LOUISIANA OUTLOOK

JAMES L. DUKE execudve vlce precldent

T[IE'SUMMER meeting held in Des- I tin, Fl., was successful with 200people from Florida and Louisiana attending.

The Louisiana board ofdirectors voted to study redistricting and agreed to recognize a new local association in Cen-

Tennessee

program chairman.

tral Louisiana. The annual audit and budget were approved. Authority was given to pay an attorney to research the lien law further.

The 1983 summer meeting including Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi has been moved to the Royal d'Iberville Hotel, Biloxi, Ms., July lGl3.

The 1982 legislative session closed July 12. This scssion, without question, was the most non-productive and frustrating ever experienced by me.

THE' YOUNG Execurives and TBMA

I along with Weyerhaeuser, Champion Building Products, Diamond Hill Plywood and Georgia Pacific joined hands with the American Plywood Association to present a retail lumber seminar on the subject of plywood.

Dealing with such items as grading, different applications and performancerated panels the all-day meeting was held Sept. 9, at the Hilton Airport Inn in Nashville, according to Terry Haynes, chairman, education committee.

Carl Tindell, general convention chairman, has announced the program for the 57th convention on Oct. 2l-23 at the Hilton Hotel, Knoxville. Don Mirts is

The program is planned to be both interesting and beneficial to your business with plenty of time for those attending and their families to enjoy the World's Fair. A river party and cruise with fireworks will be the concluding event.

The official opening of convention will be the keynote address by the Honorable John Duncan, Congressman fromthe Second Congressional District of Tennessee. The senior minority member of the House Ways and Means Committee, the most important committee in Congress to our industry, he has lead or helped lead every fight in Congress for

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The repeal of the Sunday closing law returned to the house calendar and died in the third unsuccessful attempt to pass such legislation. Lot size restrictions legislation passed both houses pcnding the governor's signature. The workers compensation reform passed out of House to Senate to Senate Committee where four bad amendments were added. Final action was killing it by requ€st of the author, Rep. Thompson. Repeal of the prevailing wage law also was killed.

Those who supported our efforts during the session include Harang Lumber Co., AAA Builders Supply, Acadia Lumber Yard, Inc., Baudoin Lumber & Supply, Inc., Carruth Brothers Lumber Co., Coushatta Building & Supply, Donegan Lumber Co., Hayes Lumber Co.. Inc., of Jena, Hill-Behan Lumber Co., Markell Lumber Co., Inc., Pierre Part Store and Seal Lumber Co. Palet Works.

Our association in cooperation with the Mississippi Building Materials Dealers Association is co-sponsoring a wood product seminarat the Ramada Inn Coliseum, Jackson, Ms., on Oct. 12. Registration deadline is Sept. 27.

WILLIAM THOMPSON executlve vlce precldent

by Don l. campboll

lF I WERE a lumber dealer today and I back on the firing line of lumber retailing, I would certainly direct my thinking and planning toward making my establishment the best one stop repair and remodeling headquarters in my territory.

I know of no field where the potential is as great or where the competition is less. It is not an easy business. It means more work, more attention to detail, and carries with it more of a threat of failure. However, if the planning is done, and if we utilize the energy and the good common sense that is ours, we are bound to be successful.

We must know howto estimate the cost exactly. We must ignore price competition and use an adequate markup. We must make it easier for our customers to get a fixed price on every job. We must give a little extra quality and service. We must make this an important part of our business, not a sideline and we can do this only by devoting to it the same thought and planning that we have given in the past to other phases of our business.

Money is not so difficult to get for this type of work and there certainly is no shortage of prospects because every home, new and old,is a potential field of opportunity. Price competition does not pose the problem that exists in new construction, that is if we provide good service, accurate estimates, and do a quality job.

No one knows just how big this market is or can be. Many estimate that it today exceeds $12 billion a year. There is no limit to the potential that is in store for it. Some suppliers say that over half their sales are going into this type of work. Yet I would venture to guess that not even 5090 of the retail lumber dealers in America today are participating in this one stop remodeling service.

So I ask you, if you are one of them, why not make your firm headquarters for one stop service now?

,The Supreme Court has ruled that an old mortgage cannot be assumable at the old interest rates. However, some say that this will not affect Kentucky. In fact, the Kentucky Realtors say that it will not change one thing in Kentucky because of the present state law. Some s & I s claim they are legally right in escalating mortgages and the Supreme Court decision will not affect loan assumptions approved by them.

I can easily understand the reluctance of realtors to accept the Supreme Court decision but on the other hand, the s & I s execudw vlc€

presldent

f He oUACHITA National Forest in I Arkansas and Oklahoma has more than a two-year backlog of timber that has been sold to private companies but hasn't been harvested. The reasons are obviousit was sold for more than its worth on today's market and there's little demand for it in the depressed building industry.

About 7590 of the companies that bid on timber in late 1979 or 1980 under twoyear contracts are now asking for twoyear extensions on harvesting. Cutting is occurring in only about three of the 200 areas where large timber tracts have been sold.

The forest sells about 1.5 million board feet a year and has 400 million board feet now that has been sold but not cut.

A lot of the trees that sold for $250 to $300 a 1,000 board feet can't be produced into wood at a profit. Current prices being paid now for saw timber used in building are $180 to $200 a 1,000 b.f.

The timber industry is a major factor in the two state's economies. The Ouachita has a small business set aside on its sales who are holding low interest notes would seem to have every right to increase their rates when a piece of property is sold. The increase will come at the expense of seller and home owners but, neither should they expect their loans to be propped up by cheap assumable financing. It all depends on the number of home sales that are made and how aggressive the s & I s are in forcing home buyers who have assumed low mortgages in recent years to exchange them for new ones. that requires that 6090 ofthe sales go to companies with fewer than 500 employees. Many companies with mills have shut them down during at least part oflast year, although there was a small spurt of business activity in the spring.

Some mills can't hangon much longer. Already a lot have lost all they can afford.

The U.S.D.A., which is in charge of the 200 national forests, and members of Congress from the Northwest, where the forests and the problems of timber companies are larger, are working on proposals to help the industry with its problems in the national forests.

Senators Mark Hatfield of Oregon and James McClure of Idaho have proposed terminating up to 4090 of the existing timber contracts and extending the rest for five years. This would allow companies to get out of the high-priced contracts and be able to wait longer for the market to improve.

Even though most of the solutions proposed so far are aimed at the Northwest where the forests are older, as well as larger, they will apply to the Arkansas and Oklahoma forests. "Extensions," not turnbacks, are what is really needed to save this industry from total collapse.

Mark Brown, owner (318) 728.6401 lf you're looking for top quality treated Southern pine, at very competitive prices, with fast, dependable delivery, try us. We can mix products to suit ),our needs; cars, trucks or l.t.l.