The Distinction You Desewe

Superior performance. Consistent quality. An unmistakable look. Cypress.

One of the most naturally versatile building materials, cypress has no equals when it comes to siding and fencing, paneling, trim and millwork. Qpress has grain character like no other and it's easily installed and readily finished. I-ong known for its exceptional durability, cypress is available now in a wide variety of dimensions and pattems.

Artisans have been making history with cypress for thousands of years. Qpress was the choice of kings, and that golden legacy can be yours today.

Actfue Members

Southern Cypress Manufacturers Assocladon lW. Bfack Lumber Company 501/857-]576

Coastal Lumber Company 919/5t!42l I

Corbitt Clpress Campany 904/ ]97 -2676

Georgia-Pacific Corporation 404/r2l -5518

Griffis Lumber Company 904/]72-9965

Mackey's Ferry Sawmill 919/7%-2910

Mash Plyvood Corporation ffit / 49)-5 | | l

Associate Membens

Bames Lumber Sales, Inc. 912/764-887, Florida Cypress Wood Prod. Inc. 904/353-3001

Gaiennie Lumber Company 318/948406

McEwen Lumber Company 919/ 472-l<)(fi

Murdoch Lumber Sales lnc. 6'1,6 / 948-8282

Richard landry Lumber Sales 718/4424417

The Mann and Parker Lumber Co. 717/2)5-48?4

Wlliams Lumber Company of NC 919/442-21)6

Wlson Lumber Company, hrc. 9Ol/274&7

DAVID C]UTI,ER publisher

Poor employees don't run great companies

33!1f ou can't believe the vegetables that wan-

I der in here thinking they should go to work for our company. If I hired these clowns we' d be out of business in six months," an exasperated manager told us recently.

It's a familiar lament. In an age when the techniques and hardware to train and educate employees have never been better, it seems our business faces a growing shortage of good people. Yet when management is quizzed about the need to spend money for recruitment and training, eyes glaze over. Their minds are elsewhere. And not just in this recession; it was like that in the good times, too.

Population trends bear upon the problem. With the graying of America, more experience and knowledge is lost to retirements. At the other end of the scale, lowerbirth rates following the Baby Boomer generation means fewer young people entering the workplace.

The lackof glamour and a perceived poor chance for advancement in building products retailing, wholesaling and distribution often mean we don't get the coveted young hotshots. Few who join us live for their work. Rather they merely work for a living. And the end results demonstrate it.

This industry must recruit from a tv watching generation raised on the lies and half truths fed them by a pro environmental media too lazy to check out the truth. Not a problem likely to vanish soon,

Everyone seems to agree that any company is only as good as its people. "People are our most important asset," they piously intone. Yet when the time comes to do something in recruitment and training, the commitment isn't there. Unfortunately, it's easier, cheaper and, yes, sometimes more practical to pirate an experienced employee than to train a new one.

We need to find and keep good people. The question is how.