Vol. 6, No. 4 – February 12, 2007

 

 

NLBMDA and NAHB Leadership meet at the International Builders’ Show

 

NLBMDA leaders discuss supply chain issues and industry economic forecasts with NAHB

 

Washington, DC – This year’s International Builders Show, Feb 7-10 in Orlando, Florida, was the site for a meeting between the leadership of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Yesterday, key individuals from both trade associations met to discuss industry supply chain issues and trends and future building material requirements of the homebuilding community. A portion of the agenda was dedicated to meeting with delegations representing industry associations from Sweden, Russia and South America.

 

 "We at NLBMDA are pleased to have this opportunity to meet with NAHB’s leadership as well as international industry leaders." said Shawn Conrad, NLBMDA President. "This discussion was an ideal way for dealers to share the value they bring to supplying the building materials from numerous sources and the services dealers bring to the nation’s homebuilders.”

 

The NLBMDA-NAHB meeting arranged by the heads of the two organizations, Shawn Conrad and Jerry Howard included NLBMDA Chair Steve Kelly (Kelly Brothers Lumber), Kevin Hancock (Hancock Lumber Co.), Harold Baalmann (B&B Lumber Co.), Paul Hylbert (Pro-Build Holdings, Inc.), Quent Ondricek (Do It Best Corp.), and Anthony DeCarlo (Lumbermens Merchandising Corp.). From NAHB, attendees included Brian Catalde (Paragon Communities, Playa Del Ray, CA), Sandy Dunn, (B.J. Builders, Inc., Point Pleasant, WV), Joe Robson (The Robson Companies, Tulsa OK), David Pressly (Pressly Development Co., Statesville, NC), and Bob Jones (Builder from Bloomfield Hills, MI).

 

According to Steve Kelly, President of Kelly Brothers Lumber and NLBMDA Chair, “By participating in this joint meeting, we not only are able to share the pivotal role our dealers, co-ops and buying groups play in the building material supply chain, but NLBMDA is pleased to strengthen its relationship with NAHB and other industry and association leaders.”

 

More than 100,000 housing professionals attend the International Builders’ Show, which is the housing industry’s largest annual light construction trade show and exhibition.

 

Source: NLBMDA, February 9, 2007

 

PROMOTION FOR HYLBERT

 

Pro-Build Holdings, the largest U.S. pro dealer, has promoted Paul Hylbert to the position of CEO. Hylbert succeeds Fred Marino, who will remain with the company as vice chairman while focusing on growing the company through acquisition and new business development, the company said.

 

Hylbert previously served as the CEO of Lanoga, which was purchased by Pro-Build in February 2006. Prior to Lanoga, he spent nine years as president of PrimeSource, one of the largest distributors of building materials in the United States.

 

Hylbert currently serves as Vice-Chair of National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA).

 

Source: Home Channel News, February 5, 2007

 

sign up NOW for estimating workshops

 

You still have time to sign up for MLA’s popular estimating workshops – but the first session is just one week away! 

 

MLA is pleased to announce that we have engaged Mike Butts, LBM Solutions, to provide our popular estimating training in 2007. Mike is one of the most recognized trainers in the lumber and building material industry. The training will be offered in Wichita, Kan. on Feb. 20-21 and in St. Louis, Mo. on March 6-7.

 

Day 1 leads participants through a typical blueprint format, scale and content. Students will develop an understanding of architectural symbols such as wood, concrete, insulation and electrical schedules, knee walls, wall sections and cantilevered joists. They’ll also learn about “specification and general notes” – their necessity, importance and how they relate to retail sales. In addition, the seminar teaches participants how to approach reading a blueprint to ensure thoroughness and accuracy when completing an estimate of materials.

 

Day 2 focuses on the skills necessary to calculate the framing lumber requirements of the complete shell of the house through comprehensive study of each construction item. Included in this is a review of contemporary “cut roofs” and their unique estimating requirements. Attendance at Day 1 is mandatory for attending Day 2 or the student must have proficiency at reading blueprints.

 

Mike Butts is the founder and President of LBM Solutions.  His abilities and experience have been called "unsurpassed by other consulting firms in the industry.”  His experience has been gained through extensive work in the field at "street level," implementing the programs and practices he teaches.

 

When/Where:

 

February 20-21 – Wichita at The Best Western Airport Inn & Conference Center

March 6-7 – St. Louis at the Embassy Suites Hotel St. Louis Airport

 

Member Pricing:

 

• Sign up for Day 1 or Day 2 separately at $275 per day.
• Two-day workshop package - $445 for the first person from a member firm - $425 each for additional personnel.

 

Nonmember pricing is available.

 

Complete information and registration forms are available upon request from MLA at 800-747-6529. Or, simply reply to this email and we’ll send complete information today! You can download a registration form at www.themla.com.

 

 

 

LUMBER NEWS – QUICK GLIMPSES

 

Bills Introduced to Stop IRS Private Collection Plan... A Bill introduced by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Patty Murray (D-WA) has called for the Internal Revenue Service to halt its plans of using private collection agencies to collect back taxes. Sixteen members of the United States Senate cosponsored the Bill, including Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT).

 

Those involved with the Bill cite the main concern as privacy – the IRS would be handing over the personal information of over two million taxpayers to private debt collection firms, of which the Bill states, "Recent evidence continues to suggest that the Internal Revenue Service does not have adequate systems in place to ensure that taxpayer information shared with private debt collection companies is properly secured and that such information will not be accessible to those who would misuse such information." It also states that the taxpayers trust the IRS to keep all their private information confidential, but turning these records over to a collection agency is a violation of that trust, as it is a profit-driven industry.

 

Source: NACM E-News, Samantha Blaum, NACM staff writer, S. 335, H.R. 695 and NTEU

 

The Chill At Luxury's Low End… As the national housing market continues to weaken, prices of homes in the $1 million range are slumping in many parts of the country. In once-golden Sunbelt cities like Miami and Santa Barbara, Calif., as well as in major Midwestern cities like St. Louis and Chicago, prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2006 from a year earlier, in some places by as much as 7.2 percent. Still, analysts say, the category is holding up better than the overall market, which declined 10 percent during the same period.

 

Source: Builder Business Update, January 30, 2007

 

Out of Time… More than half of all consumers, at all income levels, say that lack of time is a bigger problem than lack of money according to a Yankelovich survey (USA Today 12/1). 68 percent in the survey say they will hang up if put on hold; 61 percent will cancel an online purchase if it takes too long.

 

Source: Harrison Coerver & Associates, January 31, 2007

 

Daylight-saving time could hit snags this year… It might not be Y2K, but Congress' decision to move daylight-saving time from April to March this year is likely to affect numerous computer systems that have been preset to change the hour on the traditional date. Many people aren't even aware of the change, but it could affect everything from security systems that log the time of critical events to takeoff times for pilots and synchronized international communications components.

 

The change takes effect this year – on March 11 – and it has angered airlines, delighted candy makers and sent thousands of technicians scrambling to make sure countless automated systems switch their clocks at the right moment. Unless changed by one method or another, many systems will remain programmed to read the calendar and start daylight saving time on its old date in April, not its new one in March.

 

It's one thing to arrive an hour late for church on the first day of daylight saving. It's another for a security system to log the wrong time of crucial events, for pilots to misunderstand their takeoff times or international communications components to stop synchronizing. But such scenarios are possible without the fix to vast numbers of the nation's technical systems.

 

As IBM notes on its Web site: "Any time-sensitive functions could be impacted by this change… It is important for users to assess their environments and develop appropriate plans for applying the necessary changes."

 

Source: Washington Post, February 1, 2007

 

Existing-Home Sales To Improve, With Later Recovery For New Homes… Consumers are beginning to respond to more favorable housing market conditions, but new home construction will be dampened until inventories decline further, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.

 

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, is looking for a steady rise in existing-home sales.  “After reaching what appears to be the bottom in the fourth quarter of 2006, we expect existing-home sales to gradually rise all this year and well into 2008,” he said.  “New-home sales should continue to slide, but we look for that sector to turn around later in the year.  When you put it all together, home sales may appear weak in comparison with the record surge in 2005, but they will be sustained at historically high levels that are in line with long-term demand.”

 

Source: National Association of Realtors, February 7, 2007

 

Economic Outlook Announced at Show… Chief economists for NAHB, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae offered some minor differences in their 2007 housing and economic outlooks, presented today during a press conference at the 2007 International Builders' Show in Orlando. Most important to builders is NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders' view that the worst is over for home sales, but that housing starts will continue to decline into the first quarter of 2007, followed by a gradual recovery. Seiders projected a 14-percent decline in house starts this year over last year, with single-family starts for 2007 totaling 1.256 million units.

 

Source: ProSales Business Update, February 8, 2007

 

Pet Peeves at Work… Staffing firm, Randstad USA, does a lot of surveys and polls on workplace trends. In one recent poll, they asked workers to list their biggest workplace peeves. Not surprisingly, they included issues with managers and co-workers. The top three peeves were:  being talked down to, public reprimand, and micromanaging of employees. Those of you who have been in my seminars have heard me give the advice of talking to employees like adults, never give negative feedback in public, and stop being a control freak. If you are not guilty of these habits yourself, then as a manager/owner, you need to be aware of who is and talk with them about changing their evil ways. Here’s a common sense, easy idea you can institute that people love: Institute a firm policy of workplace courtesy. Courtesy is contagious. It does spread and it will make your workplace more satisfying and productive.

 

Source: Bob Losyk, MEd., M.B.A., C.S.P. is a Certified Speaking Professional, master trainer, author, and President & CEO of Innovative Training Solutions, a Greensboro, NC consulting firm.  For more information on Bob’s keynotes, seminars, best practices facilitation, panel discussion leader, and products, please visit his websites at www.boblosyk.com

 

Weyerhaeuser to Adjust OSB Production at 3 Mills… Weyerhaeuser last week released details regarding reductions at three oriented strand board mills in Canada and the U.S. Weakened demand has led the timber giant to cut back OSB production by approximately 500 million to 600 million square feet annually.

 

"Despite the best efforts of our mill employees, we cannot avoid reducing supply from these mills," explained Phil Dennett, vice president of iLevel Strand Technologies. "We're taking this action to balance our production with market demand."

 

Source: LBM Daily, February 12, 2007

 

OSHA “Quick Tips”… OSHA requires employers make first-aid supplies readily available. Here are some basic products: absorbent compress, adhesive tape, burn treatment, sterile pads. You should routinely survey the needs of the workplace and supplement first-aid kits accordingly.

 

Source: SBMA “Nailed It!” – January 2007

 

 

Your business may be only as safe as your driverS

 

A serious auto accident can be devastating to your business, especially if your driver is found liable in a lawsuit. It’s even worse if you find out too late that your employee had a history of traffic violations. Federated Insurance offers a driver insurability service to its clients that can help qualify a driver before making a hiring decision. Checking prospective employees’ motor vehicle records and following up with periodic checks later may help you avoid a costly lawsuit down the road. Businesses insured with Federated may call 1-800-335-4MVR (4687) for this service.

 

Your Federated marketing representative can provide more information and material which will help you set up a driver insurability program. Or, you may call 1-800-838-1760 for more information.

 

*This program may not be available in all states or for all businesses.

 

 

This article provided courtesy of Federated Mutual Insurance Company, your association’s recommended insurer.

MLA is proud to endorse….

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY