-NAC

The Lumber Merchants Assoiiation of Northern California has announced to its members the availability of a new fire-insurance service that would ofier a substantial saving in premium to those companies and yards participating. Other features of the program include an audit of present policies for adequate coverage, eliminating overlapping or inadecluate protection. This properly written and engineered fire coverage, along with the premium reduction, joins the other phases of the Association's insurance program, which include Workmen's Compensation insurance, group accident-medical-life insurance for employes and dependents, group unemployment compensation ancl disability, and group unlicensed vehicle all-risk coverage.

Association members participating in the groirp Workmen's Compensation proglam, carried with the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, recently received a dividend of 43.5/" resulting from their excellent safety record and accident prevention program. This brings tl-re dividends returned to members since the start of this program in 1947 to $245'835'

LMA members who attended the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association Exposition and product show in Chi- cago on December 10-14 were Carl and Peggy Travis of Wilmars, Inc., in San Jose; Herb Crawford, manager of Hillsdale Builders Supply in San Mateo; George K. Adams of the Noah Adams Lumber Company, with headquarters in Walnut Grove; Joe Kirk of the Kirk Lumber and Building Materials in Santa Maria and a member of the Executive committee of the NRLDA, and Jack Pomeroy, executive.vice-president of the*Northern California association.

Dave Wight, president of the O'Neill Lumber Company in San Carlos, recentlv left for a two-week tour of duty with the Navy at Coronado. Dave, an Annapolis graduate, is also an active member and a director of the LMA.

Three Association dinner meetings were held in December in Fresno, Sacra'mento and Oakland, and featured Gates Ferguson (left), director of advertising and sales promotion for the Celotex Corp., Chicago. The rvell-attended meetings enjoyed Ferguson's "How to Make Your Entire Organization a Sales Organization."

The results of an Association survey comparing business conditions among members in 1956 against 1955 were recently released to the membership. The majority of members reported volume of business in 1955 up, dollar volume of inventory up, net profrts increased, home construction down, farm construction same as 1955, commercial and industrial up, and repair and modernization business up. S\/t of the members reporting said they had increased advertising expenditures, 45/o added additional sales personnel, and 2O/. had remodeled or modernized their stores ***

The 17th annual convention of the Lumber Merchants Association will be held at the Ahwahnee hotel in Yosemite National Park on April 7, 8 and 9. Full details will be issued from the Association office shortly.

The Motroni-Heard Lumber Company in Woodland recently held a grand opening of their beautifully remodeled store and offices. Also in the remodeling or planning stage are Davis Lumber Co., Davis; Silvera Lumber Co., Antioch, and Derr Lumb"r a*o*ftXt in Elk Grove.

Lumber Merchants Association President Charles Shepard, of Friend and Terry Lumber Company.in Sacramento, has called a meeting of the Association's board of directors on January 18, in the English room of the Sheraton-Palace hotel in San Francisco. All Association members are rvelcome to attend.

AMA Gonference in L. A. Jsn. 28

The annual general management conference of the American Management Association has been scheduled for Los Angeles, Jan. 28 through 31.