LUMBER IIAULING

Lumber Association of California & Nevada held its first annual convention Nov. 13-15 in Monterey, Ca. (see coverage and photos, p.74).

Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association will kick off its 1998 Products Expo & Building Buying Show March l2 with a special Contractor Night. Contractors will be admitted by dealer invitation only.

Nearly 60 attended a recent yard foreman seminar in Denver, Co. Graduates: Chuck Gonzales, A.C. Houston, Durango, Co.; Gary Romero, A.D. Martin Lumber, Riverton, Wy.; Steve Roskelley, Adams Lumber, Englewood, Co.; Greg Molterer and Bill Williams, Allied Lumber, Denver; Darrell Failing, Bill Hale, Brian Hirschorn, Norm Holmes, Jim Johnson, Harry Meyer and Mike Stanislawski, Alpine Lumber, Denver; Don Clark and Ron Lais, American Lumber, Arvada, Co.; Gary Rohrig, Bodding Lumber, Colorado Springs, Co.; Clay Bock, Danell Gregg,Zane Johnson, Scott Mitchell, Kurt

Setterburgh and Kurt Shephard, Burton Lumber & Hardware, Salt Lake City, Ut.; Max Arvey and Dan Krummick, Chase Lumber, Denver; Glenn Motter, Colorado Forest Industries, Denver; Alan Barnes, Country Hardware & Lumber, Granby, Co.; Jerry Beougher, Harbert Lumber, Grand Junction, Co.; Shane Layland, Max Ker & Son Lumber. Idaho Falls, Id.; Rick Alva and Larry Honstead, Mead Lumber, Sterling, Co.; Bill Cother and Bob Lawrence, Moore Lumber & Hardware, Elizabeth, Co.; James Ortegon, R/W Specialties, Henderson, Co.; Steve DeWitt and Jack Maier, Sonny's Ace Home Center, Canon City, Co.; Jeff Childs, Steve Pay and Morrell Swallow, Standard Builders Supply, Salt Lake City; Jim Bangs, Paul Dodson, Jim Eckhardt, Rick Faccenetti, Lyle Griebel, Sam Harper, Renee Lanfranchi, Roger Segerson, Jon Steele, Craig Vandemoer and Mike Weston, Sterling Lumber & Investment, Denver; Roy Jacox and Roger Simard, Summit Lumber, Eagle, Co.; Michael Stark, Summit Lumber, Buena Vista, Co.;

Anthony Alcaraz

Jason Bender

Lynn Bethurum

Danny Burks

Conrado Carrera

Cheto Chicas

Jose Chicas

Santos Chicas

Max Condis

Karen Currie

Steven Franze fohn Frederickson

Cecilia Gallegas fulian Gomez

Rich Grove

Ross Hines

Bruce Keith

Roberto Landeros

Jerry Long

Bobby Malone

Bud Oliveira

George Parden

Michael Parrella

Peter Parrella

Matt Petersen

Ed Pierre

Janet Pimentel

Nestor Pimentel

Oscar Portillo

Bill Pritchard

Bob Reed

Yolanda Rodriguez

Jack Sousa

Lois Tavenner

Melinda Taylor

Peter Ulloa

RobertWilliams

Pamela Winters

Mike Mangino and Phil Rico, Trinidad Builders Supply, Trinidad, Co., and Andy Medina, Western Lumber, Gunnison, Co.

Western Building Material Association held its annual convention Nov. 14l7 in Portland, Or. Coverage will appear in next month's Merchant Magazine.

Home Centers Bet On Reno

Home center rivals Home Depot and Eagle Hardware & Garden don't see much of a gamble in expanding into fast-growing Reno, Nv. The city's population has grown 3OVo over the last l0 years to about 160,000, and should reach 185,000 by 2010.

Home Depot plans a third, 115,000-sq. ft. store in northwest Reno. Eagle recently received approval to build its first in the city, a I10,000-sq. ft. store with adjacent garden center and 60,000-sq. ft. drivethru lumberyard.

the nearby Sparks yard. "The way Reno's growing, a lot of homes are going up in Reno and Sparks, and there should be lots of opportunity."

Interest ln SteelWanes

Fewer home builders seem interested in switching from wood framing to steel, according to a recent survey of nearly 600 builders by the National Association of Home Builders.

About l3%o of builders not using steel framing for exterior walls said they were considering it, down from 45Vo four years earlier.

Iust 0.7Vo of single-family homes being built have steel-framed exterior walls, less than the l7o reported in surveys two and three years ago.

A lack of trained labor was given as why TlVo wercn't using steel;617o pointed to a lack of technical knowhow, 52Vo to cost, 48Vo to consumer acceptance, and 2OVo to thermal conductivity.

Metcalf, manager of

Reno-based, 8-unit Supply One sees a place, as well, for smaller players such as itself, Lumberjack and independent hardware stores. "There's room for everybody. We all have our niches in the business," says manager John

Use of steel, though, is increasing in interior walls. About 87o of new single-family homes are using lightweight steel in interior walls, increasing from 4Vo two years ago and 6Vo three years ago.