In 1990, when Dickie Vail traveled from his shuttered Virginia plant to his job interview in Burlington, NC, he didn’t have much going for him. He was 35 and broke, and he was meeting Carroll Shoffner, a 57-year-old mega-millionaire who owned over a dozen highly efficient truss plants. Yet, in demeanor, they could have passed for father and son. Their small-town southern mannerisms, and their faith in God, overcame any differences in their attainments. Carroll, who passed away in 2017, may be the least-appreciated truss business entrepreneur, and that was the way he wanted it. The reason he was so secretive was that, shortly after a Dick Rotto visit in the mid-1970s, Carroll “lost” his head engineer, Jim Meade, to Trussway. From then on, Carroll kept Shoffner Industries largely isolated from the rest of the truss industry while he grew his business with militaristic discipline and mainly by promoting from within his ranks.
Fortunately for Dickie, Carroll was expanding his footprint beyond the Carolinas, and he saw in Dickie someone who had the tenacity to go from humble beginnings to truss plant ownership, like he had in 1964. He needed a hardworking, driven man to run the uncharacteristically large plant that he had acquired from Ryan Homes in Jefferson, GA. That’s where Dickie found his new home, not drastically different in character from whence he came. Most importantly though, Dickie got his first opportunity to see from the inside how a tightly knit, professional organization ran.
Meanwhile, as Larry Rogers saw his delivery charges to Nashville escalate, he realized that he could justify building trusses there. So, he bought an existing building, 30 miles downstream from Nashville on the Cumberland River, and set up his first satellite plant. From this location, he could easily access the increasing number of central-city projects, as well as those around the periphery. His new building offered considerable room for expansion and had a large flat yard for lumber and truss storage. And his timing couldn’t have been better, as the economy was expanding rapidly.
Over the next decade, Larry added to his capacity in Nashville and recruited experienced people, while leveraging Derek Moody’s staff in Monroe, LA for training and support. Like most surrounding plants, Rogers Manufacturing Corp. (RMC) was flush with work until the onset of the recession in 2008–2009, when demand for apartment trusses collapsed, nearly as badly as it had in Louisiana for Dickie Vail and him. Then, on May 1, 2010, a record 20-inch rainfall fell on Nashvile, unleashing a torrent of water that flooded the historic Grand Ole Opry, the Gaylord Hotel (site of 1997 BCMC show), and headed for the plant.
On Sunday morning, May 2, Jennifer Cummings was one of several RMC associates who were watching their plant from a distance while the flood waters gradually rose up the stairs to the plant office, across the stair landing, up the walls of the office, and into the plant, inundating everything inside. This occurred so rapidly that there was not even time to turn off the power to the plant, or to retrieve any of the job files or business records. Imagine the dismay of these folks as they watched their livelihoods swept away in the Cumberland River.
Larry Rogers immediately drove over from Monroe to direct rescue operations, but a week elapsed before the site could be accessed. When he was unable to get support from the power company, he found a contractor who was able to restore power to the site. As he and his staff entered the silt-covered premises, they walked among sticks of lumber strewn across the yard and saw full bundles of lumber that had washed up against the surrounding tree line. Inside the plant, they found mud caking the tops and sides of truss tables and all the peripheral equipment. Even so, with little hesitation, Larry reassured his people that their pay would continue, and that they would work together rebuilding their business.
Surprisingly, after power washing, one truss line quickly came to life. Thousands of boards were reclaimed by power washing, while expending dozens of gallons of Clorox. Under Larry’s leadership, and with the tireless work of the entire crew, RMC of Nashville was fully operational by the Spring of 2011. From then onward, the trajectory of the business proceeded steadily upward, such that Larry embarked on a second expansion to Mexia, TX in 2015. With that location in the prosperous triangle formed by Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, Larry Rogers solidified his position as a major regional truss supplier close to some of the most prosperous truss markets. And in 2016, Larry sold Rogers Manufacturing Corp. to his employees and left it in the experienced hands of Derek Moody and his team.
During this same period, Dickie’s sales savvy boosted production at the Jefferson, GA plant, setting the stage for construction of four additional plants. After Carroll Shoffner sold his plants to Universal Forest Products Incorporated (UFPI) in 1998, Dickie became the General Manager of Operations, ultimately managing six UFPI facilities and consistently exceeding corporate goals. From there, Dickie took on an even greater leadership role, as VP of Operations for Trussway’s eastern plants. After three years, he took over eastern operations for Panel Truss, where he multiplied their sales by opening two additional plants in the Carolinas during his ten-year tenure.
In a prescient conversation Dickie and I had at the 2021 BCMC show, Dickie let me know that his cousin Larry had endured a serious health scare, but that he had emerged from it with a renewed faith in the Lord. Dickie’s characteristic selflessness gave no hint that he was carrying an equally serious affliction that would take his beautiful life less than four months later. And, as attested by the immense outpouring in this magazine afterwards (see In Memoriam, The Lasting Impression of Dickie Vail), few in this industry have had a more positive influence on so many. In the words of Bo Powers, owner of Panel Truss and Dickie’s last boss, “I’ve never met a better man.”
From nearly nothing, these rural cousins from Bastrop, Louisiana rose to transformative industry leadership roles. Larry was recognized by the White House and Department of Agriculture for his “Manufacturing Success in Rural America” and Dickie still holds the world record for truss production. Yet their untold influence continues in the lives of the people they have so enriched over a combined 90 years of service.
See also
Rural Cousins in the Truss Business — Finding Their Niches
Rural Cousins in the Truss Business — Making a Mark