A great American competitive struggle broke out in truss shops around Miami in 1957. The owners of these shops learned that two new plates had hit the market, and both worked without supplementary nailing. The Sanford Grip-Plate that they were using required hundreds of nails to be hammered into...

For Structural Building Component (SBC) manufacturers, 2025 presents a paradox. Demand for housing and commercial structures remains resilient, yet the cost of doing business is climbing. The resurgence of aggressive tariff policies—specifically on steel, aluminum, and Canadian softwood...

Perseverance through tough times is what earns success, as proven again by two men in our industry named Ronnie. They logged a combined eight decades serving builders, surviving two severe recessions, enjoying several good years, and also facing tough transitions when their employers were bought...

The news of trusses being built with newfangled plates was so well received that it raced across the country in the late 1950s. The first to take notice were homebuilders who built with stick framing, who then wanted to try trusses. The first to respond were lumberyards, who were well positioned...

The U.S. economy entered the Fourth Quarter of the year with fading momentum and increasing caution signs from some indicators, including a weakening labor market, challenging financial realities, and lingering inflation. Analysts are forecasting GDP growth of only 1.9% for the last three months...

In multiple jurisdictions across the country, building code authorities questioned the viability of the curiously shaped metal plates being used on trusses during the last half of the 1950s. In South Florida, for example, four radically different looking plates appeared, with different...

To stay abreast of current trends and future forecasts, I follow many reports and analyses. Most recently, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s September 2025 Monthly Confidence Index (MCI-EFI) indicates a continued, albeit slightly tempered, positive outlook for the equipment...

Our industry has much to gain from our participation in the Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, D.C. This year, one of our main goals was to lobby government officials to stimulate housing construction. In effect, the 27 exhibitors were saying right in front of the seat of government,...

Cal Jureit’s truss testing experience was but the first of three consequential steps that led him to invent the modern truss connector plate. Jureit’s second step was joining Truss Fabrications, Inc. (TFI), which furthered his knowledge of truss manufacturing, and focused his efforts...

Jerome Powell’s late August speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium signals a potential shift in monetary policy that could significantly affect equipment financing for the building component industry. Powell’s remarks, which opened the door to a possible interest rate cut at the...