An Eventful Year, to Say the Least

Wow! The year has gone by about as fast as one could imagine. It seems like only a couple of months ago we were in Indy attending BCMC. It’s been a whirlwind for me, as I know it has for many of our officers, staff, executive board members and component manufacturers. To call this past year eventful would be an understatement, to say the least.

My year as President certainly started out with a bang. Only ten hours after being handed the gavel, I was sitting in an emergency session of the Executive Committee discussing the fact that our industry would be faced with a 30 percent reduction in Southern Pine lumber design values in a matter of weeks. As we all know, this issue was averted (at least for several months so a reasonable transition to the new values could be made) due to the diligent work of our SBCA staff, legal counsel, officers and key CM leadership, coupled with help from many other associations, lumber mills and influential people who banded together to address this crisis. We are still working toward the final judgment on the remaining grades and sizes and, with the support from all of the above mentioned, I am confident we will see a much more stable system in place going forward.

With all of the hoopla around the lumber issue, we found some common ground with our lumber suppliers. We were able to make great contacts at the Southern Pine Lumber Forum in Atlanta. In getting to know key lumber suppliers at the meeting, we began to build interest in an SBCA-led lumber coalition, and the idea really started to take off. This by-product, albeit unexpected, of the Southern Pine lumber value issue has been a huge positive for our industry. In May, SBCA hosted the very first Lumber Summit, which resulted in forming the Lumber in Components Council, with 71 lumber suppliers and CMs in attendance. The coalition’s next meeting takes place at BCMC this October with even more lumber suppliers planning to attend.

Another big hoop for us to jump through this past year was the fact that we truly needed to downsize BCMC. We didn’t want to take away from the effectiveness of the show, but we did want to take some of the added cost off of our loyal suppliers and industry supporters during these difficult economic times. It took a lot of work to downsize this year’s show the right way. Very quickly, we realized that the changes required would call for a new venue. This put everyone involved into overdrive and, thanks to the hard work from staff and our BCMC Committee, we were able to nail down one of the most exciting venues, New Orleans (the Who Dat Nation).

This revamped BCMC may very well turn out to be one of the best shows we have had in some time. The educational sessions are top notch, covering topics including lumber manufacturing, visual and mechanical grading, metrics for managers, efficient truss design, and even a two-part train the trainer on how to give effective presentations in your market. And who can forget BCMC Build, when the industry bands together to help build a home for a very deserving family, not to mention the BCMC Build fundraisers: the 5K run, poker run, and the fiercely competitive trike races. So come learn, network, and have fun in one of the most interesting cities in our great nation—see you in New Orleans!

While this year has been busy, it has been very enjoyable, and I would like to thank everyone who has helped this year be so successful. It has been an honor serving as your President, and I look forward to continuing my service as a Past President helping support SBCA in the years to come. This has been a fulfilling experience, and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve this great industry.

Lastly, I want to extend a warm welcome to our incoming President Scott Ward. Scott is a great leader, a strong businessman, a well-respected component manufacturer and a good friend. I am confident he will prove to be an outstanding President for our association. I look forward to providing any help he may need in the year to come. Congratulations and welcome aboard Scott!