National Hardwood Magazine - Christmas Buyers Guide 2014

THE RENEWABLE RESOURCE A

THE RENEWABLE RESOURCE A tree is God’s creation everywhere on earth - including Brooklyn. It’s said man once lived in trees. When he climbed down, life never again was to be quite so simple...yet only then did the tree get truly appreciated. For here was food and fuel and shelter. Then a weapon, a tool, a wheel - and transportation. And now it’s floors, doors, veneers, piers, baskets, caskets...rubber for gaskets. It’s a handle for brooms, shovels, rakes... syrup on pancakes. It’s paper and paints... tars, spars, boxes and boxcars...storage bins and bowling pins. It’s toothpicks and matchsticks...even plastics...material for distillation, lamination, insulation, windows for ventilation, and a thousand and one other we-can’t-do-withouts. Yet few people look at a tree in the same way. To the small boy it’s a favorite and strategic place... where you build a treehouse, spot a woodpecker, cut slingshots and fishpoles, hang old tires and climb for fun. To the naturalist it’s probing a fascinating world of buds, blossoms, bark, needles, cones and leaves...spectacles of color... and some 1,035 domestic species. (Yet to a baseball player it’s as simple as a stick of second-growth ash, sized and shaped to “feel like a million.”) To the artist it’s inspiration...alone on a windswept hill, timberline patchwork on a mountainside, thick and verdant in a valley. To the homeowner it’s beauty and shade and property value...also digging, planting, pruning, edging, feeding and a lot of other weekend work. To the hobbyist and craftsman it’s a new bookcase, picnic table, paneled den, plywood shelves...a chance to become downright “immortal.” To the timberman it’s a bustling big business, measured by cords and board feet. But most of all, a tree remains what it was in the first place...man’s ever-lasting friend. For we’d sure be “stumped” for a mighty lot of things in a world without trees! There is no substitute for Fine Appalachian Hardwoods The Fifth Generation Family Owned Business with Customer Satisfaction as our primary concern NEFF LUMBER MILLS, INC. P.O. Box 457 Broadway, VA 22815 540-896-7031 Fax: 540-896-7034 E-mail: neflum@aol.com Marijo Wood Sales Manager 2015 FORECASTS Continued 2015 FORECASTS their business. We will also focus on new programs that help companies improve their bottom line. With profit margins extremely thin, companies need to expand their customer base as much as possible. Members have found that by utilizing the purchasing power of the WPMA, we are able to offer savings on programs and services that they would not be able to negotiate on their own. Every dollar that a company saves goes directly to the bottom line. The biggest challenge facing our association is helping members who are stretched to the limit in regard to their time commitments. With companies operating as lean as possible, no one has any time to spare. As one company president said, “I feel like a fireman, as all I do is go from one small fire to the next.” With work and personal life commitments, everyone is saying that they do not have room on their plate to add anything else. Sometimes it is difficult to get people to look at new things, even if it will help their business. The challenge facing the industry is a decreasing demand for solid wood products from consumers coupled with the wide influx of composites and wood substitutes in so many items. Everyone wants to see increased demand, but as of yet, there are very few solutions on how we as an industry can have one consolidated program that will educate the public and create an increase in demand. Overall I would say that members are optimistic that 2014 has been a very positive year for their business. The basis for the optimism is a steady flow of orders. Whether it is a result of industry consolidation or increased demand, they are happy to be busy again. Now all they need is to start making a realistic profit and things will be good. The association rolled out a program with Foley Services to help members comply with ever changing DOT regulations for their commercial vehicles. As more and more companies are forced to offer their own deliveries, this has helped the members be in compliance with very confusing guidelines from a company that focuses on helping small to medium size businesses. In January, the WPMA will be announcing a program that will assist all members with one of their largest per year expenditures. Since 1929, our focus has been and will continue to be on programs and services that help companies compete in a global economy. 44 CHRISTMAS 2014 ■ NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE

2015 FORECASTS 2015 FORECASTS 2015 FORECASTS ED JONES CHANEY LUMBER CO. LONDON, KY 2013 into 2014 was a pivotal year for us. We saw advances in the economy and the industry that were visible signs that an economic recovery was in process, and it seems to be something that is sustainable. The unimproved numbers in housing have been key to the slow economic recovery with new housing starts and new construction. As those numbers improve, so will the recovery. As long as that continues we’ll see continual advancement in those parts of the industry that are affiliated with housing–furniture, cabinetry, flooring, paneling, things like that. I know in other aspects– framing lumber, Southern pine, Doug fir framing lumber–there’s been a downward drift in some production from last year, probably 2- 1/2, 3 percent down. We’re primarily a concentration yard for people who buy lumber in this area, and this gives them a place to benchmark their material. A lot of material that comes in here, the title changes from the sawmill to them, whether it’s the wholesaler, or production outfit that comes in, and we do a lot of air drying. The basis of our underlying industry here is the commercial kiln drying. We’ve also added a rip line–a multi-line rip saw–which is an optimizer. It allows us to do ripped-to-width dimension lumber for some customers. This past year we did a lot of drying where we were going from dead green to dry with a lot of what we call “white woods,” such as Hickory and Soft Maple, and Poplar. There’s a quicker turnaround on drying some of Continued on next page Wishing You a Glowing Holiday Season Atlanta, GA Huntersville, NC Cleveland, GA Crystal Spring, PA Clarksville, TN Birmingham, AL 800-476-5393 www.hardwoodweb.com Visit Us on Facebook www.facebook.com/AtlantaHardwoodCorporation When you think of wood, think of us. CHRISTMAS 2014 ■ NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 45