NEWS BRiltrtrS

Construction materials and labor rose an average of 8.2% for the year ended Mar. 31, compared with 11.5% a year earlier, according to an F.W. Dodge survey. .Spring months were a period of continued decline in the demand for construction workers, with unemployment at I9% in April, says the Contractors Mutual Assn.

Junction and Denver, Co.; and Pocatello, Id.

Weyerhaeuser has resumed bllying wood chips in Wa. and Or. to replenish its stocks; several hiehly placed industry sources have recently indicated that they foresee a chip oversupply for the next 6-12 mos., followed by an extended chip shortage. . .

Paul Plant, Vancouver, B.C., was elected president of the l{orth American llholesale Lumber Assn. at its June Annual meeting; James E. McGinnis, Jr. is lst v.p.;Carleton Knight, Jr., 2nd v.p.; we'll have a complete story on the meeting next issue.

Pay 'n.9ale has opened a new home center in Redding, Ca., with an Ernst home center (a div.) set for a new unit opening in Citrus City, Ca.,. ,Maywood, Irtc., the Amarillo, Tx., woodwork mfgr., has purchased a new plant in Bend, Or., to supply their marketinqeffort....

California Cascade Indu,ctries, Sacramento, Ca., is a new corp. founded by Hank Feenstra and Ralph Heath, formerly with Oregon-Pacific in Fairfield, selling pine, fir and redwood to retailers in Ca. as well as some Eastern sales. .LlllF Corp. has agreed in principle to buy King Lumber Co., Bakersfield, Ca. from Affiliated Western lndustries. Kansas City;purchase would be for cash, no amount revealed. .

lion sq. ft. (314" basis) with '76 "abetteryear". . MacBeath Ilardwood, San Francisco, has been awarded a SO-year plaque by the N'tl. Hardwood Lumber Assn. . . May Hardwood lumber shipments in the South showed a slight increase from the previous mo.

SllF Plywood, Medford, Or., has absorbe d Carolina Pacific Plyvvood. Inc. : both are subsidiaries of Southwest Forest Industries of Phoenix, Glen Jones is directing the combined operations. Independent Vetteer Procluc'ers, Inc., Portland, is sporting a new loeo for its assr-I. work.

P.R.O.D. llholesale Distrib* /ors, San Leandro, Ca., has opened a branch in Fresno; Steve Johnson is handling the office. . lUesco has moved its door manufacturing plant from a 36,000 sq. ft. plantinMt. View, Ca., to a 60000 sq. ft. Stockton facility. .

lVical, Inc. is the new name for Nicolet of California, Inc., Hollister, manufacturers of the Leatherbacft line of construction papers. Pay 'N Puk,S/orcs, Kent, Wa., plans new stores next year in Roseville. Ca.; Casper, Wy.; Ogden, U t.; Lynwood. Wa.I Grand

More financial experts feel the prime rate may be in for a reversal oJ'the dive it's been in sinceOct., when it began its decline to the present l%; complex money market movements by the t-eds plus more gov. borrowings are seen as the callse.

Housirtg starts rose 14% in hlay from the previous mo. to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of I ,126,000 units, highest level since last Sept.. but still down )"3%, from the year earlier pace; for the I st quarter starts were 39% below the previous year. .a new NAHB survey signals 3rd quarter starts up about 10% in singles, even stronger in multiples.

National Particleboard Assn. estimates '75 production at 3 bil- bontinued from paoe'to ) the nation's forests, Snyder went on to forecast to the newsmen that it would be a long time before "we return to two million housing starts per year."

Pay 'lV Pak plans to open its 56th unit next mo. in Renton, Wa., in a 20,000 sq. ft. former discount store. . .Samuels Lumber Co., near Canby, Or., has been sold tor an undisclosed amount to Calfall Bros. Forest Products, Portland. .

Arson is suspected in a $ I 50,000 fire at Ralph's Lumber, Bell Gardens, Ca., that gutted a 100'x 100' bldg. -Blut'k Diumortd Lttmber, Sacramento, recently suffered a 560.000 fire. . cedar posts and 2x4s valued at $700 were stolen recently from the Redding Pallet and Reel l{fg Co., Redding, Ca. .

Americatt Plywood ,4ssll. and 2 gov. depts. havejust completed the 1st dwelling in the U.S. to be bLrilt almost entirely of composite panel flooring, roofing. siding materials and Com-Ply stucls; the new materials have particleboard cores, outer layers of veneer.

The Tucson market "still is somewhat overbuilt," Schechter noted, adding that most of the area's builders "are extremely cautious." Dean Drake responded that the overbuilding in other parts of the U.S. was not neccessarily true of the situation in Arizona. He observed that the industry is better organized in fuizona than it was in the period of extreme overbuilding in 1963-65.

That afternoon, speaker Bob Mullen,

(1) MUHAMMAD ALI/Ron Lyle fight live on TV dominated many a cocktail party. (2) George Rothfuss and Al Schechter, new and past president. (3) Dick Snyder and his parents, Helen and Cal Snyder. (4) 8ob Silvey, Ken Thompson, Charles Bay. (5) Major 0verbeck, Roger Olson, Larry Ham' man, George Owen. (6) Bill Ankle, Roger Olson. (7) Bob Mullen, Pat Simone, Paul

Armstrong Cork, urged the lumbermen to employ a creative approach to consumerism, describing it as good business. He said complaints $rould be handled within 24 hours, either personally or by phone, and always by top management. "A complaint well handled can convert the complainer into an enthusiastic customer," Mullen said.

Sound Credit Control was the topic for a very well-received panel discussion that capped the day's business program. The first panelist, Jack Sullivan, Midway Lumber, et. al, Tucson, noted they toughened their credit policy at his firms after early losses. Those who get into credit problems once, tend to continue to have credit problems.

Hershey. {8} Doug Boyle, Gus Barletta, Fred Armstrong. (9) Dino Powell, Al Butler, Bob Sanchez. (101 Howard McDaniel, Bob Coffman, Carroll 0uncan. (11) PatSimone, Jim Sullivan, Shelley Gordon. (12) Jean and Frank Minarsich. (13) John and Colleen Gyori, Bill Horstmann. (14) Jim and Mary Parsons. (15) Jayne and Jim Killen, Polly and Tony Padilla. (l6l Don McDonald, Bob Large, Bob Horr

Jim Sullivan, O'Malleys, Phoenix, said they strive to know their customers and stay current with any changes in the customer's situation that could affect ability to pay. Communication between the sales and credit departments is a must, as is the necessitY to thoroughly check an "app's." references.

Banker Fred Moor advised asking the borrower "lots of questions" when extending credit beyond that called for by the balance sheet. These included: can he complete the job, what are his otherjobs, how is (was) he paid, where does his money come from, how and when does he pay you? If he gets paid once a week, so should you, Moor suggested, adding that it was good to get assignments and have the general contractor pay the dealer for the materials.

Dun and Bradstreet man Mike Debeelis warned that in credit, something unusual is often a danger signal: be sure and know your account. He observed that factoring, among otiter things, takes away the credit decision from the dealer.

Chantbers urged thal dealers carelirlly check out a credit agency before retaining one. "You ntust havc absolule f aith in your agency's ability ro do thc job," hc said.

Moderator Jack Evans, a Plioenix attorney, related precise steps a dealcr should take to try and collect and the status of creditors as to who is ahead ol' whom. He counseled tcl contract only with thc party that has the bond; check the divorce and rnarriage coluntns in the newspapers as this can afl-ect the debtor's status and hence his ability to pay.

Next ntorning, Arizona Congressntan Sanr Steiger told of the battles to block passage o1' the Land Usc Planning bill now belbre Congress. He anticiputed stopping it in conrnrittee during this session. He described it as "a lousy bill and a lousy concept."

Noting that the accident rate ltas increased 2.(r7 sincc the passage ol' OSHA,he said the bill that became law was still not as bad as the othe r OSItA bill that did not pass into law. He I'elt that excessive regulations had tlie rcsult of hiking costs to the final consulner.

Characterizing the tax rebate law as "rn absolute corr," he- describe d it as "r Bandaid for lhe gaping wound ol' thc econorny."

Final convention spelker was Richard Snyder. exec.v.p., National Lurnber and Building Materials Dealers Assn., who said that business nced not accept what govcrnment throws at it. but the business cornmunity must rvork together to providc the input needcd to prolect industry's inlerest during the law nrlking phase.

He urged the industry to try and solve more problerns internally before turning to Washington for a solution. He called governmer)t assistance "lhe kiss of death."

A number of'awards were prcsentcd during tlie annual banquet that capped

MOD SHIRTED Bob Ryan (t) with Frank Davis, Paul Decker. (2) Bob Sanchez, Bob Ramsey, Rod MorriSon. (3) Dean Drake, Paul Conley, Les Hills. (4) Ray Lopp and Gene York. (5) Jack Burkett, Glen Crookston, Jack Sullivan, Del lvie. (6) Nelson and Evelyn Sembach on the night of their 27th wedding anniversary; Una and Frank lvano- the converrtion activities. Iionttred as Lunrbcrman of tlre Declde lvas Jim Boyd. recerrtly retired 1'rortr Soulhwest Forcst Industries. Mike Mcdicovich was named Lunrbcrmarr of the Ye ar. vich. (7) Sam Hauert, "Ace" Mason. (8) John 0'Malley, Jim Barlow. (g) Gene and Rosie Giesie. (10) Dave Simmons, John Maple. (11) Gary Mauck,John Turner. (12) Marty Wist. (13) George Robbins, Tom Marrin, Roger Blackburn. (14) Al and lleane Schechter.

Other awards included Service Awards to Jack Sullivan, Phil Lenihan and Ray Spelts. Larry Gregory was recognized 1'or his work in Hoo-Hoo, Diane Mauck of'the AL&BSA won a Special Arvard lor bcing thc dcrnon of efficiency she is and Earl Cor of O'Mallcys won an Industry Award for Wood Prontotion.

Rellecting as it did the decade oi' constan t rmprovement ntanaging officer Frank Davis has produced, it proved to hc l first ritle cunvcntiorr in every sensc ol the term.