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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...

As I have been following up with our employers on jobs that became active before COVID-19 restrictions, they have been more optimistic than pessimistic when it comes to hiring for 2020…until recently. Over the last week of April, my largest accounts have begun to posture as if it was...

With the growing danger of natural disasters, the race is on to expand access to programs that safeguard lives from the human-made danger of poorly built housing. With the common mission of building safer, stronger structures, Build Change and Simpson Strong-Tie have partnered for the Simpson...

To say that this experience has been like no other is a major understatement. This episode in our lives may have transformed our fundament concepts and habits. It will most likely have a long-term impact on the way we do business. Many businesses and advocates have thrown up their hands in...

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...

Oh, to be able to call our current situation simply one big joke—wouldn’t that be nice! Of course, we’re all taking this very seriously, as we should. We’re all finding our way, day by day, as we adjust to the changing circumstances. We’re developing ways to stay...

The roller gantry had two major obstacles to clear in the 1970s, both erected by its inventor, Carroll Sanford. Both were delineated in hard-to-evade U.S. Patents. The first was on the machine itself and the second was on the connector plate that it required. The simplicity of the gantry machine...

Corona Virus or Covid-19 has undoubtedly turned the world in which we live, work, socialize, learn, and play upside down. As I write this in the last week of March, we are starting a 4-week shutdown of our manufacturing facility in New Zealand and a 2-week shutdown period for both Indianapolis...

No doubt that as I am writing this, many of us have had to turn our focus to our families, our friends, and our businesses as the COVID-19 virus has rapidly spread throughout North America. The impact to many has been requirements to shelter families in their homes, except for critical functions...

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” Apparently, she never worked in a truss plant, where I think everyone will make them all at least once. But humor aside, let’s take a look at the...