ratio – Range v. 2014/2015

Chart 3Random Lengths Retailer Index – Range v. 2014/2015

series represented by the shaded portion.It illustrates a bulge in field inventories that began in

late 2014 and continued into the first quarter, which offersinsight for the market swoon in the first third of the year. Italso shows that if the recent trend of production restraint ismaintained and the housing recovery proceeds as weexpect, then by June the inventory overhang should havecorrected and returned to well within its historical range.

By way of contrast, the Random Lengths index is simi-larly shown:

Validation of the estimates of the flux in stocks cannotbe made since there is no systematic collection of suchdata. I have no illusions that the numbers would matchpoint estimates from a comprehensive census if such weremade but I believe they track the general trend in inventorychanges. They have been helpful to me to gain insight intoaggregate inventory fluctuations and certainly more usefulthan the repertoire of adjectives used by market journaliststo describe the state of inventories as “lean” or “flush,”“tight” or “adequate,” etc.

Chart 2 borrows the technique from the EnergyInformation Agency to depict these derived inventory esti-mates in a historical context. The data represent invento-ries-to-end use (equivalent to inventory in terms of monthsof current sales). The recent year’s data are placed withinthe historical range of high and lows experienced for the

Forest Economic Advisors, LLC (www.getfea.com) offers:• Monthly reports (a two-year forecast including demand, capaci-

ty, market conditions, and prices)• Quarterly longer-term forecasts (lumber, EWP/MSR, structural

panels, particleboard/MDF, timber, wood biomass, market trends)• Weekly reports analyzing the spectrum of current market vari-

ables that affect lumber markets• Capacity reports on lumber, LVL, I-joists, PSI, LSL,

plywood/OSB, particleboard and MDF• The industry’s most comprehensive historical database• Client research, consulting and speaking engagements


DeALeR BriefsBuilders FirstSource, Dallas,

Tx., has received all third-party andgovernmental approvals required for itsacquisition of ProBuild Holdings,Denver, Co., clearing the way for thedeal to be completed by early August.

Crocker’s Ace Hardware, LeRoy, N.Y., has added a 4,000-sq. ft.drive-thru lumberyard.

Bandera True Value, Bandera,Tx., owner Johnny Boyle is adding anew hardware store in Lakehills, Tx.,early this fall.

Ace Hardware is building a newstore in Oregon, Il., for a Decemberopening.

Nuts and Bolts will open store#11 Sept. 17 in Kearney, Mo., at theformer site of Kramer Hardware.

Conrad Hardware, Conrad, Ia.,was opened June 1 by Tom, Julie andEric Wilkerson.

Eric will manage the new location.His parents also operate WilkersonHardware , Toledo, Ia., andReinbeck Hardware, Reinbeck, Ia.

National Ace Hardware ,Milwaukee, Wi., is closing after 65years and its building has been sold todevelopers.

Johnson’s True Value Hard-ware, Calais, Me., suffered damage toits repair shop in a July 5 fire.

Ace Hardware, Rockport, Tx., isrelocating to a larger facility by Oct. 1.

Menards is nearing completion ofits new store in Warren, Oh.

Home Depot is buying mainte-nance/repair service providerInterline Brands, Jacksonville, Fl.,for $1.625 billion.

Habitat for Humanity is target-ing an October opening for a new11,000-sq. ft. ReStore discount LBMoutlet in Waterloo, Ia. (Jeff Finke, mgr.)

Its 2,400-sq. ft. ReStore in WestJeannette, Pa., to a 12,000-sq. ft. build-ing in Hempfield, Pa.

Suitor Eyes US LBM HoldingsBuyout firm Kelso & Co is in

negotiations to acquire US LBMHoldings LLC in a deal that couldvalue the building materials distributorat around $1 billion, including debt.So far, Kelso has outbid other privateequity firms in the auction for thecompany.

US LBM was created byBlackEagle Partners LLC in 2009 as aplatform to acquire building materialdistributors and currently owns morethan 20 LBM companies, with 160locations.

Keener Reps for TraskBob Keener, with 43 years in

wholesale distribution, has formed ProPine Boards LLC in Poughkeepsie,N.Y.

The company has initially beenretained by Warren Trask Co.,Lakeville, Ma., and Menands, N.Y., toprovide consultive and interactive pro-grams on product knowledge, purchas-ing programs, sales, and expandingmanufacturing partners.

Keener previously served as directsales manager and product managerfor Russin Lumber, following 25 yearswith American Lumber Co.

Missouri Yard Preps for EndGene Drake is wrapping up a six-

week liquidation sale at DrakeBuilding Supply, Maryville, Mo., ashe prepares for retirement at age 74.

He started the business 43 yearsago. By the end of the summer, heexpects to have all inventory, equip-ment and fixtures cleared out, so hecan put the land up for sale—assum-ing that a buyer for the business is notfound.

TH Rogers Begins RebuildT.H. Rogers Lumber Co. has bro-

ken ground on a permanent new build-ing in Bella Vista, Ar.

It has been operating out of tempo-rary quarters since an electrical firedestroyed its previous building in May2014.

The new building, expected to opennear the start of next year, will haveroom for larger product displays andbetter access to the lumberyard.

Worker Dies in ForkliftMishap

A forklift driver for Jordan-HolmanLumber Co., Granite Falls, N.C., waskilled June 29 when he was run overby his vehicle.

Steven George Dolgas, 55, hadworked at the division of AssociatedHardwoods since 1984.

There were no witnesses to theaccident. His body was discoveredbehind the unloaded forkift, with thevehicle in reverse.

OSHA is investigating.

New Owner for Supply OutletFrankenstein Builders Supply,

Zelienople, Pa., has been purchased byJ.J. Kennedy Inc., Fombell, Pa.

Co-founder Jack Frankensteinpassed away last summer.

Family Retakes WeaberThe founding family of Weaber

Inc., Lebanon, Pa., is reassuming con-trolling interest in the company.

CEO Matthew G. Weaber, thegrandson of Weaber’s founder, has leda recapitalization to retake majorityownership of the business.

He is backed by Cleveland, Oh.-based Cyprium Partners, a privateequity firm focused on making non-control investments.

Weaber is a leading producer offlooring, moulding and other hard-wood products.

Coating Firm Buys FormerAffiliate in Southeast

Eco Building Products, Vista, Ca.,has agreed to acquire all of the operat-ing assets of its former affiliate, EcoPrime, Augusta, Ga.

The deal more than doubles EBP’snational coating capacity, while pro-viding entry into the growingSoutheast construction market andproximity to southern pine mills.

Penn Dealer Enters IndianaLaurel Valley Hardware,

Stahlstown, Pa., recently opened asecond location in Ligonier, In.

Lehigh Valley owners Wayne andLois Campbell purchased the buildingthat previously housed Horrell-Neiderhiser Home Center.

Previous owners John Horrell andRonald Neiderhiser knew they wereclose to retirement and hoped to findthe right person to take over the hard-ware store they ran together for over30 years.

After several weeks of remodelingat the new store, which included newflooring and lighting, widened aislesand additional inventory, the Ligonierlocation opened to the public on June29. An open house is in the works forthe new location.


Northeast Building Products will relocate its SouthPlainfield, N.J., window and door factory to a 10,400-sq. ft.facility in Sayreville, N.J.

SRS Distribution, McKinney, Tx., has added aSouthern Shingles branch in Little Rock, Ar. (NickClayton, mgr.), and a B&L Wholesale Supply inPittsburgh, Pa. (Jason Koehler, mgr.).

ICSS, Fargo, N.D., has relocated its milling and dryingoperation to nearby Moorhead, Mn.

Peerless Woodworking Corp., Bluff City, Tn.,auctioned off its remaining inventory and equipment.

The business closed earlier this year after 74 years ofmanufacturing architectural millwork.

Kingdom Timber & Lumber Resources, GreenValley, Il., was destroyed by a July 16 blaze.

Missouri Walnut, Neosho, Mo., is installing six addi-tional dry kilns to bring its total to 16 kilns with a combinedannual capacity of 1.6 milion bd. ft.

Gaiennie Lumber Co., Opelousas, La., will expandits distribution of AZEK and TimberTech decking into easternTexas.

AZEK and TimberTech products will continue to be distrib-uted throughout Texas from Great Southern WoodPreserving’s two Texas warehouses.

Weyerhaeuser Distribution, St. Paul, Mn., is nowdistributing Genova Products’ Genovations 100% PVCdecking.

Seven D Wholesale, Rocky Hill, Ct., is now supplyingNovik’s NovikShake and NovikStone products throughoutNew England.

Bridgewell Resources, Tigard, Or., has sold itsSpecialty Building Products division, Daphne, Al., toSilvaris Corp., Seattle, Wa.

Beacon Roofing Supply, Peabody, Ma., acquiredexterior products dealer ProCoat Systems, Denver andFort Collins, Co.

For now, the stores will continue under the ProCoat nameand under the oversight by founders Jim, Marty and RandyDiner.

True Value is now the official hardware partner forSpike TV's popular series Catch A Contractor.

CHI Overhead Doors, Arthur, Il., has been sold byprivate equity firm FFL Partners, San Francisco, Ca., toKohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

ODL, Zeeland, Mi., redesigned its website, www.odl.com.

Anniversaries: Weather Shield Windows &Doors, Medford, Wi., 60th … Nichol’s Lumber Co.,Dunnellon, Fl., 35th.

SUPPLIeR Briefs Virginia Yard Winding DownFifty-year-old ABC Distributors, Arlington, Va., is liq-

uidating and will close by the end of the summer.The property the lumberyard sits on has been sold to an

investment group. ABC president Bernard Lynch said hehas until Sept. 1 to vacate and does not plan to relocate.

Saw Maker Charges Bosch withPatent Infringement

SawStop, Tualatin, Or., has filed complaints with theU.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. DistrictCourt in Oregon claiming Robert Bosch GmbH ofGermany and its U.S. subsidiary, Robert Bosch ToolCorp., has infringed on its patented table saw safety tech-nology.

Bosch announced plans to introduce its REAXX jobsitetable saw into the U.S. this fall. The tool employs flash-sensing technology to detect if the user’s finger makes con-tact with the blade, then shuts down. SawStop reportedlyoffers similar safety features on its table saws and wantsBosch’s tools blocked from entering the U.S.

A Bosch representative countered, “The Bosch REAXXjobsite table saw is based on patented innovations done bythe Power Tool Institute with advanced development con-ducted by the engineering team at Robert Bosch ToolCorp. in Mount Prospect, Il. This research has resulted inmore than a dozen U.S. patents.”

Century-Old Hardware StoreReturns to Downtown Raleigh

When 150-year-old Briggs Hardware, Raleigh, N.C.made plans to close its only existing store due to competi-tion from the big box hardware stores, Briggs family mem-ber Evelyn Murray set out in an attempt to keep the com-pany brand alive. As a result, Briggs Hardware will returnto downtown Raleigh, just two blocks from its originalbuilding built by Thomas Briggs in 1874.

The current Briggs Hardware, the company’s onlyactive store, will be closing down July 10. According toMurray, the closure hit her much harder than expected,encouraging her to keep the store afloat.

On June 30, Murray signed a lease deal to take about a1,500-sq. ft. space in the Heilig-Levine complex, a rede-veloped historic building in downtown Raleigh.

Murray says the new store, which is expected to beopen at its new location by September, will stock a lot ofthe necessities that downtown residents and workers oftenneed from a general hardware store.

Child Killed in Lumberyard AccidentAn 11-year-old boy was crushed by a load of lumber at

Lewisville Wood Products, Inc., Lewisville, Ar., Saturday,June 27.

Asunté Robinson and two adult relatives were trying toget lumber to repair a leaking roof, and as he pulled a stickout, the whole bundle fell on top of him and he was buriedbeneath a large pile of lumber.

Asunté died at the scene, according to Arkansas policeofficer Cody Hensley. Hensley explain It is not uncommonfor people to enter the property to collect scrap wood, andthere is no fence nor warning signs posted in the areawhere the accident happened.

Working for you.

Engineered Wood Products | Softwood Plywood

Real Wood Siding | Lumber | Particleboard

www.Roseburg.com

800.245.1115

Teresa ClarkEngineered Wood Shipping Supervisor, 12 yrs.


ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE (EDI) is the transferof data from one computer system to another by stan-

dardized message formatting, without the need for humanintervention, according to Tech Target. Simply put, it’s away for businesses to exchange information such asinvoices, purchase orders, etc., electronically.

While this may seem like a complicated process—and,to an extent, it can be—implementing an EDI solutioncan increase a company’s efficiency and profitability, aswell as create more consistency and streamline adminis-tration processes in document communication and man-agement.

BenefitsOne of the biggest advantages of EDI is the efficiency

it allows. Because transactions can be processed immedi-ately, staff members save time on entering data manually.This also reduces the chance for human error and the costto send paper materials such as invoices, shipping orders,

THInKInG AheadBy Bethany Doss, Capital Lumber, and NAWLA Board Memberand Anthony Luongo, Capital Lumber

etc., via postal mail.In addition, EDI can enable more accurate accounting

and inventory management, as well as help increase teamproductivity without increasing staff.

EDI also allows for the successful transfer of knowl-edge, providing consistency throughout the documentsshared between trading partners. If an employee is out ofthe office or leaves the company, the knowledge staysautomatic and operations can proceed as usual.

If you’re interested in working with a big box retailer,using EDI is basically a mandate. Through this technolo-gy, big boxes are able to control their costs and their pric-ing at a much higher level. And since the turnover withinretail can be high, EDI ensures that the orders you’rereceiving are accurate.

ImplementationWhen deciding to implement EDI software, it is

important to decide what exactly you want to do with it.

Learn from Your PeersJoin a NAWLA 10 Group

NAWLA 10 Groups are networking forums of about 10members with like interests (from non-competing firms)who get together in an informal setting to connect aboutissues that they face and to reflect on how to positivelyimpact their organizations and the industry.

Exploring EDI? NAWLA will be creating a 10 Groupspecifically for IT professionals. To learn more aboutNAWLA’s 10 Groups, visit nawla.org/page/10-Groups.

EDI:What it is andhow it can help you


How do you want to use it? Do you want a custom solu-tion? Will you use an outside vendor? How complex inyour tracking do you need to you get?

No matter the specifics in how you’ll use it, there aretwo main things you need to consider: implementationtime and your troubleshooting network. If you’re plan-ning to do a major EDI implementation with a customeror supplier, it could take between nine to 12 months. Yet

don’t let the timeframe scare you away. If EDI is some-thing you need to do in the next two years, start planningnow. The more you are ahead of the game, the better offyou’ll be.

It’s also important to make sure you have people inyour distribution network who have gone through theimplementation process. Though EDI is beneficial to anorganization in many ways, it does come with its chal-lenges. There are some complexities when implementinga solution and though the technology is simple, in theo-ry—it’s taking data from one system and putting it intoanother—the templates, forms and testing process can getpretty complicated.

Having people you can troubleshoot with—peoplewho have possibly experienced the same issues—canmake a difference in easing the overall process. CapitalLumber uses a third-party company for its EDI solutionfor this reason—it’s helpful to have EDI specialists toreach out to as a resource when something goes wrong.

Our PerspectiveFor us, using EDI has given us access to new opportu-

nities with big box retailers. In the past, you’d have tocall on someone and remind them that you have a partic-ular item. Now, since your whole price book is availableelectronically, it’s easy for them to see, and if they wantto find something, they can. We’ve started to sell differ-ent products and different opportunities to customers thathad never been considered before.

EDI is giving companies the chance to not onlyincrease efficiency and save money, but to differentiatethemselves in order to gain more opportunities andimprove relationships with partners.

– Bethany Doss is business manager for Capital Lumber,Healdsburg, Ca., and a member of the North AmericanWholesale Lumber Association’s board of directors. AnthonyLuongo is a business systems analyst at Capital’s headquartersin Phoenix, Az.

A Special Series fromnorth AmericanWholesale Lumber Association

About NAWLANAWLA (North American Wholesale Lumber

Association) is the association that delivers unparal-leled access to relationships and resources thatimprove business strategy and performance throughsales growth, cost savings, and operational efficien-cies for wholesalers and manufacturers of forestproducts and other building materials that conductbusiness in North America.

Learn more about how NAWLA can help yourbusiness at www.nawla.org.

EDI Quick FactsMore and more companies are trending toward

using an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) solutionto improve productivity, increase profitability andposition themselves as a more viable partner whenworking with big box retailers.

Here’s a snapshot of some EDI basics, if you’reexploring implementing this technology soon:

• EDI can replace the mail prep process, as wellas the sharing of information via fax and email.

• It can save on costs in the following areas andmore: data entry by staff and the correction ofhuman error, mailroom sorting, transportation/freight expenses, printing, distributing and storingdocuments, as well as postage for mailing.

• There are a number of business documents thatcan be transferred electronically using EDI, but themost common ones are invoices and purchaseorders. With most EDI software, you can customizeto tailor to your company’s needs.

• Having an EDI technology solution can alsohelp in improving relationships with customersbecause order information is readily available andaccurate.

• Plan in advance when thinking about imple-menting an EDI solution. While this may seem likea three or four month process, it could take up to ayear for implementation, depending on the complex-ity of the system.

• Ensure you have a network of professionals orfriends you can reach out to in order to troubleshootany issues that arise with the EDI solution.

• While EDI creates ease of document manage-ment and communication, there can be some com-plexities that come along with it. Having a thoroughunderstanding of the technology will be very helpfulthroughout the process.


Massachusetts Chain ConsolidatesHowe Lumber will consolidate its two East Brookfield,

Ma., locations into one. No date has been announced.Howe wants to build two new buildings at its

Homestyle showroom location, after which it will close itsnearby older yard. The company said that although busi-ness is thriving, splitting inventory between two sites hasproven to be inconvenient and less economical.

Jordan Companies Crank Up OutputJordan Companies is expanding its forest products oper-

ations in North Carolina and in Georgia.Jordan Forest Products has added a second shift to its

Barnesville, Ga., facility, doubling the sawmill productionto a pace of 160 million bd. ft. per year. The company hasalso purchased a new continuous dry kiln capable of dryingan additional 1.8 million ft. per week. Slated to come online in first quarter 2016, the kiln will increase the dryingcapacity at the facility to over 200 million ft. annually.

The company has also installed on site a value-addedplant that is producing 22 million bd. ft. of product peryear on one shift.

Meanwhile, Jordan Lumber & Supply, Mount Gilead,N.C., has converted a large steam kiln for continuous dry-ing, and another conversion package on the way, withplans for operation the first quarter of 2016 as well. Thiswill give the site continuous drying capacity of 170 millionbd. ft. per year, pushing its total capacity with its five addi-tional kilns to over 300 million ft. per year.

Jordan has also added a 410,000-sq. ft. value-addedplant in Biscoe, N.C., that can produce over 45 million ft.of value-added product at the site annually. The facilitywill install additional equipment, to increase total produc-tion of value-added products to an annual production paceof 69 million bd. ft. per year.

Arauco Rolls Out New Brand forThermally-Fused Laminates

Sustainable forest products manufacturer Arauco hasdebuted PRISM, a new brand name for the company’s ther-mally fused laminate products produced in North America.The brand will represent the company’s collection of 76designs, as well as any future exclusive design releases.

In an effort to reach designers and architects, the com-pany completed detailed market research and sought out to

create a brand that will reverberate with the audience'sdesire for fresh ideas and color variety.

Director of marketing Sebastian Cremaschi explainedthat the company saw an opportunity to create a TFL brandthat will stand out from the current product offering with apersonality that speaks directly to the design community.

The company debuted the look of the new brand, alongwith two new design series, Mherge and ReclamationMaple, at the recent AWFS trade show in Las Vegas.

PRISM’s online home will be at www.prismtfl.com,where customers can view the entire collection, as well asan expansive symmetry program for complementarymatching products.

Westlake Expanding in TexasWestlake Ace Hardware has signed a lease to open a

new location in Lewisville, Tx. The store will have a 9,000 sq. ft. sales floor and will

sell traditional hardware products, such as fasteners, tools,plumbing and electric supplies and paint. The store willalso feature a large garden center, which will provide awide range of seasonal lawn and garden supplies.

Managed by 10-year Westlake veteran Loren Casey, thenew 10,800-sq. ft. store will the chain’s fifth in Texas. It isslated to open during the fall of 2015. Currently the com-pany operates 85 neighborhood hardware stores located inthe Midwest.

Rayonier Purchases Timberland inLouisiana, Oregon

Rayonier has purchased about 18,000 acres of timber-lands in southwest Louisiana and northwest Oregon in twoseparate transactions from BTG Pactual TimberlandInvestment Group.

The Louisiana property, known as the King parcel, con-sists of about 12,200 acres of southern pine timberland.The property was purchased for $25.5 million and containsmerchantable inventory of approximately 560,000 tons.The land is expected to improve the company’s sustainableyield by approximately 45,000 tons per year.

Known as the Scappoose parcel, the Oregon propertyconsists of about 5,600 acres of timberland tributary todomestic and export markets in the northwest corner of thestate, near current company holdings in southwestWashington. Purchased for $34 million, the land comple-ments the age-class profile of the company’s PacificNorthwest timber holdings and contains merchantableinventory of about 102,000 tons. An estimated 95% of thatis high-value Douglas fir and is comprised of about 88%operable lands. The property should improve Rayonier’ssustainable yield by approximately 35,000 tons per year.

Rayonier also acquired about 4,600 acres in Florida andGeorgia in the second quarter of 2015 through a number ofsmall transactions with non-industrial private landowners.

Georgia Lumber Company Sets UpShop with Sears

Griffin Lumber & Hardware, Tifton, Ga., has partneredwith Sears to open a Sears Hometown mini-store inside ofits own facility.

Store manager Pepper Thomoson expects the newdepartment, which was shown off at a June 19-20 grandopening, to draw shoppers from around the region, since itis the only Sears in the area.

SALES REWARDS

STRATEGY

LEADERSHIPSOCIALMEDIA

MARKETING

WEB

ADVANTAGE

VALUE

SERVICE

LOYALTY

RELATIONS STRATEGY

RELATIONS

TEAMWORK

RESULTS

DIFFERENTIATESTRATEGY

LEADERSHIP

ONLINE

SALES & MARKETING SPECIAL SECTION

Renee LabbeTrend Forecasting

Alex GoldfaynRevenue Growth

Dr. Rick GrandinettiThe Basics

James OlsenSales Culture

Shelly Smith AdamsMarketing Plans

Heather CrunchiePR

Bob LoewSupplier Selection

Mike LimasVariable Pricing

In a crowded and noisy marketplace, the best way to get ahead is

by improving your sales and marketing strategies.

Here, eight experts provide tools you can immediately use to:

• Develop a Sales Culture • Fine-tune Your Marketing Plan

• Capitalize on Free PR • Choose the Right Suppliers

• Use Future Trends to Lead the Market

• Business Basics to Avoid • Deploy Simple Sales Drivers

• Maximize Profits thru Variable Pricing


There are two kinds of numbers: effort numbers andresults numbers. We post both sets of numbers to rewardresults and activities. Sales management is activity man-agement. Effort numbers include the number of outboundphone calls, time on the phone, number of appointments,and number of proposals written and delivered. Resultsnumbers include the number of orders, sales dollars, profitdollars, and new clients signed.

Posting both sets of numbers daily and publicly willhelp build your sales culture. All team members will knowwho is doing what. Effort numbers are very important toyour new hires and to your veterans. Most new hire victo-ries will be in the effort column. Veteran leaders will shinein the effort column. Posting also helps you to focus on andmanage to what is important for the team.

Celebrate and recognize sales excellence often and pub-licly. Salespeople are competitive. They love contests.Salesperson of the month. Salesperson of the section. Makesales teams. If you have 30 salespeople, match your num-ber one with number 30, number two with 29, etc., andmake a competitive game for a month or a quarter. Newcustomer sign-up contest. Direct the contest to the activitiesyou want to encourage.

Spur-of-the-moment contests are good. The next order—$20 cash. Next new customer order—$50 cash! If thewhole office hits X amount of orders today, we’ll meet for

How to build a sales cultureBUILDING A STRONG sales culture pays huge benefits.

Strong sales cultures attract talent, lower turnover,increase longevity, decrease time to profitability for newhires, and deliver a higher profit per employee.

A large Canadian producer that churns out millions ofboard feet a day will operate its sales team differently thana sawmill that makes three truckloads of hardwood lumbera day. An office wholesaler with five branches running 20salespeople per branch will operate differently than a four-man shop in northern Maine.

All segments of the lumber industry will need strongsales cultures to survive and grow in all markets. Below aresix areas to build your sales culture on.

Picking Sales LeadersIndividual sellers will sell. Sales leaders will help you

grow your sales culture. The classic sales culture mistake isto give the leadership role to the best salesperson. Yourbest salespeople often will be great leaders/mentors/coach-es, but just as often then won’t. Choose leaders based onleadership qualities not merely sales qualities.

Guidelines for finding your sales leaders:• Don’t be in a hurry to designate a sales manager. The

leaner the better. Your natural leaders will assert them-selves. Many of my most successful clients have one leaderand 40 salespeople.

• See who does it for free. Many want the title or themoney associated with the job, but they don’t really want tolead, mentor and coach. Watch for those who do leadershipwork because that’s who they are.

• Ask for volunteers.• Make it tough. Make sure your team knows all the

activities required of sales leaders. A major point to makeis that leadership work is not commissioned based. If theconversation starts with, “I’d be better off spending mytime selling,” you have achieved your objective. Make it(leadership work) tough enough to keep away thetitle/money seekers. These attributes can be great for sales,but by themselves do not constitute a leader.

• Make sure your sales leaders are judged by the overallteam performance.

• They should be a good to great salesperson. If they’reweak, your team will be weak. Your leaders don’t need tobe the very best, but they should be among the very best.

Making It PublicDaily public posting of sales numbers keeps your sales

team focused. Post the numbers in a prominent place—thekitchen, breakroom or the wall behind the coffee pot work.


James Olsen on Sales Culture


James OlsenReality Sales Training

James Olsen is the founder of RealitySales Training, Portland, Or. After 20years in sales with Nike, North PacificLumber, and Forest City Trading, in2001 James started his own salestraining business, devoted to helpingcompanies and individuals achieverapid sales growth. Contact him [email protected].

pizza right after work. Reward excellence. Set yearly goals for super achievers

and reward them with something special. A weekend tripfor them and a guest to a resort hotel. These incentives canbe lavish or frugal as long as they are special. These kindsof traditions build a competitive sales spirit within yourorganization. People want to be recognized.

The Hiring Process• Hire slow, fire fast. • Test them. There are many personality tests available.

Caliper is one that I have used with success. There are cer-tain personality aspects that are common in great salespeo-ple. These tests are worth the investment. They will helpyou confirm your gut instinct or give you a guide on anenigmatic prospect.

• Involve the whole team. Use your current crew. Theyknow what it takes. Some will be better judges of talentthan others, so keep track of their opinions. This will createa buy-in from your group.

• Three to four meetings. Get your potential hires in asocial situation—lunch or dinner.

• If they start to miss work or show up late, nip it in thebud now. Showing up late or calling in sick is not a goodsign, especially early in our relationship with our new hire.Do not let it continue; put this type of person on a veryshort leash and see tip #1.

Compensation: Clear, Fair & SimpleMy brother says, “There are two types of companies; the

kind that want to pay salespeople and the kind that don’t.”The clearer, fairer and simpler your compensation plan,

the more it will inspire your sales team. Too many compen-sation plans are written to cover potential problems. Theyare too complicated. They try to cover all contingenciesinstead of inspiring the sales team. Sales management willcover contingencies when they arise. If you cannot explainyour compensation in less than four sentences, you need tore-write it.

Here are two examples of poor compensation programs:

Company #1 30% on first 100K of profit generated35% on the next 50K of profit generated40% on everything beyond 150K

So far so good. This is easy to understand. Here’s thecatch. Since some highly motivated, insightful and hard-working salespeople were able to make over $1 million incommissions, the company decided that after X amount ofprofit, the compensation paid to the salesperson would goback down to 30%!

The problem, culturally, is the message this rule sends.We don’t want to pay you. We think you’re overpaid. Wethink you’re not so intelligent. This company wastes anopportunity. Not many salespeople will be in the $1 millionper year range, but they will inspire many below them totry to be a $1 million a year salesperson! Kicking this sales-person in the shins sends the message to the sales team,“Sell, but not too much.” Bad message = bad culture.

Company #2 I worked with this company for two years. No one in the

organization could explain their compensation program tome, not the CEO, GMs, nor the successful salespeoplewithin the organization. There were five categories andseveral nuances within each category that needed to be cal-culated before arriving at a sales compensation number. Inreality, it was a salary plus (subjective) bonus.

One of the most experienced salespeople told a newhire, “Don’t sell too much this year because you will haveto sell against it next year.” The salespeople knew that thecompensation program was deliberately vague. This createsa culture of “Let’s sell as little as possible, for as much payas we can” from the sales team and the opposite—“Let’spay them as little as possible for as much as we can get outof them”—from the management side.

These cultures do not attract or retain high level salestalent. Their teams will be made up of salespeople who willput up with compensation that is not clear, fair and simple.These cultures are self-fulfilling. They create mediocrity.

Two examples of good/clear compensation:

Company #1 30% for first 100K in profit generated35% on next 50K in profit generated45% on every profit dollar beyond

Company #2 Base salary $2,500 a month10% on all profit dollars with 12% margin12% on all profit dollars with 15% margin20% on all profit dollars with 20% margin, etc.

Both of these systems have nuances, but the base com-pensation is clear, fair and simple. Most importantly, thiskind of compensation attracts and retains top salespeople.These programs are “limitless;” the sky is the limit.

Philosophically, if you see salespeople as a necessaryevil, your culture and compensation will reflect that. If yousee your sales team as money-making partners in your busi-ness, your compensation and your culture will reflect that.

TrainingSales cultures constantly train and reinforce their values

and skill sets. Early training is a must. Role play and listen-ing to and critiquing of taped calls are very effective.

Building a sales culture can begin quickly, and willbring quick results. A strong and lasting sales culture willtake time, energy and focus.


It!”? I’m not sure I was thinking thatthe last time I ate fast food. A taglineis easy to come up with. However,you must embody the meaning of thatmessage in EVERY aspect of yourmarketing and EVERYTHING youdo is part of your marketing! All ittakes is one contradiction to defeatyour marketing efforts. Think aboutthat waiter’s rude attitude that madeyou never want to go back to yourfavorite restaurant. All of those posi-tive prior experiences ruined by a sin-

gle person, on just one day! It’s because marketing really isabout communicating—communicating the value of yourproduct or service in the effort to increase sales.

Keep it consistent and restate it. You’ve created yourmarketing message and it’s ready to go. Now keep it con-sistent and use it throughout all of your marketing efforts.There is an old marketing adage called the “Rule ofSeven.” It states that a prospect needs to see or hear yourmarketing message at least seven times before they takeaction and buy from you. In today’s noisy world, it’s morethan seven times. Customers are already being bombardedby all kinds of messages. If you continually vary yours, itwill just get lost in the crowd. Again, consistency in mes-sage and frequency is the key.

If you remember only three things, remember that inorder to create a powerful marketing campaign, (1) youmust be deliberate in your message, (2) keep the messageconsistent, and (3) carry it through all efforts, marketingand otherwise.

Marketing must be an ongoing process in order to besuccessful. It’s about communication. So, be sure that youare communicating the right message, every time to yourpotential customers and you’ll find results that are mea-sured by increased sales, loyalty and referrals!

VIRAL, GUERILLA, undercover mar-keting… these are all terms that

you are familiar with and implementin your business, right? Don’t worry.No need to rush out and buy a market-ing dictionary. I’ve been working inthe marketing field for close to 20years now and some of these termswere new to me, too.

With lots of strategies out there topick from, how do you decide whichis best for you and your company?We can make this a lot simpler than itsounds. While these fancy terms sound interesting, what isreally needed is just a good ol’ fashioned plan—a market-ing plan. This plan can be as simple or complex as youwould like it to be. However, the most important factors inmaking your marketing plan, strategies and campaigns is tocreate a deliberate, purposeful marketing message that iscohesive and consistent.

So what does that mean? Over the years, I’ve handledmarketing campaigns for many companies—some success-ful and some, well, not so successful. However, with eachcampaign, I’ve learned more about how to lessen thechance of an unsuccessful campaign and guarantee a suc-cessful one. What I’ve found is that the best-made market-ing plans are always created with thought and purpose andkept consistent throughout.

It is important to be deliberate about creating a cohesivemessage. This message will be carried throughout everymarketing piece, including ads, direct mail campaigns, awebsite, and even through your own company staff. Whatmost companies don’t think about is that EVERYTHINGleaves a message or impression, whether it’s intentional ornot. So make it intentional! When creating your message,put yourself in your customer’s shoes. We often forget toconsider what it’s like to be a customer of our own compa-ny. Remember that we are customers of many places. Takea moment to recall some experiences you’ve had with com-panies. Think about the bad and the good. Think about howyou want your customer to feel after reading an ad or visit-ing your website or speaking to an employee. Little thingsmake a BIG difference! Remember that a consistent mes-sage will filter through all of these channels.

We all remember the tagline, “Fly the Friendly Skies.”That sounds great to me! When was the last time yourflight experience was that friendly? What about “I’m Lovin


Shelly Smith Adams on Marketing Plans

Shelly Smith Adams526 Media Group

Shelly Smith Adams has a near-20 yearcareer in consumer marketing campaignsand strategies, working with some of theleading publishers in the U.S. Her specialtyof unifying go-to market efforts into anintegrated strategy has been used byorganizations ranging from startups tomulti-national corporations. Contacther at [email protected].

Devising a cohesivemarketing campaign

© 2015 James Hardie Building Products Inc. All Rights Reserved. TM, SM, and ® denote trademarks or registered trademarks of James Hardie Technology Limited.

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Be the National ExpertMany small yards are reluc-

tant to share their ideas and tri-umphs with trade publications forfear that competitors will findout—but in reality it’s likely thatyour competitors already know.Reach out to editors at nationaltrade and association publica-tions (most of them list their con-

tact information on the publication’s staff box or website)with success stories, novel business approaches, and casestudies, or offer up your unique building expertise. Forexample, perhaps you have figured out a more efficientway to schedule deliveries or have supplied a particularlychallenging project.

If you’re featured or quoted, be sure to share the articlewith customers, such as on social media and in casualemails or a company newsletter, to increase your clout.

Start a BlogNot having much luck with local papers? Create your

own editorial platform with a company blog on your web-site or through a plug-and-play application such asWordPress. Plan weekly content on key topics for youraudience and engage your in-house team to contributeoccasional posts with how-to advice, seasonal tips, show-cases of new product offerings, photo albums of cus-tomers’ projects, observations on local housing trends, etc.

Share links to your posts on social media and inemails/enewsletters to customers, and share with local andnational editors for consideration for reuse in their publica-tions. Do your manufacturer partners have e-newsletters?Let them know about your blog content for possible inclu-sion in their upcoming editions.

Blogs take some work, but if you have strong expertiseto share, good content can bring traffic to your websitewhile showcasing your team as local industry experts.

Work with ManufacturersEven if your company doesn’t have the bandwidth to

conduct extensive marketing, chances are your vendorpartners do—and they’re eager to leverage your story for

FOR MANY SMALL, single-loca-tion lumberyards, having a

dedicated public relations personjust isn’t in the cards—or thebudget. And even those that dohave a marketing team memberoften find that person stretchedbetween many roles.

Still, PR outreach beyond tra-ditional ads and co-op dollars canbe a powerful tool to increase your company’s brandrecognition in the community. And, fortunately, there ismuch PR to be gained simply by leveraging your hard-earned expertise—by converting your know-how andobservations into content that can be shared by you, yourcompany, and the media.

Develop a Topic ListStart by making a list of topic areas in which you and

your colleagues are experts. Perhaps it’s exterior designtrends, closing the sale, or more efficient installation tech-niques? Perhaps you follow local housing statistics? Ormaybe you’ve observed stand-out projects completed bycustomers?

This is often the hardest step, but you’ll soon find theideas flowing as you consider the advice you give to cus-tomers each day, share the lessons you’ve learned over theyears, and observe the buying habits or opinions of yourcustomers and the community.

Be the Local ExpertFlexing your know-how with a byline or quote in the

press will keep your company’s name front and centerwhile also alerting potential customers to your expertiseand leadership. Get to know your local newspaper editorsor community bloggers and offer yourself and your teamup as home improvement resources.

Perhaps the paper needs a monthly column with how-totips or product trend reports, or maybe they’re just lookingfor new sources for upcoming articles on home design andlocal buying habits. Either way, let them know you havein-house experts ready to go and provide them with topicsand potential story ideas.


Heather Crunchie on PR

6 ways to convert yourexpertise into free publicity


Heather CrunchieC Squared Advertising

Heather Crunchie is co-principal ofC Squared Advertising(www.csquaredadvertising.com), a full-service marketing firm specializing in thebuilding products industry. Contact her [email protected].

mutually beneficial marketing.Communicate with your vendors’marketing teams and let them knowabout interesting projects where theirproducts are being used or uniqueways you’re selling their products.

For example, when our clientWeyerhaeuser contributed an article tothis publication on events for women,it included real-life examples fromdealer customers, providing thoseyards with publicity while requiringminimal time expenditure. For anothermanufacturer, we showcased innova-tive business approaches of builderand dealer customers in short videosused in national advertising and PRcampaigns.

Be an Expert on LinkedInand Houzz

Jumping into social media can be abit scary, but LinkedIn and Houzzoffer some of the lowest barriers toentry, as well as some of the biggestopportunities to share your knowledgedirectly with those who need it. As anindividual, follow industry LinkedIn“groups” and weigh in with advicewhen discussions skew toward topicsin which you specialize. As a compa-ny on Houzz, search for discussions inyour areas of expertise (perhaps “entrydoors”) and contribute answers oradvice to consumer questions.

Your industry expertise is hard-earned—use it to your company’sadvantage by converting it into share-able, useable content. With eachbyline, mention, or contribution,you’re racking up yet another view ofyour company’s name and helping toposition it as a key communityresource.


Partners don’t sell directly to yourcustomers, offering you a couple ofpercentage points back to make upfor it. They value your relationshipand help you build relationships withyour customers. Partners have cus-tomer-focused ideas to make it easyto buy from you (e.g., marking prod-uct for length, pre-cutting requiredholes, or labeling product to matchthe layout). They view your feedbackas opportunities to innovate: match-ing their new products with yourchallenges.

How does this benefit my business? Spendingyour time competing for customers vs. implementing ideasto connect with them—which is time better spent?

VALUE“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

– Warren BuffetPartners create additional value by helping you differen-

tiate your business. Support-based education and trainingare standard. They willingly train your sales and technicalemployees about the market, not just their products.

Partners see your challenges as their own. Solving yourcustomer challenges are as important to them as they are toyou. Their first priority: solve them as quickly and painless-ly as possible. Resolving your customer’s concerns, first‚the order details with you, second.

How does this benefit my business? Partners understandand know how to help you create internal and externalvalue beyond their products. Often, it arrives as intuitivesupport when you need it the most: with human capital.

“Quality and price” aren’t the competitive advantagesthey once were. Today, everyone has quality products andlow pricing. Value is the new competitive edge. Partnersdeliver value—value that is often invisible, existing beyondproducts, orders and programs. Choose as if the success ofyour business depended on it.

WHILE SOME dealers, distributorsand manufacturers see their

businesses as separate, they aren’t.Increased dealer/distributor salesbenefit both the dealer/distributorand the manufacturer. All get more orders.

There are two types of manufacturing sup-pliers: order takers and partners. The kind ofmanufacturer you distribute for has a measurableimpact on your margins and profitability. Partners dobusiness differently in four areas: integrity, empathy, loyal-ty and value. There’s an easy, one-question test to deter-mine if a manufacturer is a good fit: ask, “How does thisbenefit my business?”

INTEGRITY“Earn your success based on service to others, not at

the expense of others.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.Partners have integrity, communicating openly and hon-

estly. They think like you do and put your profitability inthe forefront of their actions. It’s safe to talk about thingslike margins with them, because conversations are confi-dential. Partners see themselves as part of your team. Theysee your success as a part of their own success, not mutual-ly exclusive.

How does this benefit my business? Integrity is the foun-dation of trust. Collaborative supplier partnerships based intrust, support profitability, and growth. Why? Because yourtime is spent growing the business, as opposed to checkingup on a supplier.

EMPATHY“Walk a mile in my shoes.” – Joe SouthPartners demonstrate a genuine interest in your company

by asking questions and listening. Instead of selling youproducts‚ they bring opportunities and work with you toachieve results. Their goal is obvious: to understand yourconcerns and know your business as well as you do. Partnersare constantly finding and suggesting new ways to growyour profitability. They might, for example, show you howto put your yard’s waste factor back into margin percentage(and into your pocket) with an optimization program.

How does this benefit my business? Internal innovationsdrive profitability by putting results within your control.Imagine cutting waste to less than 1%—could you elimi-nate one entire position and the overhead?

LOYALTY“An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.”

– Elbert Hubbard


Robert Loew on Supplier Selection

Bob LoewMetsä Wood USA

Robert Loew is a longstanding memberof the LBM community, with a 360-degreeexpertise in sales and distribution ofengineered wood. He is managingdirector of Metsä Wood USA, specializingin the manufacture and distribution ofhigh-end Nordic timber. Contact him [email protected].

Choosing the right suppliers

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Capitalizing on consumertrends ahead of the curve

the special way the treeline in thebackyard conceals the footpath tothe garage.

You could call each and any ofthese things The Art ofThoughtfulness—the care taken byarchitects and developers to trulyconsider the various elements of ahome. And such care is anythingbut typical. It’s not the considera-tion of such things as the idealnumber of bedrooms or the pre-ferred size of the great room, butrather of enriching the lives of itsinhabitants.

But while understanding thehabits and needs of a homeowner isan integral part of the upfrontdesign process, doing it well isoften no mere act of observation.It’s an ever-evolving blend of socialscience, measured analytics, andpredictive modeling.

And it happens to be my job.As a consumer foresight strategist, my role for the last

16 years has been to help designers of everything fromaprons to automobiles make such “thoughtfulnesses” theStep One in their creative processes. It’s my responsibilityto look two years ahead, five years ahead, even 10 yearsahead and identify how the future consumer will change inbehavior—so that designers in turn can be ready with theright products and the right time.

Like a radical new bathtub shape. Or a digital drawer.Or a breathable roof made by an air conditioning company.

For a lot of projects, arriving at such product ideasbegins by finding connections between seemingly unrelat-ed things. For example, we know from several researchsources (including the United Nations and the WorldHealth Organization) that within the next 10 years, morethan 80% of the global population will be living in cities. Ifthat’s true, we can of course expect land values and short-ages in such regions to rise. Developers will fully utilizeresidential density per regional zoning codes to maximize

QUICK TEST: What do these threethings have in common? A

bathtub brand begins radically alter-ing the shape of its freestandingproduct range, a kitchen cupboardmanufacturer introduces a “digital”drawer, and an air conditioningcompany announces that it’s now inthe business of roofing.

To answer this question, pleaseallow me to side track temporarily.One of my favorite things in thewhole world happens everySunday, typically between the veryordinary hours of 2:00 and 5:00p.m. It sits in the back of my mindall week long, the unwaveringpromise of forthcoming wonder andinspiration, like the series finale ofan HBO hit. It never disappoints, itnever loses my interest, and it neverfails to produce within me a feelingI absolutely love: awe.

This semi-obsession is attendingopen houses. If you’ve ever done this, you may have expe-rienced such feelings a time or two yourself. And ifyou’ve ever attended a decent amount of them, youundoubtedly know the oh-so-subtle difference between ahouse that merely checks all the necessary boxes and onethat opens your mind to a whole new sense of living yourday to day that feels like pure ease and pleasure.

Spoiler alert: that subtle difference is not price point. I can’t describe in enough detail the amount of times

I’ve visited two similarly advertised homes—on the sameday, in the same neighborhood, with the same number ofbedrooms and bathrooms, with the exact same list price—and come away with two vastly diverse impressions. Sowhat gives? What could possibly account for such a gap?

It’s a subtle thing really, hard to pinpoint at first.Perhaps it’s a master bathroom you keep looking at andthinking, “I love this”—even though it’s much smaller thanthe other master baths you’ve seen so far. Or a pantry youcan’t help imagining your future self foraging through. Or


Renee Labbe on Trend Forecasting

By Alex Goldfayn


Renee LabbeBroadside Studios

Renee Labbe is a consumer foresightand design strategist with 16 yearsexperience providing predictiveintelligence to hundreds of the world’smost recognizable brands. Her company,Broadside Studios, specializes inanalytics & insights-based designforecasts for the architectural industry.Contact her at [email protected].

revenues, and homes will continue toget smaller and closer together.Naturally, for the inhabitants of suchhomes, this increased density meansless privacy. So privacy becomes acommodity. The job of the architectand developer, then, becomes to sellthe sense of perceived privacy via thedesigns they erect.

Seems simple enough a task. Yetwhen we span the 10-year horizon wesee more than just shifts in urban den-sity. We know from numerous datasources that an increasing number ofU.S. workers are freelance-based orentrepreneurial—experiencing agreater amount of flexibility in theirdaily calendars. For those workerswho are employed full time, we knowan increasing number of companiesare attempting to attract and retainskilled employees with flexible workhours, no vacation policies, andrelaxed “attendance” requirements.And no matter how flexible the workschedule, an exponential number ofcompanies and apps are increasinglycompeting to handle anything andeverything one may need—from pick-ing up dry cleaning to paying thevalet to getting groceries. All of thesethings add up to more of one veryspecial thing: freedom.

So what does that have to do withresidential housing products, you ask?Great question. Translating increasedprivacy while simultaneously assist-ing in the perception of increasedfreedom can seem like polar oppo-sites. But therein lies the type of on-going challenges that developers,architects and their suppliers must riseup to meet. For those who do, home-buyers will be rewarding.

Freedom is not a simple thing, butloosely translated it can meanincreased openness, expansivenessand greater ease of accessibility tooutdoor areas. Yet privacy wouldmean the exact opposite: increasedhidden-ness, and less visible connec-tion to the outside world.

The first impact can be witnessedfor the windows industry. Freedomwould mean more windows, greateramounts of light, and maximum lightexposure. Yet privacy would meanless visibility from the outside in.The translation: window budgets will

shift to account for larger windows…which will in turn need to be morestrategically placed… which will inturn result in alterations in planningdocuments. A large rectangular livingroom window, for example, horizon-tally placed high on a wall near theceiling, would offer an exceptionalamount of light yet shelter the inhabi-tants from the wandering eyes ofpassersby or too-close-for-comfortneighbors.

Freedom vs. privacy impacts agreat number of design elementswithin a home. Windows and windowtreatments are obvious, but landscap-ing and courtyards also becomereconsidered. And then of coursethere are other consumer-driven out-puts that impact home design, likebehaviors we’re calling “home-shar-ing,” “single-servers,” and “app-sup-port,” to name a few.

Regardless of the which futurebehaviors are anticipated, or howthose behaviors are subsequentlytranslation in the functionality andaesthetics of a home, these types ofconversations are proving more andmore necessary to stay competitive.The bathtubs, the digital drawers, andthe A/C roofing are all parts of a newtype of dialogue that architects, devel-

opers and suppliers need to have ifthey want to meet the quickly shiftingneeds of increasingly design-savvyconsumers. Like a form of designinsurance, understanding the needs ofconsumers is paramount. But translat-ing them is critical in this changingmarketplace. Allowing trend forecast-ing to influence your business ineverything from inventory, to sourc-ing new product lines and trainingstaff training can help you stay aheadof the competition.

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WHILE WORKING with organiza-tions for 26 years, I have wit-

nessed something just short ofremarkable. This observation is sosimple, yet advanced. A company willflourish and dominate the marketplacewhen it learns, applies and improvesupon these simple business basics. Iremain baffled by those who believebusiness is complex and intricate.

To further illustrate this point, thefollowing are the top five oppositestatements of successful businessbasics:

1. “Our industry is unique and hasits own problems, and we are not likeany other company or any otherindustry.”

Wrong! It doesn’t matter what youmanufacture, sell or service; everyorganization has the same problems.Ultimately, the majority of problems will start and end withyour employees.

2. “Our products are the best, we buy the best rawmaterials, and we buy from the best vendors.”

Wrong again. Most, if not all products, look alike; thereare very few exceptions of product differentiation.

3. “Our customers are loyal, they are our customers, weearned them, and they won’t leave us for the competition.”

Strike three. I am sure your customers will be loyalwhen they are buying from you; however, your customersexperiment with the competition, and your customer is con-stantly thinking: “What have you done for me lately?”Most organizations that have failed have this in common:they take their longterm customers for granted.

4. “People buy on price, our customers want the lowestprice. That is the main reason why they buy.”

This statement is true only 7% of the time. U.S. News &World Report research indicates that less than 7% of thepurchases in the U.S. are on price only. The other 93% arelooking for a fair price and perceived value, if they cannotfind value in their purchase then it defaults to price.

Examples of perceived value are:faster delivery, better terms on pay-ment (2, 3% net 10), immediate prob-lem solving, impeccable service, pro-vide potential customers for your cus-tomers, make it seamless to conductbusiness with you. Bottom line: Whatis your company so good at you can-not be ignored?

5. “Our employees are just that,employees. All they want is to puttheir eight hours in and go home, theyjust care about the paycheck.”

Wrong once again. If your employ-ees don’t care about their work ortheir company, it shows in their work,problem solving, production andinnovation. This ultimately bleedsover to the customer.

Keep in mind, “A customer willnever love a company unless the

employees love it first.” If your employees work as thoughthey cannot wait to get the heck out of work, your cus-tomers will feel the same way.

If employee morale is poor and indifferent rememberthis: “You cannot build a house on a broken foundation.”With the indifference from your employees, cracks willform in your organization’s foundation and ultimately leadto the demise of your company.

The antidote is simple. Do and act the opposite of theabove five business basics statements.

Lastly, companies that thrive in any economy preformthe basics better than their competition. They prosper byout-servicing the competition not out-spending them.


Dr. Rick Grandinetti on The Basics

Dr. Rick GrandinettiSucceed Inside the Box

Dr. Rick Grandinetti has designed,produced, coordinated and conductedthousands of seminars and keynotespeeches, and has authorededucational programs and two books,including Succeed Inside the Box,Guaranteed. Contact him [email protected].

Five business basics toimmediately flee from


total range of your services. That’s100% of your offering. What per-centage do you think the averagecustomer is aware of?

I’ve studied this among myclients. The average customer’sawareness of all that they can buyfrom you is about 20%. Thatmeans people cannot buy 80% ofwhat you make or do. Even ifyou’ve told them you do some-thing, it doesn’t mean they’re con-sciously aware of it!

Think about this: your cus-tomers enjoy doing business with you, that’s why they keepcoming back. They buy things from you which they findvaluable and helpful. Which is why they’ve been with youfor years.

They need other things you can sell them. In fact,chances are they’re already buying those things from oth-ers. They’d like to buy these things, or services, from you,and you would like to sell it to them, but none of it canhappen because your customers are simply unaware ofwhat they can buy from you! It’s almost tragic.

We solve this problem by asking the very simple andstraight forward did you know question. Let’s assume youhave five customer facing people at your company whointeract with customers, by phone and email, a total of 50times per day each. That’s 250 interactions per day, or1,250 per week, or 62,500 communications per year.

Since we’re adding line items or options to an order withthis question, let’s assume that 10% of all did you knowquestions result in an order (my clients average about 20%success rate, but let’s be conservative). And let’s assumethe average line item is $300, but use your own numbers.That’s $1,875,000 in new business. But if you hit the aver-age, you’d be at $3.75 million in new business. And if youraverage line item is $1,000, you’re at $12.5 million!

See how this works? Just like selling water with coffee. What’s your bottle of water?

I WAS AT THE Minneapolis airportwaiting to board my flight home,

and went to buy a cup of coffee.The young lady at the counter tookmy order and then asked if I wouldlike a bottle of water with that.

What a great question! I’m get-ting on an airplane, of course Iwant a bottle of water! It’s a smart,opportunistic and highly valuablequestion. “Do they teach you to askthat question,” I asked.

“Yes, it’s a part of our training,”she replied.

“How many people buy a bottle of water?” Without hesitating, she replied, “Almost everyone.” Guess how much the bottle of water cost? Five dollars!

My coffee’s price was $3. Now, consider the immense power of this single ques-

tion: it nearly triples this coffee shop’s revenue. My orderwent from $3 to $8. It took the seller two seconds to ask. Itcost nothing to implement.

The customer (me) was quite happy at the seller’s sug-gestion, because it helped me, and I was happy to pay for it.In fact, I would have bought the bottle of water elsewherebefore getting on the flight. But this woman behind thecounter saved me the time of making that extra stop. I wasgrateful at her suggestion. One helpful question for nearlytriple the revenue.

What is your version of this question? What is your bot-tle of water? I can answer the first question, but only youcan answer the second. Here’s your version of “would youlike a bottle of water with that”: Did you know we also do(or make) x, y, or z?

My clients dubbed this the “did you know question.” Ofall 22 techniques that I implement for my clients, this is oneof the two most effective ones. The did you know questioncan grow your business by 15% annually, starting with themoment you start asking it. Here are three ways you canimplement this at your firm:

• Just like the coffee shop counter lady, all customer-fac-ing people can ask the did you know question to every cus-tomer—in person or on the phone. Look at what they’rebuying and ask if they need something complimentary.

• Add the did you know question to every email yousend. You can type it into the body of the email, or…

• Add the question to the signature of all your emails.Do this company-wide, for everyone sending emails.

Consider all of the different products and/or servicesyour company sells. Your entire product catalog, and the


Alex Goldfayn on Simple Sales Drivers

By Alex Goldfayn

Alex GoldfaynEvangelist Marketing Institute

Alex Goldfayn is a market strategist,consultant, coach and speaker forcompanies that are looking for dramaticgrowth and increased revenues. Hislatest book is The Revenue Growth Habit:The Simple Art of Growing Your Businessby 15% in 15 Minutes Per Day. Contacthim at [email protected].

The million dollar question


The AA, BB, CCs ofpricing optimization

of simply using A, B, C or D, rankings are AA, AB, AC,AD, BA, BB, etc.) The quadrant is based on two axes: buy-ing behavior on the x-axis and profitability impact on they-axis. The value for each area is based on a set of vari-ables. For instance, profitability factors include deliverycosts, will-call orders, returns, and days past due. Using thequadrant helps separate dependable A and B customersfrom those with sporadic buying behavior or chronicallylate payments.

Changing BehaviorCustomer stratification doesn’t just show which

accounts are most profitable; it shows how to make themmore profitable. It’s similar to looking at a class’s testresults. The overall grades don’t reveal much, but review-ing the test questions can pinpoint which students haveproblems with spelling and which have problems withgrammar. Likewise, a customer’s AB or CD rating onlytells you so much. The stratification process, however,breaks out specific factors. When you know what areas totarget, you can respond more effectively.

The goal of pricing optimization, after all, isn’t tocharge the highest price, it’s to make the highest profit. Toreally improve profitability, you likely need to change thebehavior of both customers and your sales reps.

Change #1: Account ManagementConsider this (highly simplified) example. Acme

Lumber has two customers: Jay Construction and HaasBuilders. Both have a profitability ranking of “C.” But ifwe dig into the specific variables, we can see they havedifferent issues.

VARIABLE PRICING is gaining a lot of attention. Everyonewants a system that can crunch data and spit out a

magic number. But chasing a magic number misses the real value of the

process. Pricing optimization is not just a software functionor calculation. It’s a powerful managerial tool. Morespecifically, it’s a strategy for improving profit by chang-ing behavior. And when done correctly, it helps providebetter service to your customers.

Learn Your AA, BB, CCsPricing optimization starts with customer stratification.

Many businesses only use gross sales to rank accounts asA, B, C or D. But not all “A”s are created equal. Forinstance, an A customer with a lot of returned items andlate payments may not be very profitable. The stratificationprocess accounts for these “hidden costs.” It provides amore comprehensive picture of your customers and theirimpact on your bottom line.

Stratification plots customers in a quadrant. (So instead


Mike Limas on Variable Pricing

Orders per Stop

Lines per Order

Returns

TOTAL RANKING

Haas

B

B

D

C

Jay

B

D

B

C

THE QUADRANT reflects a customer’s profitability and relationship withyour business.


Jay Construction usually has just afew items per each order. HaasBuilders, on the other hand, makes alot of returns.

This information gives Acme’ssales reps a strategy beyond “sellmore.” If the reps can help Jay’sConstruction consolidate deliveriesand Haas Builders improve orderaccuracy, it would reduce the cost toserve each company. Those accountswould become more profitable, evenif their sales didn’t increase.

This doesn’t just benefit Acme. Ifthese customers improve their rankingand move into a higher quadrant (sayfrom BC to BB), they may be eligiblefor better pricing. It’s a win allaround.

Change #2: Policy UpdatesIf a particular variable causes prob-

lems across many customers, anaccount-by-account response may notbe sufficient. It could suggest theneed for company-wide changes. Forinstance, if “returns” are a problemfor the majority of Acme’s customers,Acme may want to solve the underly-ing reasons for returns, add a servicecharge, or change its return policy.

Change #3: Resource AllocationStratification also provides insight

about about employee performance.Identifying which reps are most prof-itable can help make decisions aboutassigning accounts. Instead of goingby seniority or sales volume, assignyour most profitable people to themost profitable customers. You canalso evaluate “star” reps and look forbehaviors that other team memberscan adopt.

PricingOnce a business stratifies their cus-

tomers and performs a similar processwith their items, they can calculateoptimized prices. Exactly how a busi-ness uses optimized pricing is up tothem. Some may decide to lock downprices, while others may allow reps abit of flexibility on AA-BB accounts.A third possibility is to use optimizedprices as a goal, and reward repswhen they near their target.

While owners and managers are

excited about the potential of pricingoptimization, sales reps are lessthrilled. The stratification processmay reveal some A and B accountsaren’t very profitable and should becharged more. Reps aren’t going to behappy about raising prices on their“best” customers and may feel likethey are gouging good accounts.

Help reps understand that pricesstem from both the products and ser-vices you provide. Extra attention andhandholding represent real costs. Itconsumes time and money to con-stantly update orders, process returns,and wait for late payments. Youshouldn’t gouge customers, but it’sokay to charge what you’re worth.

Going ForwardSome people see pricing optimiza-

tion as the rise of the machines, withsoftware poised to take the jobs ofhapless sales reps. This scenariocouldn’t be farther from the truth.Pricing optimization is an extremelyhands-on process. It demands deeperconversations about pricing strategy.It prompts businesses to consider the“how” and “why” of their decisions.

Software is tremendously helpful.

It processes huge amounts of data,runs complicated formulas, and deliv-ers more precise answers. It’s a pow-erful tool, but it’s still just a tool. Itdoesn’t know customers, understandgoals, or enforce policies. Withoutactive participation, software can’timprove your profitability any morethan a FitBit can improve your waist-line. Instead of searching for magicnumbers, businesses should use pric-ing optimization as a springboard forgreater change.

CUSTOMER PROFITABILITY is calculated using a range of variables.

Mike LimasDMSi

Mike Limas is vice president of DMSiSoftware (www.dmsi.com), Omaha, Ne.He has over 25 years of experience asa CPA and CFO/COO of service,technology, and building productsmanufacturing operations. Reach himat [email protected].


FAMILY BusinessBy Wayne Rivers

How non-family execsview your businessAFTER A RECENT speech, a gentleman came up, intro-

duced himself, and asked if I might have a few min-utes to talk privately. He is a senior vice president for afamily business, and, having listened to my remarks, hewanted to share his personal observations. Boy, did I getan earful! The reason I want to share his insights is thatthey apply to so many family enterprises, and as a familybusiness advisor, there is a “teachable moment” here.

This particular business is a manufacturing companyowned equally by six brothers and sisters. Four workactively in the company, and two do not. All six are over50 years of age. Assuring him that our conversation wouldbe private, confidential, and that none of his remarkswould be attributed to him, the VP and I sat down andshared a drink. I then asked him a series of questions,which he answered with blunt honesty.

Q1: How do you view the place where the family andthe business intersect?

A: There’s a lack of clarity between what constitutes

ownership and employment. In addition, family memberscontinually question and second guess decisions made byothers, and that’s in direct violation of what’s stated in ourcompany values and what the norm in most businesses is.You may not always agree with decisions, but, oncethey’re made, everyone has to get on board.

Q2: How does the business run in general?A: Pretty well. Two years ago we got a vice president

of human resources, and that’s been a great hire. We alsoadded an operations guy who’s been driving lean in ourorganization. Without him, we wouldn’t be discussing thefuture or succession planning at all.

We’ve grown the company’s size by three times sinceI’ve been aboard—mostly through acquisitions. The newacquisitions don’t necessarily share our core philosophy ofkeeping the customer first, and we’ve got some work to doon bridging the cultural gaps. Even with the new seniormanagers we’ve hired, we still need talented people!That’s our biggest weakness. But, all things considered, thecompany does pretty well.

Q3: From your point of view, how does the familyrun?

A: The family will bellyache about each other and ventto me, but they will not address their issues directly witheach other! Seems like everyone is afraid of being the badguy. In addition, they are too nice! They don’t hold eachother as family or the employees accountable. They’re waytoo compassionate with employee termination decisions.

Your comments about having the right people on thebus and the wrong people off; no way that works here. Forexample, the CFO is overloaded and never finishes his pro-jects. He always says, “I’m working on it…” The familywon’t hold him accountable.

Q4: What does a typical family blowup look like?What triggers it? And what is the effect on the employeesand morale?


A: They argue in front of others; it might go from twoof the siblings to all of them. In person, in private, on con-ference calls… Some of the siblings withdraw, and somenever let a matter drop. They bicker over day-to-day stuff;they argue, and then, because this is normal for them, Iguess, they get over it. The problem is all this drama getspushed out to the rest of the organization while the familytries to act like nothing ever happened.”

Q5: What’s next for business and family successionplanning? What does future ownership look like?

A: There is no clear next-generation family succession.That’s something management is discussing; the ownersneed to get serious about their succession planning.

Q6: What are your frustrations as an executive work-ing for a family business?

A: It takes six months to make a decision! Usuallythat’s because the siblings don’t agree. I can make deci-sions only when it’s convenient. The family retains vetopower.

Q7: What dangers do you see for both this family andthis business?

A: I don’t know how the company is going to perpetu-ate itself. Some of the owners are workaholics, and someare all about family. None of the next generation is in thebusiness yet, and there’s a five to 10 year learning curvejust to begin to understand what we do.

The family hasn’t decided whether to sell among them-selves or try and sell the company to outsiders. A big dan-ger is that we could lose key people due to the lack of clar-ity on succession and the slow response time on key deci-sions.

Q8: It can’t be all that bad! Why do you stay?A: The family are great people. They would give you

the shirts off their backs. I have lots of freedom to do myjob—unless I make a decision they feel they need to takeback! I have great job security, the compensation is good,and I get plenty of time off. At my previous employer, Iwas treated like a number and not a person. I guess theniceness and compassion I was complaining about earlieris also a good thing in some ways.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. This is a statisticalsample of one in a universe of hundreds of thousands ofnonfamily managers employed by family-owned compa-nies. Don’t kid yourself! In our experience, the frustra-tions, dangers, and dissatisfactions discussed by this super-talented person are not the exceptions; they are the rules.

Three key areas of focus for improvement in almost allfamily businesses are improving decision-making capabili-ties, holding people accountable, and planning for bothownership and management succession.

– Wayne Rivers is president of The Family Business Institute,Inc. (www.familybusinessinstitute.com). Reach him at (877) 326-2493 or [email protected].


Gary Poulos, ex-PMC BuildingMaterials, has been named presi-dent of Mill Creek Lumber &Supply, Tulsa, Ok.

Eric Palmer, ex-ProBuild, is nowdivision mgr. for Builders,Kearney, Ne.

Matthew Skerry has joined PrincetonForest Products, Orange, Ma., asVP and general mgr.

James H. Langdale has been namedCEO of Suwannee Lumber Co.,Cross City, Fl. He succeeds Frank“Bump” Faircloth, who replacesCharles Miller as the new chair-man of the board.

David Mayer, ex-Great Southern, isnow senior commodity buyer withSoutheast Wood Treating,Montgomery, Al.

Kirk Nichols, ex-BlueLinx is now VPof sales–Americas for MetsäWood.

Bo Ortiz has been appointed storemgr. of McCoy’s Building Supply,Harlingen, Tx. Ruben Valdez isnow store mgr. in Edinburg, Tx.,and Mike Dosch in League City,Tx.

MOVeRS & Shakers

Sam Robinson and Justin Smith arenew traders at Tampa InternationalForest Products, Tampa, Fl.

Sam Cochran has joined the lumbertrading staff with RichmondInternational Forest Products,Richmond, Va.

Bill Torpey is retiring as the Midwestand Mid-Atlantic regional salesmgr. for Cedar Valley Manufac-turing, after 30 years.

Gary Bowman has been promoted toCEO at TW Perry, Gaithersburg,Md., replacing Michael Cassidy,who exits after seven years.

Douglas Wood has been promoted tomgr. of 84 Lumber Co., Somerset,Ky. Brian Hopkins is now co-mgr.in Mount Pleasant, S.C. ChristianToepfer is new to outside sales ofEWP in Houston, Tx. In Elkton,Fl., Christopher Cole and RobertLucky are new contractor salesreps, and Ryan Shaffer is a mgr.trainee. Jordan Blake is a newmgr. trainee in Kennedy, N.Y.Pamela Joyner, ex-Stock BuildingSupply, is now sales coordinatorfor 84 in Greenville, S.C.

Sean Wright, ex-Wallbrook Mill &Lumber, is new to inside sales atJ.F. Johnson Lumber Co.,Millersville, Md.

Jamie Sharum has joined the salesforce at Cherokee BuildingMaterials, Fort Smith, Ar.

Joe Stanwick has retired after 62years in the industry, the last 26 insales at Wilmes Do It BestHardware, S. Sioux City, Ia.

Eric Lindquist has been appointedpresident of EDCO Products,Hopkins, Mn.

Otto Katt, ex-Insulation Corp. ofAmerica, has been appointed dis-trict sales mgr. for the mid-Atlanticregion with MiTek/USP StructuralConnectors.

Dave Afanador, ex-BASF, has beenappointed business developmentmgr. for Hyload, Seville, Oh.

Alan Blake has been named generalmgr. of Rustic Hardwood, Houston,Tx.

Jennifer Bussey has joinedProfessional Builders Supply,Charleston, S.C., as inside salescoordinator.


Jason Arnold is now handling salesfrom Sidney, Oh., for Wood-browser, Grantham, N.H.

Philip King, ex-Dyke Industries, hasbeen named sales mgr. for CentralFlorida with Haven BuildingProducts, Winter Haven, Fl.

Matt Gansen, ex-Home Depot, isnow an account coordinator withLyman Lumber, Chanhassen, Mn.

Luke Smith, ex-Lowe’s, is now insales with Manning BuildingSupplies, Orlando, Fl.

James “Mike” Branson, ex-Weyerhaeuser, has been elected tothe board of directors atForest2Market, Charlotte, N.C.Bowen Smith is retiring after 14years on the board.

Julie Davis has been promoted tosales mgr. at Wisconsin BuildingSupply, Sussex, Wi.

Ronnie Dunlap is new to outsidesales at Contractors BuildingSupply, Monroe, N.C.

Brian Grisham is the new businessdevelopment mgr. for GannonRoofing Supply, Waukee, Ia.

Dirk Novak is handling outside salesin the Fort Wayne, In., area forNorandex Building Materials.

Larry Wilson, ex-Carter Lumber, isnow in sales at Delta Gypsum,Winston-Salem, N.C. Alan Wyattis new to sales in Jonesborough,Tn.

Julia Fitzgerald has been appointedchief marketing officer for its CPGBuilding Products’ AZEK andTimberTech brands.

Matt Flowers has been promoted todivision VP of Custom BuildingProducts’ U.S. South Region.

F. Timothy Reese, ex-Trex, is thenew president and CEO of MikronIndustries, Kent, Wa., the vinylprofile division of Quanex BuildingProducts Corp., Houston, Tx.

Rob Vogelheim, ex-Pure ProductsInternational, has joined Amerhart,as sales territory mgr. in TraverseCity, Mi.

Michael H. McGarry, president andCOO, PPG Industries, Pittsburgh,Pa., has been elected to the boardand will add the title of CEO, effec-tive Sept. 1. Current CEO/chairmanwill Charles E. Bunch will contin-ue as executive chairman.

Lois Commondenominator is thenew accountant at Mungus-FungusForest Products, Climax, Nv.,report co-owners Hugh Mungusand Freddy Fungus.


Spray polyurethane foamanswers call for ZNEMANY LEADING builders now employ and promote sig-

nificant eco-conscious building practices. Energyefficiency, energy generation, water conservation, resilientmaterials, life cycle measurements and recyclability are justsome of the considerations of today’s builders.Additionally, major U.S. corporations have establishedgreen standards for the real estate they inhabit, while end-

INDUSTRY TrendsBy Rick Duncan, Spray Polyurethane Foam

ZNE: Because the design of a zero net energy building focuses on ener-gy efficiency, insulation and air-sealing and becoming an all-importantpiece of the total solution. (All photos courtesy SPFA)

users have come to expect and demand energy savinghomes and workspaces.

These stakeholders, along with states and municipalities,have begun to push sustainable building practices even fur-ther, fueling the zero net energy (ZNE) movement. Themovement describes a move toward buildings with zero netenergy consumption. The energy consumed by a zero netenergy structure is roughly equivalent to the amount ofrenewable energy generated on the same site.

With buildings traditionally consuming a major amountof the total fossil fuel in the United States, they are signifi-cant greenhouse gas contributors. Thus zero net energystructures are viewed as an important step in the reductionof carbon emissions as well as our overall dependence onfossil fuels.

In July 2014, California began the revision process tothe 2016 version of Title 24, the state’s energy efficiencybuilding codes. These codes are designed to move all newresidential construction to ZNE by 2020, and all new com-mercial construction to ZNE by 2030. Though aggressivein nature, these goals are achievable with proper designimplementations and accessibility to high performancebuilding products.

Because of California’s proven ability to influence theother 49 states to enact environmental regulations, it iswidely believed the same trend will occur with ZNE. Thusit is likely that the ZNE movement will sweep the nation,eventually becoming a mandatory building practice inmany regions.

Achieving ZNE with Design andHigh Performance Materials

Because the design of a ZNE building focuses as muchon energy efficiency as it does on energy generation, insu-lation and air-sealing is an all-important piece of the totalsolution. With ZNE structures, you simply cannot afford toprovide less than a total seal of the envelope. While thereare a handful of product options available for sealing thestructure, most are multi-product solutions.

An alternative, spray polyurethane foam, or “SPF,” is asingle-source solution whose ability to insulate, air andwater seal, as well as control moisture throughout the struc-ture, is increasing its role in the ZNE movement. SPF


works well as a solution for unventedattics, roofing, walls, ceilings andfloors, providing high performance inenergy efficiency while reducing theneed for multiple products.

High-performance attics and wallsystems are a key focus of energy effi-ciency, as they make significantimpact in the reduction of peak cool-ing and heating demands in the build-ing. As a thermal insulator, SPF formsin place and fully adheres, almostcompletely eliminating the cracks andgaps that encourage the escape of con-ditioned air. The material may beinstalled in a continuous layer, elimi-nating thermal bypasses typicallyfound with cavity insulations and hasone of the highest R values of all insu-lation options available in the market-place today.

As a roofing solution, SPF acts asboth a protective roofing solution aswell as an insulator for low-sloperoofs. The performance of insulationis measured through a variety of keyfactors—moisture control, air leakage,health, safety, durability, comfort andenergy efficiency—and SPF scoresexceptional marks in all categories.

While other combined productsolutions may also achieve zero net

HIGH PERFORMANCE attics and wall systems make significant impact in the reduction of peakcooling and heating demands in the building.

energy and have been included insome ZNE projects, spray polyure-thane foam has continued to grow inits role in ZNE structures. SPF’s com-bined attributes and performancemake it ideal for use in ZNE construc-

tion and will likely influence its use ina majority of ZNE projects.

– Rick Duncan is technical director ofthe Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance.Reach him via www.sprayfoam.org.


Cypress helps targetbuilding challenge LOCATED ON A 118-acre tract of

land in Virginia Beach, Va., theChesapeake Bay Foundation’s BrockEnvironmental Center supports thegroup’s advocacy, education andrestoration initiatives to preserve oneof the nation’s most valuable naturalresources—the Chesapeake Bay.

Clad in naturally durable, beautifulcypress siding, the 10,500-sq. ft. facil-ity raises the bar for sustainable build-ings around the world.

Designed by SmithGroupJJR, oneof the largest architecture firms in theU.S., it was built to showcase buildingproducts and technologies that con-

tribute to net-zero energy, water andwaste. Preference was given to naturalmaterials, such as cypress, to reinforcea sense-of-place while reducing chem-ical constituents, according to projectmanager/design architect Greg Mella,FAIA, LEED AP.

“We specified cypress for manyreasons,” Mella said. “Aesthetically,we love the variation and richness thewood provided. Environmentally, wewere able to reclaim sinker logs thatsank to the bottom of the bayous andrivers in the Deep South any timefrom 100 to 1,000 years ago. Thesinker logs gave us an opportunity to

PRODUCT SpotlightBy Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association

NATURALY DURABLE: The Brock Environmental Center is 10,500 sq. ft., with 7,800 sq. ft. dressed in shiplap cypress siding. The facility is on pace tomeet the requirements of the Living Building Challenge, a green building certification. (Photo by Chris Gorri)

repurpose beautiful cypress that waspreviously considered waste. Thereare lots of salvaged materials in thecenter—all with a story behind them,adding to the project’s theme of envi-ronmental stewardship.”

Because the design team was look-ing to select bio-based materials,rather than those that are synthetic andchemical-based, the ability for prod-ucts to perform in a coastal setting wasanother important consideration.

Cypress contains a preservative oil,called cypressene, making the woodresistant to rot, decay, and insectswithout added chemicals,” Mella


PROJECT MANAGER Greg Mella chose cypress because of the variation and richness the woodprovided, as well as its resistance to insects, rot and decay. (Photo by Chris Gorri)

ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND: Natural materials such as cypress siding, were preferred for this project to reinforce a sense-of-place while reducingchemical components. (Photo by Dave Chance Photography)

explained. “Given its natural durabili-ty, we clad the exterior walls in 7,800sq. ft. of shiplap cypress siding, finish-ing it with a stain to provide protectionfrom ultraviolet light and give thewood its rich, warm tone.

“One aesthetic goal of the projectwas to blur the lines between exteriorand interior, so there are some loca-tions where we literally broughtcypress inside, using it for panelingand as a fascia to the reception desk inthe lobby. Consistent with our goals ofeliminating waste, we took leftoverscraps of cypress and used them tomake room and exhibit signage, aswell as a dining table the staff can useon their lunch break.”

The center is expected to earnLEED Platinum certification from theU.S. Green Building Council and is onpace to meet the requirements of theLiving Building Challenge—a certifi-cation program developed by theInternational Living Future Institute todefine the most advanced measure ofsustainability in the built environmentavailable today. LBC standardsrequire the building to have net-zeroimpact on the environment.

In addition to using reclaimedcypress and other materials, all water

is sourced from rain and all energy isproduced through photovoltaic panelsand wind turbines.

“The building is completely self-sufficient,” Mella added. “ThroughLEED, we envisioned a building thatwould do less harm to the environ-

ment. But through the Living BuildingChallenge, we designed the BrockEnvironmental Center to actuallyimprove the environment.”

– For more information on buildingwith cypress, visit www.cypressinfo.org.


U.S. demand for roofing is project-ed to rise 3.9% annually to 252 mil-lion squares in 2019, valued at $21.4billion, according to a new FreedoniaGroup study.

This will be a rebound from the2009-2014 period, spurred by strongadvances in building constructionactivity. Roofing demand fell between2009 and 2014 as nonresidential

building construction spending andresidential reroofing activity declined.

Asphalt shingles accounted for thelargest share of roofing demand in2014, holding a leading stake insteep-slope roofing applications.Demand for asphalt shingles is fore-cast to rise at an above-average pacethrough 2019, spurred by reboundinghousing starts. Advances will also be

supported by strong consumer interestin laminated asphalt shingles.

Roofing tiles are expected to regis-ter the most rapid growth of all roof-ing products through 2019, driven bystrong gains in housing starts in theSouth and West, where tiles are mostoften installed. Demand for roofingtiles will also be promoted by theirfavorable aesthetics and ability to beused as cool roofs.

Plastic and metal roofing will alsosee above-average demand gainsthrough 2019. Plastic roofing will seeincreasing use in low-slope applica-tions because of its ease of installationand favorable performance properties.Metal roofing demand will be helpedby its durability and ability to supportsolar panels used to generate electrici-ty. Both plastic and metal roofing canalso be used as cool roofing productsthat reflect sunlight to keep buildingscooler in the summer.

Reroofing accounts for the largershare of U.S. roofing demand, totaling81% in 2014. This is actually adecline from 2009, when new con-struction activity was at a depressedlevel and the scope of damage causedby Hurricane Ike and other storms in2008 boosted demand for replacementroofing in the following year.

Reroofing demand in 2014 was ata low level due to weak residentialimprovement and repair activity in theface of tighter lending requirementsand a general consumer reluctance toengage in capital-intensive homeimprovement projects. Through 2019,reroofing should rebound, as homeand building owners engage in previ-ously delayed renovations.

New building construction activityis anticipated to lead demand gainsfor roofing through 2019. In the resi-dential market, double-digit annualadvances in housing starts will fueldemand for such products as asphaltshingles, roofing tiles, and metal tilesand shingles.

New non-residential demand forroofing is also forecast to experiencesolid growth going forward, with theoffice and commercial segment gener-ating opportunities as more retail sitesand commercial complexes are built.

The institutional and industrialconstruction segments will also boostdemand, as more schools, hospitals,and manufacturing sites are erected,boosting demand for such low slopeproducts as plastic, elastomeric andmetal roofing.

U.S. Roofing Demand Grows

WHOLESALE WOOD Products held its annual customer appreciation day July 1 at its distributionyard in Dothan, Al. Employees, vendors and customers came together to enjoy some great BBQand check out new product lines. Warren Reeves, VP of sales & marketing, said, “I would like tothank everyone who came out to our event and helped make it a great success! We look forward tonext year and thank you for your business.”


CONTRACTORS attending a training session in one of RDI’s mobileclassrooms (above visiting Florence Building Materials, Huntington,N.Y.) can sign up for RDI’s new benefits program.

RDI Launches Rewards ProgramRailing Dynamics Inc. is rolling out RDI Pro, a new

program that offers installers/contractors rewards, offersand sales and marketing support.

Contractors sign up for the program on the company’swebsite, upon visiting one of RDI’s “mobile classrooms.”

The program allows contractors to earn rewards back oneligible purchases, which can be applied to pay for market-ing items, co-branded ads, or to RDI Pro Gear from theRDI’s website.

Since 2012, RDI has been touring the East Coast withtwo customized 20-ft. trailers, offering training via productsamples, displays, video loops, and other promotional/edu-cational materials.

Inspection Agency Opens forWestern Treated Woods

Southern Pine Inspection Bureau has launched a newthird-party inspection agency in the western U.S.

Western Wood Services, a division of SPIB, is offeringwestern treaters an option in inspection services for theirresidential treated wood products.

“We are accredited for all the West Coast species. Ourprimary focus is on treated wood,” noted SPIB’s SteveSingleton. “Technically, the West Coast rules writingagencies (WWPA and WCLIB) are considered competi-tors; however, neither of them do treated wood inspections.So this is a new service for us in response to West Coasttreaters expressing interest in SPIB.”

It is accredited by both ALSC and IAS for the inspec-tion and labeling of production under AWPA and ICC-ESprograms, respectively, and is a member of WWPI.

WWS has no plans to open an office in the West at thistime. The work will be done by SPIB’s western regionfield representatives.

The division manager is Kim Merritt, who is based atSPIB’s Pensacola, Fl., office. The SPIB laboratory will beutilized for all analytical services.

COMING NEXT MONTHin the September issue of BPD

NELMA – Eastern White Pine


APP Watch

App: CURBAPPEAL APPProduced by: CERTAINTEEDPrice: FreePlatforms: iOS

With CertainTeed’s newlyrevamped CurbAppeal App, navigat-ing the home screen is more straight-forward and intuitive. The user-friend-ly program has been upgraded to pro-vide a more robust platform that com-bines the visualization of exteriorhome architecture, with tips thatassist with making knowledgeableexterior product decisions whenremodeling or building a new home.

Available on iPad iOS 7.0 or later,CurbAppeal 3.0 features a variety ofcolor and design styles, and guidesusers through a step-by-step productoption review and selection processcomparing siding, decking, railing,fence, roofing, accents, trim, columnsand more.

With the app, users are encour-aged to exercise their imaginationand explore color and design combi-nations to express their personaltaste and lifestyle preferences.

– Download from iTunes App Store

Ace Hardware Corp. honored fourof its 4,800 locally owned and operat-ed co-op members as 2015’s “CoolestHardware Stores.”

Opened in 2006 by husband andwife owners John and Cris Henkle,Henkle’s Ace Hardware, Webb City,Mo., offers the charm of an old-fash-ioned hardware store with the modernammenities its customers need tomaintain their homes. Henkle’s has9,800 sq. ft. of indoor selling spaceand a vast outdoor greenhouse.

It also features a coffee bar andunique gift shop where customers canfind beautiful home décor, gardeninggifts, flags and even women’sscarves. The store is also well knownfor the hundreds of hanging flowerbaskets it grows and sells everyspring.

Opened in 2007 by owner RandyWest, Islands Ace Hardware hasbecome a sought-after shopping desti-nation for residents of Savannah, Ga.,and the surrounding island communi-ties. It has an 18,000-sq. ft. showroomplus 7,000 sq. ft. of garden centerwhere customers can interact withskilled gardeners to find an abun-dance of live goods, garden supplies,and even unique artisan pottery.

Shoppers may also be surprised tofind an extensive clothing departmentand gift shop featuring jewelery andlocal artwork within the store. In2014, the team installed a post officein the store as a convenience for localresidents.

Rocking R Ace Hardware,Harrisonburg, Va., is a 15,000-sq. ft.hardware store located in the heart ofVirginia’s Shenendoah Valley.Surrounded by beautiful farmland,Rocking R caters to the local contrac-

tor community with an extensiveinventory of tools.

Rocking R strives to meet theneeds of its neighbors by selling rele-vant products like canning jars—theyeven provide thoughtful details, likethe hitching posts that can be foundoutside the store for horse carriages—still used by the community.

The store has become most wellknown for its incredible selection ofhand and power tools. About half ofits sprawling 15,000 sq. ft. is dedicat-ed to tools from the best brands in theindustry.

The store prides itself on offeringoutstanding educational opportunitiesfor its customers. Recently Rocking Rhosted informative sessions on owls,other birds of prey, bee keeping, andfood canning—just a few of the 15 to18 events they hold each year.

Miner’s Ace Hardware was startedin Grovers Beach, Ca., in 1956 bybrothers Lee and Glen Miner, and hasgrown into a thriving, third-genera-tion family business with seven loca-tions. The chain’s San Luis Obispobranch is located in a booming col-lege town, with a 13,000-sq. ft. show-room and a 14,000-sq. ft. outdoor gar-den center.

The store is set up in a multi-build-ing configuration, tied together withcreative roofing and intriguing “wayfinding” signage, while surrounded bya lush garden-center that is floodedwith year-round California sunshine.

Part of the store is built in a barnand rail station, featuring originalwooden slat floors, while another sec-tion of the building was a turn of thecentury stagecoach station.

According to Ace, the four retail-ers share common traits, yet offer

local flavor and product selectionabove and beyond most hardwareretailers.

“Being a ‘Coolest Hardware Store’isn’t just about having a unique build-ing and products. It’s about meetingthe community’s needs in a way thatonly a small business can,” said DanMiller, Ace’s VP of retail operationsand new business. “Congratulations to

Ace Hardware Toasts Coolest Stores

SAN LUIS Obispo, Ca., branch of seven-unit Miner’s Hardware features a lush, expansive gardencenter that is even larger than the showroom itself.


simplify

DO IT BEST Corp. celebrated its 70th anniversary June 24 at its Fort Wayne, In., headquarters,joined by community leaders and more than 400 employees. (L-r) Dan Starr, EVP and COO; KendraEaken, planning committee member; Bob Taylor, president and CEO; Tom Henry, mayor of FortWayne; Craig Dellinger, New Haven city councilman; Jimmy LaMaster, planning committee mem-ber; and Charlie Hatten, Chamber of Commerce.

this year’s award recipients for theircommitment to providing a consis-tently amazing—and cool—shoppingexperience for their customers andcommunities.”

The four winners of the fifth-annu-al prizes were announced duringAce’s annual Pinnacle Conferenceheld recently in Las Vegas, Nv.

Sunshine Ace Adds 7th StoreSunshine Ace Hardware, Naples,

Fl., has acquired Morton’s AceHardware, Port Charlotte, Fl., as itsseventh location.

Morton’s was opened in 1979 bythe Waksler family. The unit mea-sures 12,500 sq. ft. and employs 25.

Logging Firm Perforex KicksOff Apprentice Program

Perforex Forest Services,Woodworth, La., has launched itsfirst-ever paid apprenticeship trainingprogram for truck drivers and timber-equipment operators in the forestindustry.

Seven selected apprentices willundergo 12-month, paid classroomand on-the-job training, covering log-ging-truck and timber-equipmentoperations and certification.

Partnering with Perforex in thePerforex Apprenticeship Program areparent company RoyOMartin andCentral Louisiana TechnicalCommunity College in Alexandria.Experienced mentors will assistinstructors with skills training.

Apprentices will receive full com-pensation and benefits during train-ing. Upon successful completion ofthe program, students will have the

skills necessary to achieve a commer-cial driver’s license and become a cer-tified timber harvesting equipmentoperator. Graduates will then beginworking for Perforex on a full-timebasis.

Perforex Forest Services joinedthe RoyOMartin family of companiesin 2012 and provides timber harvest-ing operations throughout centralLouisiana.


NEW Products

Hammers that Hang in ThereDewalt’s Brushless SDS Hammer is powered by a

brushless motor that provides 2.1 joules of impactenergy, and is optimized for chipping work anddrilling diameters of 1/2” or less.

The rotary hammer is designed for comfortable usewith less vibration felt by the user at the handle, and isideal for use in concrete drilling applications.

An LED with 20-second delay provides visibilityin dimly lit space. A retractable utility hook allows thetool to be hung from belts, ladders, carts, etc.

DEWALT.COM(800) 433-9258

Safe and Stylish Glass Masonite’s new Exterior Decorative Glass collec-

tion is designed to complement architectural styles.Along with aesthetics, the line meets a range of home-owners’ needs, including those who want privacy tex-tured glass.

The nine glass designs use elements such aswrought iron and textured glass to achieve Craftsman,traditional, contemporary and other architecturalstyles. All of the glass styles can be ordered to satisfyEnergy-Star requirements.

MASONITE.COM(866) 736-7322

Frosty Screws GRK Fasteners’ line of White Cabinet Screws

blend perfectly with white cabinet frames without theneed for sticker covers. Their unique design avoidsbinding and reduces the risk of damaging both thescrew head and cabinet material.

All heads are powder-coated for added durability,avoiding the loss of coloring as they are driven in. Thescrews have a unique design that avoids binding andreduces the risk of damaging both the screw head andcabinet material.

GRKFASTENERS.COM(877) 489-2726

Reliable Railing Avalon Aluminum Railing by Dynamic Railing

Systems meets ASTM standards, is AAMA compli-ant, and features strong, durable, powder-coated, rust-proof aluminum pre-assembled railing panels.

Available in three colors (white, gloss black, satinblack) the railing offers easy installation, completepre-built panels, and easy-install brackets.

RDIRAIL.COM(800) 488-7245


Simply Swinging GPI Millworks has redesigned

its Simply Elegant screen line toaccommodate in-swing and out-swing for single or double doors.

Inventory requirements arereduced by utilizing standardheights with the frame width pro-files clearly marked for cuttingdown to suit both standard andcustom door widths.

GPIMILLWORKS.COM(470) 395-6536

Clamp Site With the contractor or big

jobs in mind, new sizes havebeen added to Ideal ClampProducts’ contractor pack bagsline—36, 48, and 64.

Each package contains 25Uniform Plumbing Code-certi-fied Ideal-Tridon stainless steelhose clamps. The durable bagsare re-sealable.

IDEALTRIDON.COM(615) 459-5800

Just the Right TipEdgetite’s paver edging spikes

help solve the separation prob-lems that occur when installingpaver edging with commonspikes, thanks to their patent-pending, angled-tip design.

As an edging spike is ham-mered into the compacted base,the angled tip deflects away fromthe installation while the headpushes the edge restraint tightlyagainst the brick.

MCSUPPLY.COM(888) 627-6363

Repair Your SurfacesSpectrum Re-Kote TF from

W. R. Meadows is a single-com-ponent, polymer-modified, rapid-hardening, cementitious concreterepair mortar designed for therenovation and resurfacing ofdeteriorated concrete surfaces.

It can help smooth rough sur-faces, repair honeycombs, dressup bug holes, and provide coat-ing for swimming pools, concretewalls, balconies, etc.

WRMEADOWS.COM(847) 214-2100

Precision Framing Paslode’s 21˚ Framing System

features a lightweight, 8.1-lb.nailer and resin-collated plasticnails.

Equipped to drastically reducedowntime in the field, the systemensures continuous productivityand consistent nail drive forevery job every time.

PASLODE.COM(312) 946-6143

Insulated Headers Metsä Wood’s Master Header

combines two high performance

materials into a one-piece,

dimensionally stable, structural

LVL header offering high speed

installation and an R-value of 20.

Lightweight, easy to cut and

install, the product meets the

newest International Energy

Code requirements.

METSAWOOD.COM(810) 824-4890


Stainless Steel Sinks Elkay’s Magna Sink is built out of premium-grade

20-gauge stainless steel and features two deep, high-capacity bowls.

Each sink includes two magnetic stainless steelaccessories that fasten to the back walls of each bowl:a hook and a ledge that can hold items.

Another feature that provides more usable space isthe offset bowls with rear center drains. One bowl islarger than the other, allowing the owner to comfort-ably fit pots or pans that may require soaking.

The durable, top-mount sink comes in a satin finishand includes a full undercoating to deaden sound. ELKAY.COM

(630) 574-8484

Comfortable Bath Suites Moen Commercial has added new modern product

styles to its heavy-duty M•Dura and medium-dutyM•Bition lines.

The faucets and showerheads within the M•Duraline offer fresh, contemporary styles with clean lines,while also including the highest-grade of durabilityand performance.

The faucets within the medium-duty M•Bition linewill appeal to a number of facilities, specifically thosein the convalescence segment who want to make aspace feel more homelike.

MOEN.COM(800) 289-6636

Fast-Acting Grinders Milwaukee Tool’s new cordless braking grinder

stops accessories in less than two seconds with a rapidstop braking feature and kickback-reducing clutch,while delivers up to 10 times longer tool life.

To increase comfort and reduce fatigue duringextended use, an anti-vibration handle reduces vibra-tion, while an extremely thin body design deliveringoptimized balance to rest easily in the users hands.

The tool also features a removable Job Site Armorscreen to prevent debris contamination over time.

MILWAUKEETOOL.COM(800) 729-3878

High-Performance WindowsSimonton Windows Reflections 5500 collection is

a highly customizable replacement window line,allowing customers to select from operating styles;exterior, interior and hardware color; and glass andgrid options.

The line comes with an advanced locking systemthat secures the sash at multiple points with easy-to-use crank handle.

Its classic beveled frame design is said to comple-ment any style of home.

SIMONTON.COM(800) 746-6686


Stylish Metal Paneling Wilsonart has added new additions to its

Decorative Metals Collection. The 14 new designsfeature aging tones and heavily textured patterns withdistinct and striking characteristics.

The company has reconfigured the material make-up, manufacturing the new collection like a laminate,making the metals easy to fabricate.

The designs range from simple and smooth to tex-tured and intricate.

WILSONART.COM(800) 433-3222

Frames That Fix the ProblemThe ODL Evolve frame in FiberPro material pro-

vides superior rigidity and eliminates bothersomesqueeze-out through the use of a compression foamtape seal, allowing for easy removal of the framewhen damaged doorglass occurs

The system reduces scalloping, corner flare, andwarping, and frames are paintable and stainable.

With the auto-aligning and self-seating screw-holeplugs, problems associated with traditional, hard-to-install sinking screw hole plugs are eliminated.

ODL.COM(800) 253-3900


ASSOCIATION Update

Florida Building MaterialAssociation will stage a panel discus-sion on “The New Age of OurIndustry” during its annual conven-tion and trade show Sept. 23-25 atGaylord Palms Resort & ConventionCenter, Kissimmee, Fl.

Other highlights include a golftournament at the Orange CountyNational Golf Course, keynoteaddress by Buzz Sutherland, architec-tural design symposiums, Hall ofFame Luncheon, architect’s reception,and exhibits.

Lumbermen’s Association ofTexas & Louisiana’s fall committeeand board meetings will take placeSept. 22-23 at Embassy Suites, SanMarcos, Tx.

Construction Suppliers Associa-tion has opened registration for itssales/management conference Sept.10-11 at The Lodge & Spa at Calla-way Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga.

This year’s agenda is jam-packedwith education sessions designed tohelp LBM retailers do business better.

Topics incude why buyers buy, clos-ing the deal, studying the secrets to asuccessful family business, conflictmanagement, and workforce flow.

Northwestern Lumber Associa-tion is organizing a Tennessee milltour Oct. 4-9.

The invite is also going out toother federated state/regional associa-tions, including Mid-AmericaLumbermens Association.

Kentucky Building MaterialsAssociation is hosting its CongletonCup golf tournament Sept. 24 atUniversity Club of Kentucky,Lexington, Ky. The tournament willconclude with an evening reception.

Kentucky Forest IndustriesAssociation is hosting its 31st annualKentucky Wood Expo Sept. 18-19 atMasterson Station Park, Lexington.

Forest Products Society is offer-ing an Introduction to Wood Scienceand Forest Products course Sept. 28-30 at Mississippi State University,

Department of Sustainable Bio-prod-ucts, Starkville, Ms.

The purpose of the course is toprovide a basic knowledge of woodproperties, processing and production,to those working in the forest prod-ucts industry.

Composite Panel Association’sfall meeting will be Sept. 13-15 atFairmont Banff Springs, Alberta,Canada.

The meeting will feature speakersand educational workshops on practi-cal industry issues, exhibit and spon-sorship opportunities to build aware-ness of members’ products and ser-vices, and business meetings to devel-op policies and programs.

National Association of Womenin Construction is hosting its 60thannual meeting and educational con-ference Sept. 2-5 at the OmniNashville Hotel, Nashville, Tn.

In addition to seminars, workshopsand a mini trade-show, comedian/author Anita Renfroe will deliver thekeynote address, and business coachChristine Spray will share manage-ment strategies.

GO FISH: Everwood Treatment Co., SpanishFort, Al., recently co-hosted with ClipperInteramerican Carriers and Premier BulkStevedoring their annual customer apprecia-tion golf and fishing event. Activities for bothexport and domestic customers included atwo-day tuna trip, multiple snapper day trips;golf tournament at the beautiful Lost KeyGolf Course; and a beachside farewell dinner

at the Perdido Beach Resort. [1] Jon Fabian,Michael Douglas, Jay Hudson. [2] DavidVella, Jon Fabian, Reese Blanton, AnnaWard, Michelle Lynn, Travis Hall, MatthewLeachman, Johnny Hudson. [3] JohnnyMorris, Mike Bohannan, Doug Hicks Jr., AlexMorris, Tony Walker, James Sedlack, ChrisPicuo, Ray Robley, John Andre, Ken Phillips,Jeramy Simmons.

The MERCHANT Magazine


CallPatrick Adams

(714) 486-2735, ext. [email protected]

orChuck Casey

(714) 486-2735, ext. [email protected]

Reservation Deadline Sept. 1, 2015

The

MERCHANTMagazine

BPDBuilding Products Digest

BPD and The Merchant Magazine – Official Publications of NAWLA


The MERCHANT Magazine

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WANTED TO BUY

TRI-STATE LUMBER CO.Your Southern Yellow Pine

Timber ConnectionSpecializing in 6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10

Tel. (662) 862-2125 • Fax 662-862-4900email [email protected]

PRODUCTS FOR SALE

SHAVER WOOD PRODUCTSSouthern Yellow Pine Timber Production

6x6, 6x8, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12Reload Services & Storage AvailableNorfolk Southern Mainline Served

Easy Access to I-40 & I-77Company-Owned Truck Fleet

(704) 278-9291 • Fax (704) 278-9304Cleveland, N.C.

email [email protected] [email protected]

Berlin G. Myers, 98, owner ofBerlin G. Myers Lumber Corp.,Summerville, S.C., died July 8.

He started the lumberyard in 1939,shortly after graduating from highschool and then served in the Armyduring World War II in Europe, wherehe survived D-Day.

During World War II, he boardedup the yard and enlisted in the Army,serving in Europe and joining the raidon D-Day. He reopened his businessin 1946 and remained active untilrecent years.

Concurrently he served 39 years

IN Memoriam and 10 terms as mayor, until 2011.He also was a past president and

director of the Carolinas Lumber &Building Material Dealers Association(now Building Material SuppliersAssociation) and an officer with theNational Lumber & Building MaterialDeales Association.

John A. “Jack” Bloess, 87, formerowner and manager of Looney &Bloess Lumber, Sedalia, Mo., diedJuly 1 in Columbia, Mo.

He served in the U.S. Army duringWorld War II and as a sergeant in theinfantry during the Korean War. Hejoined the family business in 1953,retiring in 2008.

Stephen DeWald, 93, former pres-ident of Fort Wayne Builders Supply,Fort Wayne, In., died June 19.

He joined the Army Air Corps dur-ing World War II, working his way upto captain and squadron leader, flyingmissions in Europe.

After the war, he joined FortWayne Builders Supply. With BobRobertson, he launched door and trimmanufacturer DeRo Manufacturing,Fort Wayne. He retired in 1979.

Jonathan S. Frazier, 28, a seniorengineered wood products designerfor National Lumber, Mansfield, Ma.,died suddenly June 27.

He spent three years with National,after earning a degree in architecturalengineering from New England Tech.

Virgil Phillip Hartje, 81, founderand president of Hartje Lumber, LaSalle, Wi., died July 16.

In 1969, he and his wife, Edith,started Hartje Construction, whichlater evolved into the lumberyard. Heled the company for 46 years.

Aubrey Kenneth Hodges, 90,Southwest Georgia lumber salesman,died June 20 in Thomasville, Ga.

He worked for many years as asales rep and draftsman with SeminoleSupply Co., Donalson, Ga.; WillisLumber Co., Bainbridge, Ga.; AdamsLumber Co., Bainbridge; and CallahanBuilder Mart, Bainbridge.

Gerald “Allen” Winn Jr., 58, vicepresident of merchandising for House-Hasson Hardware, Knoxville, Tn.,died July 5.

He spent 32 years with the firm.

Thomas Joseph Privett, 77, for-mer owner of Lonoke Lumber Co.,Lonoke, Ar., died July 11 in Lonoke.

He operated the yard for more than50 years before semi-retiring.

Morrissey Marich, 70, lumberbroker with McGinnis Lumber Co.,Meridian, Ms., died June 29

He spent 45 years in the industry.

Wanda Ann Weise, 76, former co-owner of Hiniker Lumber Co.,Mankato, Mn., died July 14.

She operated the yard with her firsthusband, Raymond Hiniker, until hepassed away in 1974.

C.W. “Pat” Porter, 100, retiredsalesman with Patterson Lumber Co.,Blue Ridge, Ga., died July 1.

Rates: $1.20 per word (25 word min.). Phonenumber counts as 1 word, address as 6. Centeredcopy/headline, $9 per line. Border, $9. Private box,$15. Column inch rate: $55 if art furnished “camera-ready” (advertiser sets type), $65 if we set type.

CLASSIFIED Marketplace

HELP WANTED

INSIDE SALES REPRESENTATIVE Hoover Treated Wood Products, Inc., the

premier manufacturer of fire-retardant treatedwood, is seeking an inside sales professional.This position is located in Thomson, Ga. Theideal candidate is a motivated, self-starter withexcellent communication and computer skills. Acollege degree with two years of inside salesand lumber or plywood trading experience ispreferred. This position is responsible for main-taining excellent relationships with customersand vendors, fostering a commitment to thebrand, cross-selling/up-selling, and participatingin activities designed to improve customer andcompany performance and market visibility. Toapply, please send your resume and referencesto [email protected].

Questions? Call (714) 486-2735.

Send ad to Fax 714-486-2745 or [email protected]. Checks payable to 526 MediaGroup. Deadline: 18th of previous month.



DATE BookListings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify

dates and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend.

Handy Hardware – Aug. 6-8, fall market, Henry B. GonzalezConvention Center, San Antonio, Tx.; www.handyhardware.com.

HDW Inc. – Aug. 7-9, dealer market, Jackson Convention Center,Jackson, Ms.; (800) 256-8527; www.hdwinc.com.

New Jersey Building Material Dealers Assn. – Aug. 10, golf,Neshanic Valley Golf Club, Neshanic Station, N.J.; www.nrla.org.

Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 12, golf, Jay PeakResort, Jay, Vt.; www.nrla.org.

Austin Home & Garden Show – Aug. 15-17, Austin ConventionCenter, Austin, Tx.; (877) 663-3186; www.showtechnology.com.

Northeastern Young Lumber Execs – Aug. 19, summer outing,Saratoga Race Course; Aug. 20, board meeting, Holiday Inn,Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Central New York Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 20, annualclam bake, Spinning Wheel, N. Syracuse, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Ace Hardware Corp. – Aug. 20-22, fall market, Chicago, Il.; (630)990-7662; www.acehardware.com.

Volusia County Home & Garden Show – Aug. 22-24, OceanCenter, Daytona Beach, Fl.; www.showtechnology.com.

Western New York Lumber Dealers Assn. – Aug. 26, board meet-ing, Seneca Lake, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Orgill – Aug. 27-29, fall dealer market, Ernest N. Morial ConventionCenter, New Orleans, La.; (800) 347-2860; www.orgill.com.

National Association of Women in Construction – Sept. 2, annualconvention, JD Marriott, Indianapolis, In.; www.nawic.org.

Eastern New York Lumber Dealers Assn. – Sept. 8, board meet-ing, NRLA Hq., Rensselaer, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Construction Suppliers Association – Sept. 10-11, sales/manage-ment conference, The Lodge & Spa at Callaway Gardens, PineMountain, Ga.; (678) 674-1860; www.gocsa.com.

BC Wood – Sept. 10-12, Global Buyers Mission, Whistler Confer-ence Center, Whistler, B.C.; (877) 422-9663; www.bcwood.com.

Western Red Cedar Lumber Association – Sept. 10-12, CedarSummit, Whistler Conference Center, Whistler, B.C.; (877) 422-9663; www.bcwood.com.

New Hampshire Retail Lumber Assn. – Sept. 11, board meeting,Samoset Resort, Rockport, Me.; www.nrla.org.

Retail Dealers Assn. of Maine – Sept. 11, annual meeting,Samoset Resort, Rockport, Me.; www.nrla.org.

Greensboro Fall Home Show – Sept. 12-14, Greensboro ColiseumComplex Special Events Center, Greensboro, N.C.;www.acshomeshow.com.

Hoo-Hoo International – Sept. 11-15, annual convention, HiltonAirport/Mall of America, Minneapolis, Mn.; [email protected].

Rochester Fall Home Show – Sept. 12-13, Rochester RiversideConvention Center, Rochester, N.Y.; www.acshomeshow.com.

Composite Panel Association – Sept. 13-15, fall meeting, HyattRegency Coconut Point, Bonita Springs, Fl.; (703) 724-1588;www.compositepanel.org.

Mid-Hudson Lumber Dealers Assn. – Sept. 15, board meeting,Alexis Diner, Newburgh, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

GlassBuild America – Sept. 16-18, Georgia World CongressCenter, Atlanta, Ga.; (866) 342-5642; glassbuildamerica.com.

Central New York Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. – Sept. 17, boardmeeting, Hollywood Restaurant, Cortland, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

New York & Long Island Lumber Assn. – Sept. 18, Mets baseballouting, Citi Field, New York, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Kentucky Forest Industries Association – Sept. 18-19, woodexpo, Masterton Station Park, Lexington, Ky.; www.kfia.org.

True Value Co. – Sept. 18-20, fall market, McCormick Place West,Chicago, Il.; (773) 695-5000; www.truevaluecompany.com.

New Jersey Home Show – Sept. 19-20, Garden State ExhibitCenter, Somerset, N.J.; (888) 433-3976; acshomeshow.com.

Northeastern Young Lumber Execs – Sept. 20, board meeting,Holiday Inn, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Lumbermen’s Association of Texas & Louisiana – Sept. 22-23,fall committee and board meetings, Embassy Suites, SanMarcos, Tx.; (512) 472-1194; www.lat.org.

Rhode Island Lumber & Building Materials Dealers Assn. – Sept.23, dinner meeting, Sonoma, N. Kingstown, R.I.; www.nrla.org.

Western New York Lumber Dealers Assn. – Sept. 23, board meet-ing, Rochester, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Florida Building Material Association – Sept. 23-25, annual con-vention and trade show, Gaylord Palms Resort & ConventionCenter, Kissimmee, Fl.; (352) 383-0366; www.fbma.org.

Forest Products Society – Sept. 23-25, window & door sympo-sium, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, Mi.; (770) 209-7257;www.forestprod.org.

Eastern New York Lumber Dealers Assn. – Sept. 24, annualmeeting, Century House, Latham, N.Y.; www.nrla.org.

Construction Specifications Institute – Sept. 30-Oct. 3, annualconvention & show, America’s Center Convention Complex, St.Louis, Mo.; (800) 689-2900; www.constructshow.com.

Kentucky Building Materials Association – Sept. 24, CongletonCup golf tournament, University Club of Kentucky, Lexington,Ky.; (502) 245.6730; www.kbma.net.

RISI – Sept. 28-30, North American conference, IntercontinentalHotel, Chicago, Il.; www.risi.com.


ADVERTISERS IndexFor more on advertisers, call directly or visit their website.

Arch Wood Protection [www.wolmanizedwood.com].........Cover I

BW Creative Railings Systems [www.bwcreativerailings.com] 59

CMPC [www.selex.cl] .....................................................................45

Crumpler Plastic Pipe [www.cpp-pipe.com] ................................67

DixiePly [www.dixieply.com] ...........................................................7

Everwood Treatment [www.everwoodtreatment.com].......Cover II

Fasco [www.fasco.com].................................................................57

Hoover [www.frtw.com] .................................................10A-10B, 11

James Hardie [www.jameshardie.com]...................................34-35

Koma [www.kommerlingusa.com]................................................13

Kop-Coat [www.kop-coat.com] .......................................................5

Leonard Lumber [www.leonardlumber.com] ...............................50

MCL Engineered Wood Products [www.mcljoist.com]...............49

Metsä Wood USA [www.metsawood.us] ........................................3

Mid-Columbia Lumber [www.mid-columbialumber.com] ...........49

NAWLA Traders Market Preview...................................................65

NAWLA Traders Market [www.nawlatradersmarket.com] ..........23

North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. [www.nawla.org] .....23

Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance [plmilm.com] .....51

PPG Architectural Finishes [www.ppgac.com] ...........................39

Quattro/Synergy Pacific [www.quattrotimber.com] ....................15

Redwood Empire [www.redwoodemp.com].................................33

Regal Ideas [www.regalideas.com]...............................................17

Roseburg Forest Products [www.roseburg.com] .......................25

Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]..............69-70, Cover III

Siskiyou Forest Products [www.siskiyouforestproducts.com] .37

Smith Millwork [www.smithmillwork.com] ..................................63

Speedy Spacer [www.speedyspacer.com] ..................................41

Swanson Group Sales Co. [www.swansongroupinc.com].........43

TLC Mouldings [www.tlcmouldings.com]..........................Cover IV

United Unlimited Sales [www.uusales.com] ................................66

Wholesale Wood Products [www.wholesalewoodonline.com]..53

Weyerhaeuser [www.weyerhaeuser.com]...............................34-35

Wolmanized Wood [www.wolmanizedwood.com]...............Cover I

FLASHBack60 Years Ago This MonthAs we look back to August 1955, construction was

booming and BPD’s sister publication, The MerchantMagazine, had established itself as the premier publica-tion of the LBM industry, with new construction thatyear expected to reach a record-breaking $41.8 billion.

That summer, the country welcomed the birth ofDisneyland, one of America’s most beloved themeparks. In 1955, 3.5 million bd. ft. of lumber went intothe construction for it. An old Los Angeles mansionwith its wood paneling, stained-glass windows, andcrystal chandelier, supplied much of the interior of theDelmonico-style Swift’s Red Wagon Inn, and other por-tions of Main Street buildings.

The Merchant dedicated a section in its August issueto inform its readers of the 160-acre theme park, notknowing that the fledgling 1,000-worker operationwould turn into today’s 500-acre resort with 28,000employees—itself just a fraction of a global empire.

• Also this month, the Douglas Fir Plywood Associ-ation introduced the craftboard cartop carrier as “some-thing really new in a merchandising idea simple, usefuland one that takes the dealer’s name home with the cus-tomer.” The car top was designed for the lumberman orhobbyist to carry large and small panels of plywood ontop of their car without damaging the car’s finish.

• Detroit Hoo-Hoo Club was preparing to play hostto the annual convention of the InternationalConcatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, set for September1955. The theme of the meeting was expressed in theclub’s then-newly adopted slogan, “Through Hoo-Hoo—a United Lumber Industry.” Detroit lumber-man/Snark of the Universe John H. Dolcater presided.

Today, the Detroit club is active assisting with tear-ing down abandoned homes, supplying materials tobuild local businesses, and supporting the MichiganForest Association Teacher Workshop.

THE FUTURE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH: About 3.5 million bd.ft. of lumber went into construction of Disneyland in 1955.

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