Builders Look Up to Disdero Lock-Deck Laminated Deckitg

Substitutes Erode Wood Markets

Wood and non-wood substitutes continue to displace conventional, sawn structural and appearance grade lumber products at a slow but steady pace, according to a new report from Wood Markets.

Collectively, engineered wood and non-wood substitutes represent a volume equivalent to over l)Vo of all wood products consumption in North America-or more than 7 billion bd. ft. in 1999. "More convincing is that these substitutes have collectively been growing at the astounding rate of almost 207o per year since 1992, a rate that pales to anything in the solid wood business," notes Wood Markers publisher Russell Taylor.

What is almost unbelievable to the lumber trade is that increasingly end-users are willing to pay substantially more for engineered or specialty non-wood products. "For example," Taylor says, "a spectrum of end-users will pay a 507o premium for plastic decking lumber over the price for some of the highest quality knotty cedar or twice the price for treated pine decking." He says the perception is that substitutes can deliver higher quality, value, performance and reliability.

More builders and homeowners are looking up to the warm aesthetics of Lock-Deck wood interiors. This T&G laminated wood decking combines a structural roof system and a handsome finish surface.

The furring, sheathing and finishing often required with steel or other materials is eliminated, meaning faster construction at lower cost.

It's available in six and eight inch widths as well as two, three, four and five inch thicknesses. LockDeck is dry, strong, and bonded with a waterproof adhesive.

Call us for more information todav.

These same end-users are choosing substitutes over lumber partly as a lack of confidence with wood or in response to the strong promotion that substitutes are able to generate. As well, problems with variable lumber quality and volatile prices have caused builders to switch to the largest group of lumber substitutes, engineered wood products (mainly I-joists, LVL, glulams and fingerjointed studs). About lOVo of lumber substitutes are actually wood-based or engineered products.

Lumber substitutes are growing over 500 million bd. ft. per year-about the equivalent production of three large sawmills. However, this incremental volume will likely give lumber producers some additional trouble since an oversupply of lumber is expected to lower sawmill output throughout North America over the next few years.

Steel studs for residential construction remain the largest threat to solid sawn and engineered lumber, even though actual use of steel to date is still small. This contrasts to vinyl siding, which over the last 20 years has overtaken 50Vo of the siding market and become the lowest priced product. Two other substitutes, fiber cement siding and OSB, have another lOVo each, while wood siding has sunk to about \Vo from close to a 5OVo share in the late 1970s.

Substitute products are forecast to increase in quantity while a variety of new composite products designed "with the consumer in mind" are expected to enter the market on a steady basis. The onslaught of substitutes will continue to be driven by an older and wealthier consumer who wants products that offer consistent performance, little to no maintenance, and are backed up by warranties ranging from 10 to 50 years. Conventional lumber's ltt into a more discerning market environment will mean that some commodity products will need to be improved, repositioned, or priced even lower to remain good value over specialty products or substitutes.

Bill Walker, Idaho Timber's Sagebrush Sales division, Albuquerque, N.M., has retired after 50 years in the industry.

Paul Norman is now sales mgr. for national distribution for Filler King Co.. Homedale. Id.

Charlie Brown, ex-Perma Post, is now with Royal Pacific Industries, McMinnville, Or.

Mike Wynne has been named industrial sales mgr. for White Water Forest Products, Spokane, Wa.

Jack Price has resigned from Hampton Lumber Sales, Newport Beach, Ca., to enter the import/ export business.

Tom Clow is new to sales at McKenzie Forest Products, Springfield, Or.

Doug Fish has retired from Timber Products Co., Springfield, Or., after more than 20 years with the firm.

Luie Rodrigues has joined the lumber crew at Pick's Building Materials, West Covina, Ca. Martin Smith is new to the hardware store, and Kristy Auten is a sales assistant.

Brett Slaughter, ex-Forest Grove Lumber, is now with Elk Creek Sales, St. Paul, Or.

Douglas Lundy has been named green Douglas fir product mgr. for WisCal Sales, Redding, Ca.

Janet Corbett has been named sales mgr. of Warm Springs Forest Products, Warm Springs, Or.

Dan Fisher has been appointed Western regional mgr. for wholesale tile and flooring for TEC Specialty Products, Inc., overseeing 13 Western states. He is based in Olympia, Wa.

Quent Ondricek has been appointed national sales mgr. of Do it Best Corp.

Ken Race is new to West Coast sales at Timber Source, Eugene, Or.

Larry Foerster is mgr. of the new Expo Design Center in Laguna Niguel, Ca.

Mary Jo Evans has been named Western regional sales mgr. for Mansfield Plumbing Products, Inc. Scott Nassimbeni oversees the Southwest.

Brad Shelly, West Coast Lumber Inspection Bureau, Portland, Or., was named chairman of the Sofr wood Export Council, Portland. Michael Caldwell, American Institute of Timber Construction, Englewood, Co., is vice chairman, and Robert "Butch" Bernhardt, Western Wood Products Association, Portland, is secretary and treasurer.

Michael Natale and Steven Adams are new to sales for Swan Secure Products.

Steve Calverley, ex-Harwood Products, has been named general mgr. of OrePac Building Products, Boise,Id.

Michele Feller has been appointed assistant v.p. of investor relations for HomeBase Inc.. Irvine. Ca. Henry G. Ragin is now senior v.p., general merchandising.

Rick Smith is now overseeing sales in El Paso, Tx., for Sierra Pacific Industries, Redding, Ca.

John Ubertino is store mgr. of the Lowe's Home Improvement Center set to open next month in San Clemente, Ca.

Bob Milhoan has been promoted to v.p. of e-commerce at HandySource.com. Brian Geverd is director, marketing communications, and Steve Dabbs, chief financial officer.

Michael Dube has been promoted to v.p. of operations-Southwest Region for Universal Forest Products.

Ron Pink, president; Curt Burdick, v.p. of sales, and Ron Draghi, chief financial officer, have resigned from Distribution America. Dave Heider. chairman. wholesaler merchandising group, and ceo of United Hardware Distributors, is in charge until a new management team is named.

David T. Brown has been named chief operating officer of Owens Corning, succeeding Domenico Cocere. He will continue to serve as president, Insulating Systems Business, until a successor is named.

Tom Partin, ex-Ochoco Lumber Co., has been appointed president ofthe American Forest Resource Council. Portland, Or.. a new organization from the combining of the Independent Forest Products Association and the Northwest Forestry Association.

James Riley, Intermountain Forest Association, Coeur d'Alene, Id., was named a forestry advisor to the transition team of President George W. Bush.

John Schick, retired, LouisianaPacific Corp., Portland, Or., is recovering from hip surgery.

Steve Bean has been named v.p. of marketing for the Southern Forest Products Association, succeeding Jeff Easterling, who leaves Feb. 2l after 13 years to head the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association.

Ron Enyeart, Enyeart Trading Co., Lake Oswego, Ca., is back from a Midwest business trip.

Reggie Jackson, baseball Hall of Famer, is the new spokesman in the 200 I print advertising campaign for Lightning Brand Products, Portland, Or.

Jason Mott, Home Depot, Salem, Or., wed Terisha Cox recently in Reno, Nv.

Al Pine is now handling Swiss mountain timber sales for MungusFungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., according to owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

Fire

Fire Retardant Plvwood

Fire Retardant Lumber

New OSHA Ergonomic Rules

OSHA has finalized its ergonomics regulations that apply to all general industries, but specifically target the manufacturing and materials handling industries.

The new rules state that by Oct. 15, 2001, employers must provide workers with the following:

(l) Information about common musculoskeletal disorders and their signs/symptoms.

(2) The importance of reporting MSDs and their symptoms early.

(3) How to report MSDs symptoms in the workplace.

(4) Risk factors, jobs and work activities associated with MSDs.

(5) Description of OSHA ergonomics program requirements.

Other requirements include specific timetables for employers to determine if an injury is MSD related and, if necessary, initiate work restrictions and/or give the employee access to health care.

With certain restrictions, grandfathered programs in which employers that had an ergonomics program in place on Nov. 14, 2000 may be able to continue the program rather than implementing the new guidelines.

The new standards are listed at OSHA's Web site at www.osha.gov.

Lowe's Begins Huge Ad Blitz

Even with 650 stores in 40 states, Lowe's Cos., North Wilkesboro, N.C., remains unknown to many Americans, a dilemma the nation's second largest home improvement chain hopes to change with its recently launched nationwide ad campaign.

The firm's current advertising budgel is reported to be roughly $100 million annually. The new media blitz, however, with television spots during several popular prime-time shows, will undoubtedly push that figure much higher.

"The main goal is to build our brand," said senior vice president of marketing, advertising and communications Bob Gfeller.

One television commercial, while not identifying chief competitor Home Depot by name, clearly implies that Lowe's is the better organized and more customer-friendly business of the two.

Not to be outdone, Home Depot also is upping the ante, trotting out a series of new ads that proclaim the chain to be "The Leader in Home Improvement."

To wit, Lowe's replies with its own tag line: "Improving Home Improvement."

Enviros Torch Oregon Firm

The Earth Liberation Front, a radical environmental group, has claimed responsibility for a Jan. 2 fire that caused $400,000 in damage to the offices of Superior Lumber Co., Glendale, Or.

The Earth Liberation Front accused Superior Lumber of being "a typical earth raper contributing to the ecological destruction of the Northwest."

The group had previously claimed responsibility for a fire in November that destroyed a $2 million home under construction in Niwot, Co., and for damaging three houses being built in Suffolk County, N.Y., over New Year's weekend.

Plastic Lumber Firm Consolidates

After a year of concentrating on growth, the world's largest producer of recycled plastic lumber is now focusing on cutting costs.

U.S. Plastic Lumber Ltd. has seen sales climb 35Vo yearly, but has been increasing capacity and operating costs at a faster pace, according to president Tom McEvoy.

As a result, USPL permanently closed its Sweetser, In., facility and idled, but left equipment in, plants in Vernon, Ca., and Green Bay, Wi. The firm continues operating eight facilities, including Denver, Co., Chino and Fontana, Ca.

As part of the reorganization, Rick Worst has joined the company as v.p. of operations, and Robin Jacobs, formerly with Johns Manville and most recently Georgia-Pacific, is new as v.p. of marketing.

Protestor Ticked Over Nick

Someone has taken a chain saw to Luna, the giant old growth redwood that activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill sat in for two years.

Humboldt County, Ca., police reported that Luna was ctt 32" around, one quarter of the way through its trunk. The tree is over 18 stories high and roughly l5' wide. Hill came down from the tree last December after its owner, Pacific Lumber Co., Scotia, Ca., agreed to spare Luna and a surrounding buffer zone.

When notified of the damage to her former home, a distraught Hill said, "l feel this viscious attack on Luna as surely as if the chain saw was going through me,"

New Texas DC A Capital ldea

Capital Lumber Co., Phoenix, Az., has opened a distribution center in Waco, Tx., to serve its growing southern customer base.

The three-acre site, which has 8,000 sq. ft. of covered storage space, will inventory 1,500,000 bd. ft. of redwood, cedar, spruce, Douglas fir, white fir, pine, composite lumber and other specialty building products.

Mike DeArmon, Curtis Roberts and Bruce Griffin, longtime employees in Lubbock, Tx., are overseeing the new facility.

The Lubbock DC will continue to be staffed by Kirk Albright, Nancy Blanco, Philip Lopez, Andrew Miles and David Estrada, who recently joined Capital after seven years with McCoy's.

Lock Maker Settles Charge

Kwikset Corp., Irvine, Ca., a Black & Decker subsidiary, has agreed to settle government charges that some of its residential lock products were mi srepresented as being "All American Made" when actually they contained numerous foreign parts and were assembled elsewhere.

The Federal Trade Commission said the firm used false or misleadins advertising and packaging for its locf products, a violation of the "Made in USA" standard which states that products billed as such should have Iittle or no foreign content.

For instance, packaging for Kwikset's Tylo Unkeyed Knobs was emblazoned with the words "All American Made and Proud of It," along with smaller print on its side panel that read "Assembled in Mexico."

Palco Buys Mill, Sells Land

Pacific Lumber Co., Scotia, Ca.. has purchased two mills, a power plant and 9,000 acres of timberland from Eel River Sawmill, Fortuna, Ca., for an undisclosed price and sold 1,219 acres of old-growth timberlands for $67 million to the state Wildlife Conservation Board.

In November, due to declinins lumber prices and shrinking log supl plies, Eel River curtailed some operations and laid off 125 employees. The remaining 210 workers are expected to remain with Pacific Lumber, according to Palco president John Campbell and his counterpart at Eel River, Dennis Scott.

Eel River's remaining assets, including its Redcrest sawmill and around 14,000 acres of timberland, are also up for sale, Scott said.

In a separate transaction, the state Wildlife Conservation Board purchased old-growth redwood-rich bwl Creek Grove from Pacific Lumber, reportedly increasing the amount of redwood timberlands in state and federal parks to more than 225,000 acres.

The deal was part of a state-federal plan to acquire the Headwaters Forest and create a new 7,500-acre redwood reserve in southern Humboldt County.

The transaction reportedly makes redwood the most protected tree species in the world.

Decking, Stain Makers Team

Lightning Brand Products, Portland, Or., is now cross-promoting its hardwood decking with Superdeck Hardwood Stains.

The marketing alliance will be supported with a variety of brand-building marketing efforts such as promotion, endorsement, advertising and trade exposure highlighting their new prefinished Millennium Decking System. Lightning Brand is a division of North Pacific Group.