A Remarkable Lumber Lady

I T MAY BE a long leap - or I plunge - from the swimming pool at a university in Colorado where she majored in physical education to buyer for one of the largest chains of lumber outlets in the Southwest, but Sherry Gaylor made it and loves it.

Sherry is purchasing manager for the 22 O'Malley Lumber and Building Material Stores in Arizona and El Paso, Tx.

In 1979 she was responsible for the purchase of some 3,000 rail car and truck loads of lumber.

Sherry was initiated into the lumber business l0 years ago, when she started work with American Forest Products (now Bendix Forest Products) as a receptionist-secretary. Previously she had been employed as secretary to ajudge, a car wash manufacturer. an architect and as a life guard.

She joined O'Malleys in 1976 as assistant purchasing manager and moved into her present position two years later.

Except for teaching an occasional swimming class and once in a while taking a stint as life guard, her life is immersed in the lumber industry. She is on the membership committee of the Arizona Lumber and Builders Supply Association and has been active in the HooHoo-Ettes, an industry sorority, for a decade, having served as state president and in national offices.

The most demanding job she ever had? Convention committee chairman for Hoo-Hoo-Ettes!

Sherry works closely with the managers of all 22 O'Malley outlets in meeting their Iumber needs and keeping them informed on market conditions over the country.

She deals with over 120 sup- pliers, with 80-850h of the transactions she handles being directly

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MENDENHALL executive vice president Lumber Merchants Association of Northern California

Ponderosa Pine Sugar Pine Incense Cedar Douglas Fir White Fir

ENVIRONMENTALIST. anti-busif, ness groups. state and federal legislation creating more problems for our industry, OSHA, FTC, Consumer Product Safety. EPA, etc. .

There are many times during the course of a year when we all feel like the lellow that fell overboard in the middle of the Pacific and watched as his ship disappeared over the horizon. Drownins is inevitable.

We are all surrounded by a sea of regulations and bureaucrats and it seems that we are certain to drown so why not just give up?

It takes a special breed to be an owner of a retail building material operation. To be satisfied with a net profit before taxes of 50h lo Tolt when you could sell out, buy l20lr money market certificates and enjoy life just living lrom the dividends. shows thal there is more in the minds of dealers than money.

A dealer provides employment for many employees. He is responsible for the health and welfare of dependents including the many children of his employees and he provides indirect guidance to these dependents. His responsibilities are enormous. The local civic clubs depend upon his contribution to community projects and his guidance as an officer of the civic group.

Consumers in the community depend upon him to have the products they need, when they need them and at a fair price. The local government depends upon his sales tax collections (a government job which he performs without reimbursement) his property tax, his corporate tax, his sewer tax, street tax, sign tax, water tax and other taxes they are still trying to get.

Manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors depend upon him to move their products and to absorb the complaints of the consumer for them.

The dealer is expected to progress and show annual growth to benefit the community. He acts as an agent of the government in withholding taxes, social security, disability insurance and many other withholdings that are local requirements.

There is no end to the demands placed upon him, the dependency others seek, the civic requirements of the community and the support of the industry. The burden on this individual is tremendous. Yet some pimple faced bureaucrat, never having been in business or experienced how business operates, sits in an office built and furnished from the taxes of that businessman. He lives ofl a higher than average salary with benefits no businessman can afford for his employees and writes regulations to reduce the businessman's ability to operate at a profit. We call this the Democratic System.

This special breed of businessman must have a strong feeling of business, community responsibility and service to face these demands for eight or more hours each day then return to his home with a smile for his wife and a pat on the head for the kids.

Please, Mr. Government Person, can't you see that the businessman is not an inexhaustible resource? He has the same limitations as the world's oil reserves. Eventually you will use them up through your taxation and regulation.

I'm not certain. Mr. Government Person, that you will be able to find a synthetic businessman to replace this present breed once you've used them up.