Lumber Joe Joe Campagna After 40 years in project management and product ownership for the financial service industry, dealing with everything from futures to equities to basis trading, I thought my brain couldn’t possibly manage another acronym. But, in a world that constantly changes, I too had to evolve... Read More July 2020 Issue #12252 Page 104
Modular Industry in Best Position to Take Over Mid-Rise Housing Gary Fleisher Since 2010, the number of households that rent has grown from 32% to 36% with the addition of 4,000,000 new renters. Mid and high-income renters saw the biggest increase. With construction slowing down due to COVID-19 and lawmakers debating the pros and cons of rent forgiveness for those who... Read More June 2020 Issue #12251 Page 94
Lumber Briefs: Become a Lumber ‘Trader’ Not Just a Buyer or Seller Matt Layman Seems like every week I get more contacts regarding urgent buying strategies. I want to share two of them with you today. One was a contractor yard, preparing to requote a $3 million multi-family framing package. The member was advised by the contractor that his price was roughly 10% high,... Read More June 2020 Issue #12251 Page 102
Teamwork and Friendship Benefit the Whole Mike Wisnefski The average American works 8.8 hours a day, 44 hours per week. The average entrepreneur works 63% more than that. So, when I had the idea for a tech start-up designed to transact raw materials, specifically lumber and wood products right now, you better believe I wanted to like the people that I... Read More June 2020 Issue #12251 Page 104
Career Moves and Relocation In the past, relocation was an acceptable means to advance, find a better place to live, better benefits, or better compensation. Myself, I found relocation helped me advance from a mid-level manager to a multiplant GM at a young age. The downside is I had to move several times, uprooting my... Read More June 2020 Issue #12251 Page 107
Innovations in Modular Construction Not For Everyone Gary Fleisher The 2008 housing recession ended with many East Coast modular home factories closed forever along with scores of independent new home builders, both site and modular. There were no buyers looking for new custom homes. Then in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States... Read More May 2020 Issue #12250 Page 92
Lumber Briefs: Softwood Framing Lumber Market Forecast Matt Layman LLG Crystal Ball Says Speedy Recovery I do not forecast the lumber market, rather how and when folks who buy, sell, and produce lumber will act or react. As for the economy and its recovery from this pandemic disruption, I only need to remember and expect one thing. Economies are consumer... Read More May 2020 Issue #12250 Page 102
The Last Word: A Tale of Two Texas Trussers Joe Kannapell Larry Dix and I had to leave Texas to find jobs in the 1980s, as oil had crashed, and no one was buying our trusses. Back then, oil was $25. Today, they’re giving it away. Both Larry and I landed and recovered in Virginia, where government spending levels out the economy (we hope)! No... Read More May 2020 Issue #12250 Page 131
The Hiring Zone: A Typical Spring Hiring Season? The Coronavirus is changing our landscape so fast that the three articles I wrote within the last week are no longer applicable. Because of this, I’ve decided to just give some facts and opinions from my vantage point at TheJobLine.com. First, as of March 24th, we have not... Read More April 2020 Issue #12249 Page 94
8 Intrinsic Values of Modular Home Construction Gary Fleisher Whenever a site builder asks me why they should go modular, they are really asking me how they can make more money going modular. Some of them are long time site builders that have looked at converting to modular construction and just can’t bring themselves to pull the trigger. It’s... Read More April 2020 Issue #12249 Page 98