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Moving to North Carolina this fall, I found a house in place I never expected to live – a planned community. They’re very popular for retired people, but I’m not retired. Even so, the house checked nearly all of the boxes on my search list, and the benefits of this planned...

You’ve accepted an offer for a new job. Congratulations! But before you made that decision, how many opportunities did you actually consider? Was it the best opportunity available to you, or simply the first one that met your immediate needs? These are questions worth asking because...

A veteran designer recently laid out a hard truth about the component world that most general managers prefer to ignore. They pointed out that sales reps routinely make significantly more money in shorter periods of time, often with far less technical understanding of the product they just sold....

The Structural Building Components Association (SBCA) and National Framers Council (NFC) will bring component manufacturers, framers, suppliers, and other industry professionals together in Charlotte, North Carolina, December 8–10, 2026, for their final Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) of the...

Over the years, I have walked through more manufacturing facilities than I can count. I have looked at production lines, equipment, material flow, workforce, leadership, automation, safety, quality, inventory, scheduling, and just about every other part of an operation. Recently, I was reminded...

It had been a while since my last visit to BCMC, and I went to Columbus looking forward to catching up with people, seeing what was new, and spending some time around the equipment that keeps our industry moving. I eventually found nearly everyone I hoped to see, although finding my way around...

In the span of less than two weeks, the Structural Building Components Association (SBCA) went from a packed trade show floor in Columbus, Ohio to a 3,000-square-foot, two-story duplex standing on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Those are two very different settings. But together, BCMC...

It’s customary to think of decay as a negative process. Something that was healthy is not anymore. Something that once thrived has not survived. Whether it’s a process or a living organism, the impact is the same – something could not be fixed/retained and now it is...

The structural building components industry has always been built on relationships. We share ideas, help one another solve problems, and come together when someone in our industry or community needs support. The SBCA Foundation provides a meaningful way to turn that spirit of generosity into...

I’ve had an upper hand in writing about wood components, having been immersed in this industry my entire professional life. My first job was testing connector plates, my second was writing truss software, my third was engineering trusses, my fourth was working at truss plants, and my fifth...