The Merchant August 2015

AUGUST 2015The MERCHANT MagazineTHE VOICE OF THE WEST’S LBM DEALERS & DISTRIBUTORS – SINCE 1922

SALES & MARKETING SPECIAL ISSUE EDI MILLWORK & TRIM

Building-Products.com August 2015 The Merchant Magazine 3

4 The Merchant Magazine August 2015

August 2015 Volume 94 Number 2

The MERCHANT Magazine

OnlineBREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS, EVENT PHOTOS, & DIGITALEDITION OF THE MERCHANT

BUILDING-PRODUCTS.COM

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 IN MILLWORK

20 FOREST ECONOMICSPAUL JANNKE ON MARKET REBOUND

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

52 INDUSTRY TRENDSSPRAY FOAM MEETS ZNE RULES

58 PHOTO RECAP: IDAHO GOLFINLAND LUMBER PRODUCERS

CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send address label from recentissue, new address, and 9-digit zip to address below. POSTMASTER Send address changes to The MerchantMagazine, 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200, Costa Mesa, CA92626.The Merchant Magazine (ISSN 7399723) (USPS 796-560) is published monthly at 151 Kalmus Dr., Ste. D200,Costa Mesa, CA 92626 by 526 Media Group, Inc.Periodicals Postage paid at Newport Beach, CA, and addi-tional post offices. It is an independently-owned publica-tion for the retail, wholesale and distribution levels of thelumber and building products markets in 13 westernstates. Copyright®2015 by 526 Media Group, Inc. Coverand entire contents are fully protected and must not bereproduced in any manner without written permission. AllRights Reserved. It reserves the right to accept or rejectany editorial or advertising matter, and assumes no liabili-ty for materials furnished to it.

In Every Issue6 ACROSS THE BOARD

18 COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE

48 FAMILY BUSINESS

50 MOVERS & SHAKERS

54 NEW PRODUCTS

66 ASSOCIATION UPDATE

66 CLASSIFIED MARKETPLACE

66 IN MEMORIAM

67 DATE BOOK

67 ADVERTISERS INDEX

68 FLASHBACK

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AnnualSales & Marketing

Special Issue

If the clothes make the man, what makes a house?

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6 The Merchant Magazine August 2015 Building-Products.com

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

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.

Merchant Magazine publisherPatrick Adams toured its 93-year-oldfactory in Peru, Il., with Maze presidentRoelif Loveland. As the two strolledthrough the 1922 building, Lovelandtouched on the history of Maze as wellas the importance of quality over quan-tity, a strong work ethic, and how cus-tomer loyalty 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


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. Everysingle one is unique for a specific

application, 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 themarket to find the next need so we can

stay 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: Merchant Magazine publisher Patrick Adams toured Maze Nails’ factory in Peru, Il., with president Roelif Loveland, the original windows stillin tact. The building, which currently still resides at the orignial 1922 location, still serves as Maze headquarters today. Plans are in the works for a refur-bishment for the 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.


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 JoeCracco of Modern Yankee Builders.

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 withPVC that are impossible with wood.

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)

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 concernover the past several years, but earlyin the game I was prepared for it.” (Continued on page 64)


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 www.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


Pensacola, Fl., office. The SPIB labo-ratory will be utilized for all analyti-cal services.

Nevada Losing True ValueUnable to find a buyer for his busi-

ness, Gordon Johnston intends toshutter Carson City True Value,Carson City, Nv., by the end of themonth, when his lease expires.

Johnston, 73, has operated thestore for the last 16 years. It opened45 years ago as a Coast to CoastHardware franchise.

Johnston is also selling his interestin J’s True Value, Yerington, Nv., tohis business partner—his son, whoalso manages the store.

Capital Buys James PlywoodCapital Lumber Co., Phoenix, Az.,

has agreed to purchase the assets ofJames Plywood, Salt Lake City, Ut.

Capital will integrate the JamesPlywood operations into its own SaltLake City location over the next fewmonths.

The acquisition, expected to becompleted by the end of July, will addsuch products as particleboard, MDFand plywood to Capital’s offerings.

Capital’s branch manager in Salt

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.

Orchard Supply Hardwarehas opened a new 36,000-sq. ft. NorthBeach location near Fisherman’s Wharfin San Francisco, Ca. A grand openingwas held Aug. 1-2.

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

Habitat for Humanity openedan 11,000-sq. ft. ReStore discountLBM outlet in Concord, Ca.

Habitat has also found a new loca-tion in Jackson, Wy., to at least tem-porarily replace its local ReStore,which was gutted by fire in April.

In the meantime, the facility contin-ues to collect donations to rebuild itsinventory, although manager DanBuchan recently resigned.

Inspection Agency Opens forWestern Treated Woods

Southern Pine Inspection Bureauhas launched a new third-partyinspection agency in the western U.S.

Western Wood Services, a divisionof SPIB, is offering western treatersan option in inspection services fortheir residential treated wood prod-ucts.

“We are accredited for all the WestCoast species. Our primary focus ison treated wood,” noted SPIB’s SteveSingleton. “Technically, the WestCoast rules writing agencies (WWPAand WCLIB) are considered competi-tors; however, neither of them dotreated wood inspections. So this is anew service for us in response toWest Coast treaters expressing inter-est in SPIB.”

It is accredited by both ALSC andIAS for the inspection and labeling ofproduction under AWPA and ICC-ESprograms, respectively, and is a mem-ber of WWPI.

WWS has no plans to open anoffice in the West at this time. Thework will be done by SPIB’s westernregion field representatives.

The division manager is KimMerritt, who is based at SPIB’s

Lake City, Tracy Madsen, said,“James Plywood and its founder JimArchuletta have a stellar reputation inthis market. We will do everythingpossible to continue to be responsiveto the market’s needs accordingly.”

James Plywood has serviced retaillumberyards and industrial accountsin the Utah market with specialtyhardwood and softwood plywoods,particle board, MDF and lumber prod-ucts since 1989.

Eco Moves OregonOperation to Port of Tacoma

Eco Building Products, Vista, Ca.,has relocated its Salem, Or., coatingoperation to a larger, rail-served facil-ity at the Port of Tacoma, Wa.

The Port, according to Eco region-al VP Nathaniel Bruce, has “beenvery accommodating of our plannedneed to expand. We were adamantthat we have the facility laid out in amanner that when the time comes inearly 2016 to add an automated line,we can simply bolt it down and go.”

A paint line is also in the finalstages of assembly and should be uprunning by the end of the summer.

PPG introduces a new semi-transparent system that combines the protection of a solid color fi nish with the appearance of a semi-transparent stain.

PRODUCT FEATURES 100% acrylic latex Machine application formula for better overall consistency

versus fi eld application Formulated with high durability pigments for maximum

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* Samples are shown with 1 coat of Sandstone Basecoat and 2 coats of Semi-Transparent Finish. These samples were all lab applied.

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ASK PPG ABOUT DURACOLOR® STFOR FIBER CEMENT AND COMPOSITES


SUPPLIER BriefsSRS Distribution, McKinney,

Tx., has added a Roofline Supply& Delivery branch in Provo, Ut.

Managed by Eric Thomas, thefacil i ty wil l service the southernWasatch Front and Utah County,working closely with Roofline’s exist-ing location in Salt Lake City, Ut.

Capital Lumber is now distrib-uting CableRail stainless steel andDesignRail aluminum railing systemsfrom Feeney, Oakland, Ca., to deal-ers in California, Utah and Arizona,from its DCs in Healdsburg and Chino,Ca., and Salt Lake City, Ut.

Capital has also redesigned itswebsite, www.capital-lumber.com.

Midwest Floor Coverings,Salt Lake City, Ut., is now distributingDriTac’s flooring adhesives andtools across Utah, Colorado, Idaho,Wyoming and Nevada.

WC Tingle Co., Denver, Co.,continues to be a DriTac distributor forColorado and Wyoming.

CertainTeed Gypsum agreedto purchase drywall corner manufac-turer Structus BuildingTechnologies, Bend, Or.

Calculated Industries, CarsonCity, Nv., acquired the Blind Mark lineof magnetic electrical outlet locators.

Withers Reopening NorCal Wayne Withers has acquired the

mothballed assets of NorCal Lumber,Marysville, Ca., and will restart theoperations by the end of August.

Prior owner Don Miller, whofounded the company in 1987, moth-balled it in 2009. “They had everyintention of reopening, but the econo-my didn’t cooperate,” Withersexplained.

Fortunately, the site and equipmenthave been well taken care of, andshould require only a few weeks of

updating to get up and running again. The purchase included all assets,

including real estate, machinery andthe NorCal name. The 43-acre LBMdistribution facility will produce wallpanels, trusses, engineered floor sys-tems, and pre-cut framing packages.

Withers, CEO of West Coast Fram-ing, Milpitas, Ca., and formerly a VPwith BMC and president of GoldenState Lumber, will serve as presidentand CEO of NorCal, supported bySteve Smithers as chief operating offi-cer and Dave Moon as VP-operations.

Capital Expands Denver DCCapital, Phoenix, Az., has more

than doubled the size of its Denver,Co., distribution operations by addinga contiguous nine acres with a 35,000-sq. ft. warehouse to its existing seven-acre site and 36,000-sq. ft. warehouse.

The additional property will allowthe company to expand its servicemodel with products that serve theretail segment with the level of cus-tomization and responsiveness thatthey have been accustomed to receiv-ing from Capital.

The Denver branch inventories adiverse product mix, including red-wood, engineered wood products,fiber cement siding, western red cedar,spruce, pine, Douglas fir timbers,treated products, and composite deck-ing and railing.

Services include daily deliveryschedules, bar coding, special packag-ing, special milling, special patternruns, and EDI capability.


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.


CONTRACTORS attending a training session in one of RDI’s mobileclassrooms 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/educational materials.

Rayonier Purchases Oregon LandsRayonier has purchased about 18,000 acres of timber-

lands in northwest Oregon and southwest Louisiana in twoseparate transactions from BTG Pactual TimberlandInvestment Group.

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 property complementsthe age-class profile of the company’s Pacific Northwesttimber holdings and contains merchantable inventory ofabout 102,000 tons. An estimated 95% of that is high-value Douglas fir and is comprised of about 88% operablelands. The property is expected to improve the company’ssustainable yield by approximately 35,000 tons per year.

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.

Suitor Eyes US LBM HoldingsBuyout firm Kelso & Co is in negotiations to acquire

US LBM Holdings LLC in a deal that could value thebuilding materials distributor at around $1 billion, includ-ing debt. So far, Kelso has outbid other private equityfirms in the auction for the company.

US LBM was created by BlackEagle Partners LLC in2009 as a platform to acquire building material distributorsand currently owns more than 20 LBM companies, with160 locations.

SALES REWARDS

STRATEGY

LEADERSHIPSOCIALMEDIA

MARKETING

WEB

ADVANTAGE

VALUE

SERVICE

LOYALTY

RELATIONS STRATEGY

RELATIONS

TEAMWORK

RESULTS

DIFFERENTIATESTRATEGY

LEADERSHIPONLINE

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 isby 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


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


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 foresight anddesign strategist with 16 years experienceproviding predictive intelligence tohundreds of the world’s most recognizablebrands. Her company, Broadside Studios,specializes in analytics & insights-baseddesign forecasts for the architecturalindustry. 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 willshift 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.

C&E LUMBER COMPANY1 1/2” to 12”Diameter in Stock.

SPECIAL QUOTES


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



Building-Products.com August 2015 Building Products Digest 65

CallPatrick Adams

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

orChuck Casey

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

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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].


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MOVERS & ShakersScott Nelson has been appointed CEO

of Rosboro, Springfield, Or., suc-ceeding David Weza, who is nowchairman. Richard Babcockreplaces Nelson as CFO.

Nate Jorgensen, ex-Weyerhaeuser,has been appointed EWP marketingmgr. for Boise Cascade, Boise, Id.

Scott Sunday, ex-Boise Cascade, hasbeen named director of purchasing& sales for Idaho Pacific LumberCo., Boise, Id.

Byron Beck has joined the sales teamat Thunderbolt Wood Treating,Riverbank, Ca.

Josh Dean has been named sales mgr.of Rough & Ready Lumber, CaveJunction, Or. Ed Cunningham isproduction mgr.

Rick Pully, ex-Illinois ToolWorks,has joined Screw Products Inc., GigHarbor, Wa., as VP of sales.

Jeannie Frank has transferred fromSpenard Builders Supply, Sitka,Ak., to ProBuild, Gig Harbor, Wa.,as assistant general mgr.

Fred Lampher, ex-McKillicanAmerican, is now in operationswith Spellman Hardwoods,Phoenix, Az.

Brad Wilson, ex-OrePac, was namedpurchasing and inventory mgr. forBuilding Solutions, Bend, Or.

Ken Wilcox is new to specialty hard-wood plywood sales at TimberProducts Co., Springfield, Or.

Jay Smith has joined Good EarthPower AZ, Flagstaff, Az., as seniorforester.

Darrin Moorcroft has been promotedto plant mgr. for Sierra PacificIndustries, Centralia, Wa. BradGould is now plant mgr. inBurlington, Wa., and Steve Careyin Keystone, Ca. Skip Sorich hasretired after 12 years as windowsterritory mgr. in Oregon.

Leonard Greer, Tom Renolds, SteveCarrillo, and Andrew Lesser, allex-Bridgewell Resources, are newto Wood Brokerage International,Lake Oswego, Or., specializing inindustrials.

Mike Mahoney, sales, GanahlLumber, Laguna Beach, Ca., trans-ferred to the Los Alamitos, Ca.,branch.

Kirk Nichols, ex-BlueLinx, is nowVP of sales–Americas for MetsäWood.

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.

Tate Morgan is new to OwensCorning, as Portland, Or., roofingsales mgr.

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

F. Timothy Reese, ex-Trex, is thenew president and CEO of MikronIndustries, Kent, Wa.

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.

Andrew Werfelmann is new to NorthAmerican Wholesale LumberAssociation, helping to organizethe 2016 Leadership Summit.

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


SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Hoo-Hoo Club drew a small butmighty crowd to its summer golf/dinner meeting July 15 at theSan Dimas Canyon Golf Course, San Dimas, Ca. Followinggolf, speaker David Koenig, editor of The Merchant Magazine,shared the magazine’s history and vision. [1] David Tait, BryanCallaway, Betsy Bendix. [2] John Pasqualetto, Shawn Knight,Larry Bollinger. [3] Joe Lozano, Sean Larson. [4] ScottMiddaugh, Don Kavert, Tony Campbell. [5] Pat McCumber, JeffDonaho, Mark Davis. [6] Doug Willis, Javier Rodriguez. [7]Craig Larson, Danny Sosa.

So

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erchant Magazine


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.


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MASSIVE CROWDS followed the golfersfrom hole to hole in the Horse Race event,during which teams were eliminated one byone until only one remained. First place win-ners Mason Anderson & Luke Wenner won$200 gift cards, sponsored by Idaho ForestGroup. Lynn Wood & Travis Vezina placedand took home $150 gift cards, courtesyMerritt Bros. Jack Henderson & DavidClutterham showed, winning $100 cards,courtesy Blue North Forest Products.


SPIRITS WERE HIGH at the InlandLumber Producers’ 32nd annual

golf tournament, as hundreds ofindustry professionals gathered July16-17 at the Coeur d’Alene Resort,Coeur d’Alene, Id.

The event featured the tournament,a golf “horse race,” and BBQ atHayden Lake Country Club. Guestsenojyed breakfast and lunch mixers atthe resort’s Lakeview Terrace, whichbrought opportunities for networkingand family fun.

After guests enjoyed a cocktailcruise to the closing banquet, PotlatchCorp.’s Bob Mai presented awards tothe tournament winners, amid highhopes for an improving industry.

(More photos on pages 60-63)

Packed Inland event confirmscontinued industry growth

LAKE VIEW: Guests enjoyed a boat ride onLake Coeur d'Alene. (L-r) Joesph Buttice, GageHolland, Sean Coughlin, Dan Jensen, TerryJohnson, Taylor Bradish.

INLAND LUMBER Producers Association’sannual golf tournament (continued from page60) gave industry leaders a chance to networkand share about each other’s businesses. [1]Ken Koenig, Ricky Palmiter. [2] NoahDevorshak, Jason & Mary Jacobson, Jean &

Brinkmeyer. [10] Mike Henley, AntonRuhdorfer, Jenny & James Mortimer. [11] Paul& Cynthia Walden. [12] Bruce Tays, Pat Miller.[13] Scott Atkison, Leslie & Chris Pease. [14]Angela & Kris Breuing, Jill & Joe Angelo.

(More photos on next three pages)

Steve Wilson. [3] Brinley, Katie & CodyPeterson, Bri & Erick Sykora, Allen Knieper,Sammy Saunders. [4] Garth Williams. [5]Robert Beeler. [6] Erol Deren. [7] Mason &Wendy Anderson, Dawn & Mark Rau. [8] Sheri& Rick Northrup, Amber Dunham. [9] Marc


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INDUSTRY GETAWAY (continued from previ-ous pages): [15] Larry Schmedding, SteveSprenger. [16] Terry Johnson, Harris Gant.[17] Mark Dutton, Gale Theroux. [18] Bobbie &Dennis Buttice. [19] Mike & Jennifer Henley,Paul Owen, Lori Spilker. [20] Greg Netzley,

& Juanita Beeler. [27] Scott Elston. [28] DaveCochenour, Kevin Lang, Ken Koenig. [29]Dave Stokes, Matt Beymer, David McKinney.[30] Barry & Linda Schneider. [31] Dan Seid,Terry Baker.

(More photos on next two pages)

Peter Howe, Kent Marks. [21] Mike Flynn, MikeTheberge. [22] Kevin & Carly Dodds, Jim &Sue Shelton, Joe & Tasha Buttice, HowieHalcomb. [23] Jamie Hursh, Mark Mitchell. [24]Michele Mitchell, Howard Raff. [25] BoydBower, Ron Tiller, Kurt Batey. [26] Sheila, Tom

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S GOLF TOURNAMENT awards (continued from previ-ous pages) were presented by [32] Potlatch’s Bob Maiduring the closing banquet. [33] Merchant Magazinepublisher Patrick, Olivia & Shelly Adams. [34] Shenell& Grant Phillips, Katie Bradish, Joe LaBerge, CarlyDodds. [35] Rhonda Melton, Mike Hull. [36] MattHamilton, Anita & Jared Denney. [37] Ali & JimMurray, Rhonda Milton, Marty Wilson, Dave Bourne,Steve Roberts. [38] Matt Vaughn, Bill Hetland. [39]Aaron Babcock, Heath Hutchison, Russ Hobbs. [40]Derek & Bridget Dryden. [41] Chery & Bob Lackey.[42] Ron Hanson, John Bransetter. [43] DanMandeville, Mary Jo Nyblad, Frank Peterson. [44] BobMai. [45] Mike Flynn, Mike Theberge. [46] TysonSunds, Tom Lund. [47] Brad & Karyn Schneider. [48]Teresa Kimball. [49] Elaine & Reid Schooler.

(More photos on next page)


INLAND GOLF (continued): [50] Jack Donovan, Timi & Ryan Leggett, Troy Wilharm, JulieShiflett, John Wagenhofer. [51] Dennis & Bobbi Buttice, Pat & Dave Tripp. [52] Gunnar &Marjie Brinck, Don Graver. [53] Ron Liebelt, Todd Gallant. [54] Ashley Boeckholt, MichaelMoulton. [55] Matt Hamilton, Erick Sykora, Cody Peterson. [56] Leianne & Carter Stinton.[57] Susie & John Malloy. [58] Tracey & Justin Badraun. [59] Gina Pearsy. [60] Laurel &Chuck Casey. [61] Evelyn Currie, Jim Vandergrift. [62] Linda Elliott, Ron Enyeart. [63]David Slaughter, Jake Kimball, [64] Dawn Cochenour, Kelsey Kline.

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888-807-2580Bend, OR

www.pelicanbayfp.com

“Focused on the future with respect for tradition”

DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONSColton / Fontana / Modesto / Salinas / Stockton, CA

PRODUCTS & SERVICESFraming Lumber / Pallet Stock / Industrial Lumber / Softwoods

Hardwoods / Cedar / Fencing / Decking / RedwoodCustom Cut Stock / Treated Lumber / Tile Battens

3-Hole & Slotted Vents / Custom Cutting / RemanufacturingHeat Treating / Fire & CCA Treating

For more information, contact Shawn [email protected] • (530) 938-4408

NatureWood preserved wood products are treated with Alkaline CopperQuaternary compounds or Copper Azole. NatureWood and Advance Guardpreserved wood products are produced by independently owned and operatedwood treating facilities. NatureWood® and Advance Guard® are registeredtrademarks of Koppers Performance Chemicals Inc. ©3/2015

PST is located in Weed, CA, the historical heart ofthe West’s timber country, ideally situated on Interstate5 to service all of California and the Western U.S.• NatureWood® brand ACQ treated products• Advance Guard® brand Borate treated products• TSO (Treating Service Only) available.• PST is ALSC quality assured by Timber

Products Inspection Agency (TP) complying with AWPA Standards and the CheckMark Program.

Offering Brown tone stained treated Douglas Firfor all pressure treating applications

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

We were already using an industrialheating blanket to curve PVC deckinginto outdoor stair treads. So we soft-ened up an appropriate length of

moulding 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 it

down, 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.

PVC Trim Expertise(Continued from page 14)


REEL1321 N. Kraemer Blvd. (Box 879), Anaheim, Ca. 92806

Fax 714-630-3190(714) 632-1988 • (800) 675-REEL

3518 Chicago Ave., Riverside, Ca. 92507(951) 781-0564

www.reellumber.com

LUMBERSERVICE

At Reel Lumber Service, we supplydomestic and foreign hardwoods.Our products and services include:• Hardwood Lumber & Pine• Hardwood Plywood & Veneers• Melamine Plywood• Hardwood Moulding (alder, cherry,

mahogany, MDF, maple, red oak, paintgrade, pecan hickory, white oak, walnut,beech)• Milling (moulding profiles, S2S, SLR1E,

SLR2E, & resawn lumber)• Woodworking Accessories (appliques,

ornaments, butcher blocks, corbels, etc.)• Woodworking Supplies (deft finishes,

color putty, adhesives, etc.)

Our products are widely used in interior finish carpentry, furniture, cabinetry and hundreds of industrial andmanufacturing applications. We stock acomplete line of complementary productsto complete virtually any woodworking or millwork project.

WholesaleIndustrial Lumber

LOS ANGELES Hardwood Lumberman’s Club chartered a sunset din-ner cruise for members and guests. The yacht sailed out of NewportBeach, Ca., on June 27. [1] Jim & Tracey Gaither, Kit Rohm, DanBohannon. [2] Walter & Joyce Ralston. [3] Gary Swaner, John Mortati,

Dale Bohannon. [4] Nathan & Lynn Osborne. [5] Mark Michie, LisaRains. [6] Charles Bohnhoff, Charlie James. [7] Marty & Randy Porter.[8] Kyle, Kathy, Chris & Bill Fitzgerald. [9] Heidi & Stephen Ondich. [10]Alan & Dana Arbiso.

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A NATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR of wood/panel products located in Southern California islooking for a salesperson to manage their hard-wood plywood and/or hardwood lumber sales.If interested, please call (909) 721-4975.

HELP WANTED

IN Memoriam

W. Ray Williams, 97, retired vicepresident for Kimberly-Clark Corp.,died July 8 in Redding, Ca.

A graduate of NorthwesternUniversity, he joined the U.S. Navy in1941. During World War II, hereceived graduate business training atHarvard and served in both the

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

Deadline: 18th of previous month. Send ad to [email protected] or Fax 714-486-2745. Make checks payable to 526 Media Group.

Questions? Call (714) 486-2735.

CLASSIFIED Marketplace

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copy?Subscribe to The Merchantfor just $22 for 12 issues.

Call (714) [email protected]


Atlantic and Pacific theaters during asa supply and cargo officer.

At the end of the war, he joined thecompany’s Wisconsin headquarters asa financial officer. He was appointedgeneral manager of its forest productsdivision and relocated to its Anderson,Ca., lumber and paper operation in1962. He was promoted to corporateVP overseeing all timberland andwood product operations in the U.S.,before retiring in 1976.

Wayne Vance Derricott, 75,owner of Islands Park BuildersSupply, Island Park, Id., died of natur-al causes July 22 in Macks Inn, Id.

He and his wife, Marie, purchasedthe business in 1972.

David Charles Clapp, 61, formerlumber salesman with Max Ker & SonLumber Co., Idaho Falls, Id., died July18 in Idaho Falls.

He joined Ker in the mid-1970s asa truck driver, later moving into salesduring a second stint with the compa-ny. He stayed on until his battle withmultiple myeloma forced him to retirein the late 2000s.

Gerry Van Leeuwen, 66, globalwood products consultant, died July 3.

He began his career in 1972 withSauder Industries in moulding anddoor sales, moving to lumber saleswith its Whonnock Industries division(International Forest Products,Vancouver, B.C.) in 1979. He waspromoted to general manager ofInterfor’s four whitewood mills in1987.

In 1998, he joined Wood Markets(R.E. Taylor & Associates), becominga key contributor to most of its publi-cations and studies.

John Leber, 70, president andowner of Swanson Bark & WoodProducts, Longview, Wa., died July 10from injuries sustained in a workplaceaccident two days earlier.

Workers were constructing a retain-ing wall on top of a soft sand, whenthe wall collapsed, burying Leberunder two 3,000-lb. concrete blocks. Ittook about 15 minutes to free his bodyusing a crane. He was rushed by heli-copter to a medical center inVancouver, Wa.

A U.S. Army veteran of theVietnam War, he purchased SwansonFuels in 1994 and renamed the busi-ness to reflect the new product lines heexpanded into.

FOR SALE

FOR SALE

Catch up East of the RockiesSubscribe to

Just $24 for 12 monthly issuesContact (714) 486-2735

BPDBuilding Products Digest

ASSOCIATION Update

Mountain States Lumber &Building Material Dealers Associ-ation during its upcoming fall confer-ence will fete member Scott Yates,Denver Lumber, Denver, Co., who isbeing installed as chairman of theNational Lumber & Building MaterialDealers Association.

MSLBMDA’s event takes placeOct. 28-30 at The Broadmoor,Colorado Springs, Co.

West Coast Lumber & BuildingMaterial Association has booked KenWilbanks to address “Creating aCulture of Excellence in All Aspectsof Your Organization” at its annualconvention Oct. 14-15 at MandalayBay Convention Resort, Las Vegas.

Also on the agenda: golf, openingreception and products expo, newNLBMDA chair Scott Yates on“Watching Your Backs inWashington, D.C.,” and Greg Brookson “Dancing with Elephants:Emerging Opportunities in a ChangingIndustry.”

Los Angeles Hardwood Lumber-man’s Club is hosting its annual AlanBohnhoff Memorial golf tournamentSept. 3 in Yorba Linda, Ca.

Western Hardwood Associationis celebrating its 60th anniversary dur-ing its annual convention Aug. 18-21at World Forestry Center Portland, Or.

Tacoma-Olympia Hoo-HooClub’s next board meeting is Sept. 23in Tacoma, Wa.


DATE BookListings are often submitted months in advance. Always verify dates

and locations with sponsor before making plans to attend.

California Construction Expo – Aug. 13, Long Beach ConventionCenter, Long Beach, Ca.; www.calconexpo.com.

Western Hardwood Association – Aug. 17-20, annual convention,World Forestry Center, Portland, Or.; (360) 835-1600; www.westernhardwood.com.

Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Assn. –Aug. 20, Western Slope golf tournament, site TBD; (800) 365-0919; www.mslbmda.org.

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

Black Bart Hoo-Hoo Club – Aug. 21, clay shoot & BBQ, Black PointSports Club, Petaluma, Ca.; www.blackbarthoohoo181.org.

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

Pacific Northwest Association of Rail Shippers – Sept. 15-16, fallmeeting, Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle, Wa.; (503) 656-4282;www.pnrailshippers.com.

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

Los Angeles Hardwood Lumberman’s Club – Sept. 3, AlanBohnhoff golf tournament, Black Gold Golf Course, Yorba Linda,Ca.; (626) 445-8556; www.lahlc.net.

Eko-Las Fair of Forestry – Sept. 3-5, Janow Lubelski, Poland;ekolas.mtp.pl/en.

San Diego Home Show – Sept. 9-11, Convention Center, SanDiego, Ca.; (888) 433-3976; www.acshomeshow.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.

Horizon Distribution Inc. – Sept. 11-13, annual market, Sundome,Yakima, Wa.; (800) 541-8164; www.hdiretail.com.

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

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

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

North American Wholesale Lumber Association – Sept. 21-24,Wood Basics course/Executive Management Institute, OregonState University; Corvallis, Or.; (800) 527-8258; www.nawla.org.

Tacoma-Olympia Hoo-Hoo Club – Sept. 23, meeting, La QuintaInn, Tacoma, Wa.; (253) 531-1834.

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

Jensen Distribution Services – Sept. 23-25, fall market, SpokaneConvention Center, Spokane, Wa.; (800) 234-1321;www.jensenonline.com.

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

Forest Products Society – Sept. 28-30, introduction to sood sci-ence & forest products course, Mississippi State University,Starkville, Ms.; www.forestprod.org.

Construction Specifications Institute – Sept. 30-Oct. 3, annualconvention & show, St. Louis, Mo.; www.constructshow.com.

ADVERTISERS IndexArch Wood Protection [www.wolmanizedwood.com].........Cover I

Boise Cascade [www.bc.com].......................................................56

BW Creative [www.bwcreativerailings.com]................................54

C&E Lumber Company [www.celumber.com] .............................41

Capital Lumber [www.capital-lumber.com]..................................22

CMPC USA [www.selex.cl] ...................................................Cover II

Collins Products LLC [www.collinsco.com] ..................................5

Fasco America [www.fascoamerica.com]....................................28

Fiberon [www.fiberondecking.com].......................68A-B, Cover III

Fontana Wholesale Lumber [fontanawholesalelumber.com].....57

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

Huff Lumber Co. [www.hufflumber.net] .......................................24

Humboldt Redwood [www.getredwood.com] ........................25, 59

Jones Wholesale Lumber [www.joneswholesale.com] ..............15

Kelleher Corp [www.kelleher.com] ...............................................13

Keller Lumber .................................................................................56

Kop-Coat [www.kop-coat.com] .......................................................7

Manke Lumber [www.mankelumber.com]....................................55

MCL Engineered Wood [www.mcl-ewp.com]...............................51

Mid-Columbia Lumber [www.mcl-ewp.com] ................................51

Norman Distribution Inc. [www.normandist.com].......................57

North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. [www.nawla.org] .....33

Nu Forest Products [www.nuforestproducts.com] .....................49

Pacific States Treating [www.pacificstatestreating.com]...........64

Pelican Bay Forest Products [www.pelicanbayfp.com]..............64

Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance [plmilm.com] .....37

PPG Architectural Coatings [www.ppgac.com]...........................23

Quattro Post [www.quattrotimber.com] .......................................50

Regal Ideas [www.regalideas.com]...............................................53

Redwood Empire [www.redwoodemp.com].................................43

Reel Lumber Service [www.reellumberandhardwoods.com].....65

Reliable Wholesale Lumber [www.rwli.net] .................................17

Roseburg Forest Products [www.roseburg.com].............Cover IV

Simpson Strong-Tie [www.strongtie.com]..............................34-35

Swanson Group Sales [www.swansongroup.biz] .........................3

Synergy Pacific Engineered Timber [www.quattrotimber.com].50

TruWood Siding [truwoodsiding.com] ...........................................5

Universal Forest Products [www.ufpedge.com]..........................39


FLASHBack60 Years Ago This Month

As we look back to August1955, construction was boomingand The Merchant had establisheditself as the premier publication ofthe LBM industry, with new con-struction that year expected to reacha record-breaking $41.8 billion.

That summer, the country wel-comed the birth of Disneyland, oneof America’s most beloved themeparks. In all, lumber companies inthe region supplied 3.5 million bd.ft. of wood products for the park’sconstruction. An old Los Angelesmansion with its wood paneling,stained-glass windows, and crystalchandelier, supplied much of the

interior of the Delmonico-style Swift’s Red WagonInn, and other portions ofMain Street buildings.

The Merchant dedicateda section in its August issueto inform its readers of the160-acre theme park, notknowing that the fledgling1,000-worker operationwould turn into today’s 500-acre resort with 28,000employees—itself just a frac-tion of a global empire.

The park’s constructionhelped push Southern Califor-nia building permits in the first

six months of the year above thebillion dollar building mark for thefirst time in history. Permits just inOrange County nearly doubled their1954 totals.

• Also this month, the DouglasFir Plywood Association introducedthe craftboard cartop carrier as“something really new in a mer-chandising idea—simple, useful andone that takes the dealer’s namehome with the customer.”

The car top was designed for thelumberman or hobbyist to carrylarge and small panels of plywoodon top of their car without damag-ing the car’s finish.

• In June of 1955, the WesternFir Plywood Manufacturers Asso-ciation unveiled a permanentmemorial in the forestry building inPortland, Or.

The memorial contained the firstpanel of fir plywood manufactured50 years prior for exhibit at theLewis and Clark Exposition, andwas hailed as “a great and fittingtribute and a permanent reminder ofan industry which has grown fromthis small panel to becoming a key-stone in the economy of theNorthwest.”FUTURE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH: When Disneyland opened in Anaheim, Ca., 3.5 mil-

lion bd. ft. of lumber went into the construction for it.

AUGUST 1955 issue of California LumberMerchant spotlighted White Brothers, eventhen a venerable producer of quality hard-wood millwork. Today, the company contin-ues offering both hardwood and softwoodmoulding from its mill and showroom inOakland, Ca.

LOOK INSIDE

What is the only composite decking and railing brand that:

It might surprise you.Find out inside.

• Has manufacturing plants on both the west and east coasts?

• Makes a capped, four-sided, WPC deck board with two usable faces?

• Has the most complete product line-up?

• Introduced the fi rst co-extruded composite railing?

• Has both capped WPC and PVC decking approved for use in CA WUI zones?

• Offers a 5-year labor warranty for accredited builders?

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.

Documents

The Merchant August 2015