Fire Destroys Building at Launstein Plant
Fire destroyed a wood products preparation building Monday at Launstein Hardwood Floors' plant in Mason, Mich. No one was injured during the blaze that started around 3 p.m.
Luckily, the plant was operating with a reduced staff due to the Christmas holiday, Launstein's Mary Lamphere said. Two workers spotted smoke billowing from the building's eave and alerted authorities. By about 3:30, rural fire departments from Mason and four surrounding communities had responded to suppress the flames.
The preparation building housed planers, sanders and a large dust evacuation system. Lamphere said the cause of the fire is unconfirmed but early signs point to the fire originating within the dust evacuation system. The company's Vice President Don Launstein told WLNS.com that the fire caused about $1 million in damage.
"It's more of an inconvenience than anything," Lamphere said. "Within a few weeks the company plans to have a similar, temporary building set up," she added. "Everything else around here is business as usual."
Lumber Liquidators Names Lynch President & COO
Robert M. Lynch has been named president and COO at Lumber Liquidators (Toano, Va.), according to a company release. Lynch will oversee the company's merchandising, supply chain and store operations; he will report directly to CEO Jeffrey W. Griffiths.
Lynch has nearly 20 years of experience in retail operations and management. Most recently he served as president and CEO at Orchard Supply Hardware. He has also worked with The Home Depot Inc., Accenture Consulting, Ernst & Young, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Robison Makes TV Appearance
Doing a complete kitchen renovation is difficult enough, much less under the scrutiny of TV cameras. North Carolina wood floor man Tony Robison and his wife Laura Whitehead recently endeavored to remodel their 3,300-square-foot home in Moore County. One of the biggest projects they completed was turning their tired kitchen into an "old world" one with modern touches, and they decided to invite a camera crew from DIY Network's "Renovation Realities" to watch them work, according to a story from The Fayetteville Observer. The project cost the couple $21,600 and took them about a week to complete. The DIY network took about 100 hours of footage and edited it down to a funny 30-minute TV show. The goal of "Renovation Realities" isn't necessarily to show off the couple's craftsmanship-although Robison is NWFACP-Certified for Installation and Sand & Finish, and he holds an NWFA Advanced Master Craftsman Degree-but to show the "speed bumps" that often occur between a renovation project's before and after phases. "The goal is to make people laugh, so they pick the funny things," Whitehead told the newspaper. "Laura called me an idiot," Robison added. "They put that in there." The episode, "The Robison Job," is airing periodically on the network, next on Feb. 22.
MAPEI Opens Distribution Center in Mexico
MAPEI Americas (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) has opened a regional distribution center, MAPEI de Mexico SA de CV, in Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico. The center, under the direction of Robert Ash Jr., will serve floor covering installers and concrete restoration contractors, and it will stock all of MAPEI's product lines. Ash will serve as sales director for Mexico and report to Luigi DiGeso, president and CEO of MAPEI Americas, which is a subsidiary of MAPEI Group (Milan, Italy).
"We see a strong, lucrative market in Mexico, with a great deal of potential for our products," DiGeso said in a press release. "We feel that this distribution center will show our commitment to the market and provide a solid stepping stone to our company's future in Latin America."
Q.E.P. Sees More Gains from Harris Wood Acquisition
Sales at Q.E.P. Co. Inc. (Boca Raton, Fla.) continue to grow due to the company's acquisition of the Harris Wood brand in February 2010. The company recorded net sales of $182.2 million during the nine-month fiscal period ended Nov. 30, according to a company release. This figure was up $26.2 million from the $156 million it earned during the same period last year. Net sales during the company's third quarter totaled $61 million compared to net sales of $54.2 million during the same period last year. The company's gains are also due to modest year-over-year growth in operations outside of the U.S., the company said.
Also, Q.E.P. reelected David Kreilein, managing director of Centre Lane Partners, and Emil Vogel, president of Tarnow Associates, to its board of directors. It also announced that Martin Cooperman, a former senior leadership team member at Grant Thornton LLP, was elected to join its board at its next meeting.
Wood Flooring Exports to Middle East Growing
Wood flooring exports to the Middle East increased 119 percent from January through September, according to AMEinfo.com. The rise is part of a larger trend of rising American hardwood exports-also including logs, lumber and veneer-to the region. Overall, American hardwood exports to the Middle East rose 54 percent, from $49 million to $76 million, during the period.
Roderick Wiles, AHEC director for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions, told AMEinfo.com the construction sector there is slowly picking up again. "During the first nine months of 2010 we witnessed strong growth in export activity across the MENA region, which highlights the demand for quality American hardwood products in today's ongoing world class construction development projects," he said.
Hardwood Industry Leaders Meet in D.C.
The prosperity of the hardwood industry is contingent on the Hardwood Federation Political Action Committee (HFPAC), powerful grassroots efforts, and a trusted presence in Washington, D.C., said Deb Hawkinson, executive director of the lobbying group Hardwood Federation, at the Hardwood Leaders Forum, held Dec. 7 in Charlotte, N.C.
Also discussed during the event was the importance of hardwood industry leaders' educating "issue elites" on matters important to the industry. Elites can include policymakers, lawmakers, and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) like the World Wildlife Fund. These groups, because of their status, reputation, or the jobs they control, have great influence on our industry, Hawkinson said. ENGOs establish laws and regulations that can help or hurt the industry, and they help drive public opinion, she said.
Hawkinson reminded attendees that supporting the industry's political action committees (PAC), which funnels donations to members of Congress, gives the industry a way to thank lawmakers for their support of hardwood industry issues. "We are letting them know we want them to stay in Congress and sending an effective thank you to them for working with us on our key policy priorities," Hawkins said.
Copies of Hawkinson's remarks and those of Hardwood Federation Chairman Jameson French during the event can be obtained by calling the Hardwood Federation at 202/463-5186.
NWFA To Hold Forums at Convention
The NWFA will hold discussion forums for wood flooring manufacturers, distributors and contractors from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 29 at the San Diego Convention Center. The forums will be held on the final day of the 2011 NWFA Annual Wood Flooring Convention and Expo, which begins April 26. All of the sessions will include discussions of the association's Responsible Procurement Program (RPP) and green issues.
In addition, the manufacturer forum will address updates to and enforcement of the Lacey Act, and ramifications of California's Proposition 65; the distributor forum will include discussions on the new economics of distribution, the future of distributorships and ways distributors can partner with manufacturers; and the dealer/contractor forum will feature speaker Jon Trivers' presentation on rethinking retail in the era of mindful spending.
Each forum is included with the Convention Elite registration package. For more information, call 800/422-4556 (U.S. and Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international).
Manufacturer News
Attica Millwork (Attica, N.Y.) is seeking dealers for its Thermory brand of thermally modified solid hardwood flooring, which is sourced from U.S. forests; the company says Thermory can be installed over radiant heat and in sub-grade concrete applications. Regional dealerships are still available in Chicago; Pittsburgh; Miami; Denver; Albany, N.Y.; New York's Adirondack region; Vermont; and areas west of the Rocky Mountains. For more information, contact Bob Gibson at 585/591-2333.
Distributor News
Jaeckle Distributors (Madison, Wis.) has been named a distributor for Mercier Wood Flooring (Montmagny, Quebec). With six locations throughout the Midwest, Jaeckle will distribute Mercier's prefinished flooring to Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas. For more information, contact Mercier's Wade Bondrowski at 866/448-1785 or [email protected].
Arthur "Chip" Wirsing, who formerly served as president of New York City's Manhattan Floor Supplies for 30 years, now owns and manages SanderParts.com, a flooring product supply website that carries products from Bona US, Basic Coatings, Dura Seal, Norton Abrasives, Padco and Woodwise. The company offers finish, abrasives, applicators, filler, floor cleaner, tools, parts and drum recovery; it specializes in providing sanding machine parts like switches, plugs, power cords, dust bags and edger pads. In addition, Hardwood Floors' own contractor blogger Wayne Lee offers technical support for contractors at SanderParts.com.
People News
WoodCare USA LLC (Atlanta) has named John Armfield sales manager for the eastern U.S. Armfield will be responsible for introducing the WOCA oil finishing system, and he can be reached at 404/725-7609 or [email protected].
By the Numbers
December Builder Confidence Flat
The rate for existing single-family home sales rose 6.7 percent in November to 4.15 million from 3.89 million in October, according to a release from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Still, that sales rate was 27.3 percent below a peak of 5.71 million in November 2009, which was the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit. Overall, the rate of existing home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops-rose 5.6 percent to 4.68 million in November from 4.43 million in October. These overall figures are 27.9 percent below November 2009's peak of 6.49 million.
"Continuing gains in home sales are encouraging, and the positive impact of steady job creation will more than trump some negative impact from a modest rise in mortgage interest rates, which remain historically favorable," said Lawrence Yen, NAR's chief economist.
New Home Sales Rose in November
Sales of new single-family houses in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This figure was 5.5 percent above the October rate of 275,000 but is 21.2 percent below a rate of 368,000 posted in November 2009, which was the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit. Overall, the sales figure missed sales expectations calculated by several leading economics news sources.
Mark Your Calendar
The NWFA will hold an Advanced Installation school Feb. 2-4 in Las Vegas. For more information, visit www.nwfa.org, e-mail [email protected], or call 800/422-4556 (U.S. and Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international).
The Dollars & Sense of Going Green Conference will be held March 17-18 in Indianapolis. The event is organized by Purdue University's Department of Forestry & Natural Resources and Wood & Wood Products magazine. Past conferences have brought together wood products professionals, industry suppliers and trade association representatives to discuss wood certification and green issues that impact the North American woodworking industry. The event is being held in cooperation with the NWFA. For more information, visit www.greenwoodseminar.com.
Woodworking Machinery & Supply Expo 2011 will be held Oct. 27-29 at Toronto's Direct Energy Centre. The event will see thousands of furniture, cabinet, millwork and other secondary wood product manufacturers viewing displays from international manufacturers and Canadian distributors of woodworking machinery, supplies, components and materials. Originally, the event was scheduled to be held Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario. Vance Communications Canada, who is hosting the event, says the venue change will allow the company to offer exhibitors reduced rates. For more information, visit www.woodworkingexpo.ca, call 800/752-6312 or e-mail [email protected].
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This Week on the HF Blogs & Forum
Green Blog: Elizabeth shares green building resources and explains MSDS.
Inspector Blog: Craig inspects a pre-panelized floor.
HF Forum: Solid or engineered herringbone over radiant heat?
NWFA Member Services
Entries are being accepted for the NWFA's Environmental Craftsmanship Contest. The competition recognizes professionally installed wood floors that exhibit creative and responsible environmental stewardship in their methods of installation, raw material sourcing, and/or contributions to human well-being in the indoor built environment. Judging will be conducted by the environmental design community, with the winner being announced during the NWFA's 2011 Convention in San Diego, Calif. The deadline for entries is Feb. 18. There is no entry fee. For more information or to obtain an entry form, visit www.nwfa.org, and click on "2011 Environmental Craftsmanship Award."
