National dealer group meets in the Colorado Rockies

orado" Western reception on November l, kicked off the five day meeting, held at the Broadmoor Hotel.

Senator Jake Garn (R-Utah) spoke at the formal convention opening next morning, warning that the industry needs "long term solutions to housing problems, not Band-Aids." He described to the 500 delegates the proposed restructuring of the nation's thrift institutions which Congress is currently pondering and said that Reaganomics was working but that it will take time.

Describing the federal budget as "out of control," the conservative

Westerner said that the so-called tax cut was in reality merely a reduction in the increase in federal spending. Further across-the-board slashes in federal spending are needed, he said, noting that sacrifices for all were in order as both good and bad programs must be cut.

There followed a varied and extensive program that followed the convention theme of "Let's Build America." Among other program features:

A talk by Richard Carver, the Mayor of Peoria, Il., president of the Carver Lumber Co. of Peoria and a member of the President's Commission on Housing. He said that the commission's philosophy was that only the truly needy should receive government assistance.

"The important question to

Story at a Glance

Effects of government spending, expectations for 1982, what to do in a poor market...

Doug Ashy elected president ... next year's meeting: Orlando, Fl.

citizens," he asked, "is how important is housing to us and what are we prepared to pay to house our people."

A panel of two economists and a lumber dealer followed, discussing mortgage money. Kenneth J. Thygerson, Western Federal Savings and Loan, Denver, said that housing had slipped as a government priority. He noted the financial sickness of the savings and

(Continued on next page)

LOUISIANA dealer (1) Tommy Hatfield and Kent Brosh, a local Colorado Springs retailer who was part 0f the welcoming group. (2) Harry Mendenhall, mgr. of the No. Ca. dealer assn. and Frank Davis, mgr. 0l the Az. assn., Ed Sembell. (3) John & Doris Martin. He's the managing officer oJ the national group. (4) Jim Gentry, Eill & Verna Strelow. (5) Rick Russell. (6) Dean Leaman, Tom Yager, Jefl Chapman. (7) Chuck Krothe, Carl Dill, Courtenay Weldon, Mike McClelland. (8) Robert & Rosemary McMonagle, Jean & Pat Mc0ormick. (9) Bill Fishman, George Milne. (10) Richard Bullack, Esther & Otto Bauerle. (11) Bill Payne, Bob John.

(Continued from previous page) loans, observing that their inability to supply money for housing means the industry will have to work to get private pension funds to invest in mortgages.

Dr. Thomas Harter, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said that mortgage bankers now have a quarter of all home loans and are outdistancing the savings and loans. He feels the best way to lower the interest rate is to cut government spending, thereby reducing their need to borrow in the capital markets, which has sharply raised the cost of borrowing for all. He forecast a 150/o-160/o mortgage rate by the end of the year dropping to l3s/o-l4c/o by June, when the prime rate could be at l3o/o or lower.

Dealer Roger Scherer, president of Scherer Bros. Lumber Co., Minneapolis, Mn., urged caution in lobbying for fear that "we create more problems than we solve." He also described pension funds as an ex- cellent source of mortgage money for housing.

A later panel, moderated by Pat Coleman, editor of Building Supply News, discussed market positioning and a variety of ways to cope with today's market. She said that dealers should examine do-ityourself to see how they could best profit from this growing market segment.

Panelist Tom Lusker, Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. related steps of strategic planning. Among them: company goals, margins, turnover, personnel training, store modernizing and situations analysis.

Florida dealer Joel Ashe, Causeway Lumber, related the steps they had taken to tighten company operations and summed up his own talk by saying, "Watch what you sell and who you sell it to."

California retailer Homer Hayward, Hayward Lumber, Monterey, Ca., told how they had retained their good people for the return of better business conditions and had worked to relieve managers of detail burdens so they had more time for management functions. Incentive and bonus programs are also being improved.

Ken Nelson of Colorado's Everitt Lumber, now a Weyerhaeuser Co. subsidiary, said, "We're back to basics. Survival requires astute analysis, planning and execution." He warned, "Don't become a selffulfilling prophecy by reacting to bad times by cut backs which hurt efficiency and profits." He said accounts receivable were a key to surviving 1982.

A later marketing and merchandising committee meeting speaker was Hal Sugarman, Building Supply News, who said that audio/visual equipment was essential for training and sales. He warned that "you can't buy it and forget it. Assign someone to be responsible for it and make sure it's used properly."

Lowell Jackson, LaBelle Industries, said their survey of a/v showed it used most for consumer product knowledge and that a/v weaknesses included poor and/or overlong films. He said the shorter the film the better for point-ofpurchase use, while d-i-yer films

(Please turn to paee 3l)