Faces of the Industry: Meet the 2016 Officers of the SBCA Board of Directors
Faces of the Industry: Meet the 2016 Officers of the SBCA Board of Directors
Jess Lohse • President
You’re on the SBCA board; so truss-building is what you’ve always wanted to do, right?
After finishing college, living outside the U.S., and starting grad school in Montana, Jess still didn’t have a good idea of where he’d end up. Returning to the lumberyard and living in the subdivision that his grandfather started wasn’t the plan, but Jess says he and his dad eventually “developed a calling” for truss manufacturing and started Rocky Mountain Truss.
What makes your operation unique?
“We get up to a lot more than a normal operation would,” says Jess. As a combined truss plant and lumberyard, Rocky Mountain is “very involved” in the projects they take on, providing framing materials and trusses as well as sheet rock and cabinets. “We don’t do the concrete, and we don’t do the carpet,” Jess explains, “but we do everything in between.”
“We have high turnover,” Jess admits. With the sparse population of Montana and the wide geographic area Jess serves, there’s not a lot of room for specialization. His company does residential, commercial and turnkey construction—and that diversity of work increases the amount of time needed for employee training. Jess says using SBCA’s training programs is one way his small company is able to keep up.
Jack Dermer • President-Elect/Treasurer
You’re on the SBCA board; so truss-building is what you’ve always wanted to do, right?
Jack never planned to stick with his father’s truss company—he went into computer programming instead. “It was interesting for the first year or two,” he says, but seeing people who’d been hard at work on an unfinished program for years, he went back to trusses to actually get something done. He worked for a few different companies before starting his own in order to make his D.C.-to-Texas move permanent.
What makes your operation unique?
“The challenge that I have is just to keep the people,” Jack says. The competition is fierce. “Unemployment is virtually non-existent” in Texas in general and in Houston in particular. Jack says he vies with Exxon for workers. That’s hard, but he sees a bright future ahead making work simpler for those in the skilled construction trades, who can install trusses rather than building from scratch.
“The housing market is and will always be a moving target,” Jack says. “The constant flux offers challenges that don't allow you to rest on your laurels. The best way to become and remain profitable is to learn from others.” Sharing experiences among SBCA members is a way to foster smart experimentation and a chance for all members to grow by improving day-to-day business management.
Jim Finkenhoefer • Secretary
You’re on the SBCA board; so truss-building is what you’ve always wanted to do, right?
“Cleaning out the backend of a saw was my first job on the first day,” says Jim of the summer work during his college years. “I thought to myself, ‘good God, I can’t wait to get out of here.” He can’t explain what made him go back every summer, take a full-time position, or work through the ranks until he was managing the whole plant—but today he claims he’s “always enjoyed everything I’ve done.”
What makes your operation unique?
“For Jim, his merger with True House has brought a new challenge to a long career. “It’s like trying to change the tires on the car while it’s moving,” he says—almost impossible to do but the result will be great. “Our goal is to be pretty much seamless by the first of the year,” he says, and that means he’ll be playing a key role in three plants instead of just one.
“Jim joined the Georgia chapter of SBCA in the 1980s, and is concerned about the decline in member participation at the chapter level. “I think there’s a lot of misconception,” in the industry about SBCA, Jim says. Personal connections with those passionate about the industry—not brochures or flyers—are the way to set the record straight, he says, and a way to build ties in the association.
Rick Parrino • Past President
You’re on the SBCA board; so truss-building is what you’ve always wanted to do, right?
Nothing could convince Rick to follow his father and grandfather in to the lumber industry—nothing, that is, except the promise of a steady paycheck when auto mechanics weren’t in demand. His first night working second shift at the plant brought six inches of snow; miserable as he was, Rick went home thinking, “this is the future of construction. I’m just a grunt on the floor, but holy cow! You couldn’t do this stick framing.”
What makes your operation unique?
“We do designs and house plans,” says Rick. Teaming up with builders and homeowners at the drafting stage means Plum is active prior to bidding, building a relationship before the sales team is even involved. Rick is also dedicated to partnering with local building inspectors to create a two-way communication channel—sending designs and asking questions before building begins and being a resource on proposed code changes.
2015 “was really a come-back year for the local economy,” Rick says, and things are looking up, for Plum and SBCA. New initiatives, like the Emerging Leaders program and the IT committee are exciting, and hint at a new generation ready to step up and become the drivers of the industry. SBCA, Rick says, needs to “get some younger folks on the board,” and “let them start showing us where the future lies.”
