Last month’s article, “The Designer Shortage—Where Can We Find Them?”, offered some suggestions for finding new component designers. This month, I have some suggestions for training those new hires effectively. And bear in mind, as I mentioned last month, I think it is...

At the start of a new quarter, the economy is continuing its bumpy ride toward recovery while still showing mixed signals. Forecasts going forward are for slower growth throughout the next two quarters before picking up steam in the latter part of this year and going into the next. There are...

This message is for the new component manufacturers (CM) who have recently and will shortly be entering the component manufacturing industry for wood trusses or wall panels. First, welcome to the industry – it is very rewarding, but I must caution you about this new endeavor. It is not for...

A question everyone has been asking lately – how high will interest rates go this year – got a new possible answer in March. As usual, the predicable became unpredictable again. This time, it is the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and the ensuing danger it posed for the...

A challenge for the component industry is brewing no matter if you are located in an area where new home construction continues to be strong or your market is slowed by the combined effects of high interest rates and stubbornly high inflation. Be it single family or multi-family, new designers...

The contemporary consolidations within the Lumber and Building Materials (LBM) business were prompted by consolidations within the home improvement retail industry. Home Depot started the movement in 1979, and its dramatic growth forced Lowes to follow it, converting its stores into mostly...

Why should you use asset-based financing? This is a question we get quite often. Prospective buyers of commercial equipment wonder what advantages there are to asset-based financing, if any. First and foremost is the advantage of not having to outlay a lot of cash upfront to have use of the...

Where you wanted to be and what you wanted to sell both figured mightily as factors in construction supply’s acquisition, openings, and closures activity in 2022. Deals were almost as numerous as in 2021, but big deals were rarer. Meanwhile, greenfield openings were far more...

Seeing so many flat roofs early this year made me wonder if the future of truss building will be flat. During the January SBCA Phoenix Open Quarterly Meetings, some of us saw Truss Fab Components’ yard loaded with flat trusses, and others saw the flat roof lines of Frank Lloyd...

The economic focus these days continues to be on inflation and interest rates. As business owners, we all grapple with the difficulties of trying to plan when you don’t know where prices will be, or how expensive it will be to borrow money. The Fed has already raised interest rates a...