NNONTANA NtrWS

By R. Y. PETERSETI executive secletarY

tTtHE 34th annual MBNIDA convention

I marked a departure from the pattern of recent years.

Held at Mammoth Motor Inn in Yellowstone Park, it featured a good blend of business and relaxation. The program was developed to expose industry problems for discussion and analysis through maximum participation by the membershiP.

Program features included an analysis of the impact on the low-cost shelter market of the increasing production of mobile and transportable homes by Richard W. Douglass, editor of Building Materials M'erchand,iser. Bud R. Fisher, Boise Cas' cade Corp., outlined the vital importance of profit management and inventory con' trol in daily business management. Construction loans and assistance programs available in the rural and small-town market through FHA were presented by T. Ralph McCormick. Discussion of the cur- rent "credit crunch" by Leroy R. Critch' field, Montana State University; lumber and plywood futures, by James F. Nel^son, -Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.; and shoplifting and in-store security by Patrick M. Flink rounded out the buiiness presentations. Roundtable discussions on common dealer programs, problems and goals completed the working program. -

The MBMDA associate membership ros' ter still expands. Renewal memberships have been received from Tri'State Wood Products, Inc., Billings; LeFevre Sales, Inc., Jamestown, N.D.; Certain'teed Products Corp. Additional new members for 1970 include U. S. Gypsum Co. and Chuck Sperley, Manufacturers Northwest' Pacific, Portland.

WWPA Picks Utke qs Presidenl

Roy Utke, general manager, Fruit Growers Supply Co., a wood products manu' facturer, was elected president of Western

Wood Products Association at the 1970 spring meeting in San Francisco.

He succeeds Frank R. Gilchrist, presi' dent of Gilchrist Timber Co., Gilchrist, Ore., as WWPA head.

Other new officers are, vp., John Hamp. ton, president, Willamina Lumber Co., Portland, who replaces Utke as vp.o and Ira Liberman, exec. vp., Duke City Lum. ber Co., Albuquerque, N.M.,

Morket Advice for Distribulors

The apartment, commercial building and home remodeling markets will be the strongest elements of building/construction in 1970. Building products distributors must inventory in greater depth and pursue all 1970 opportunities vigorously by. assuring broad availability and efficient delivery of the products they handle.

This was the main rnessage delivered by Formica Corp. to its 108 distributors at nine recently-held regional meetings.

The company told its distributors to ex' pect fewer conventional housing starts in 1970 than in 1969, but that remodeling should partially take up the home building slack caused by present monetary restraints' The company reaffirmed its belie{ that independent distribution provides the strongest and most effective system for marketing its products.