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Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$$er
June 2023 #15287 Page #128
The Last Word The Component Industry Comes of Age Joe Kannapell, P.E.
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t’s worth recounting the 25 productive years that culminated in the establishment of WTCA/SBCA. Thanks to the leadership of some outstanding men, and their early embrace of technology, the component industry came together to claim its rightful place in the building industry, but it wasn’t easy. Many fine firms succumbed to the multiple housing downturns that racked homebuilding and component plants.
But those who did survive developed tremendous staying power, like Jack Littfin at Littfin Lumber Co. Jack started his truss business in 1971, while the economy was recovering from an oil price shock, and initially enjoyed a strong demand for trusses. At the end of his first year, housing starts began teetering, and then suddenly took the steepest and deepest plunge in industry history. Jack stayed with his new venture through this recession and two additional downturns and joined the group of CMs who launched WTCA. And Jack stayed at the helm until his 80th birthday. Many other individuals who struggled mightily and whose companies didn’t survive went on to become great contributors, like Jack Dermer who experienced the devasting Texas downturn of the 1980s but stayed in Houston when Shelter Systems closed. During the very slow comeback in that largely stick-framed market, Jack started his own business, American Truss, and has persevered until this day. For his industry dedication along the way, he was elected to the SBCA Hall of Fame in 2013 and ascended to its presidency in 2017. Countless others who had to change jobs during these tumultuous times carried their hard-earned experience to other component plants and fortified these businesses.
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