January 6, 2010

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BMHC Exits Ch 11, Renames Itself BMC Select, Goes Private

Building Materials Holding Corp., America's sixth-biggest building material dealership, has emerged from six months under Chapter 11 bankruptcy and changed its name to BMC Select. The former BMHC and its two operating units, BMC West and Select Build Construction, moved from a stockholder-owned public corporation to a private entity owned by the old BMHC's secured lenders. It formally deregistered its old shares yesterday. BMC Select says it now employs more than 3,700 people (down from BMHC’s 8,200 at the end of 2008) and operates in 11 states and 16 markets.
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R.P. Lumber Buys Former Stock Yard in Illinois

R.P. Lumber has purchased a former Stock Building Supply facility in DeKalb, Ill., that it plans by April 1 to reopen as R.P.'s 46th location.
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ProSales' LBM Deals Database

NLBMDA Fights Senate Health Bill Forcing Coverage at Small Firms

Builder groups including the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) are urging members to protest a little-noticed amendment to the Senate's health care bill that requires construction industry employers with as few as five employees to provide health insurance to their workers starting in 2014. “It’s clear the uproar over the disparate treatment of the construction industry vs. the rest of the small business community has touched a nerve with many legislators,” NLBMDA President Michael O’Brien told ProSales yesterday. When the Senate and House return to Washington later this month, they’ll have to reconcile their conflicting versions of the health care package.
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DOE Seeks To Make Energy-Efficient Windows Cheaper via Volume Buys

High-performance windows could become more affordable for builders and homeowners by mid-year if a Department of Energy (DOE) effort to lower costs goes as planned. DOE is initiating a volume purchase program for R-5 and low-E storm windows, hoping the effort will level the playing field for small builders who, until now, have found such specs prohibitively expensive. By catalyzing a virtual marketplace, the federal agency hopes to amass greater demand for high-performance windows, thus enabling high-end window manufacturers to reduce their per-unit operating costs. (BUILDER)
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Wisdom Worth Recalling: ProSales' Top 10 Advice Columns in 2009

Visitors to ProSales' website viewed nearly 6,900 different articles close to 1 million times during 2009. Here are the top 10 opinion/advice columns published during the year:

1. The What-Ifs of OTIF (Story)
2. Tips for Surviving a Hostile Economy (Story)
3. Rader's Edge: If You've Cut to the Bone, Stop Cutting (Story)
4. Re-Learning Credit 101 (Story)
5. Rader's Edge: 10 Sales Mistakes To Avoid (Story)
6. Low Margin vs. Market Share (Story)
7. The Case for Higher Single-Family Housing Starts (Story)
8. Rader's Edge: How To Reduce Expenses Now (Story)
9. Why Building a Strong Culture Matters (Story)
10. Margins for Error: Why You Shouldn't Sell on the Cheap (Story)

Bradco Supply Appoints New CEO

Bradco Supply appointed Larry Stoddard as its new CEO. Stoddard succeeds Tom Karol, who will continue to serve as executive chairman. Stoddard served in various executive positions for Wolseley over the past 26 years, most recently serving as Chief Operations Officer.
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CertainTeed Settles Shingle Suit

CertainTeed Corp. has reached a preliminary agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit filed against it by homeowners who alleged a type of organic asphalt shingle manufactured by the company failed prematurely and didn't perform as well as they should. (BIG BUILDER)
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Architecture Billings Show Signs of Thaw

Business conditions remained weak through the third quarter of 2009 for architects who design houses, but certain segments at the lower end of the market appear poised for recovery in 2010, according to new figures from the American Institute of Architects. (BUILDER)
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Do you have a question, a tip, or a sage piece of wisdom? Feel free to contact ProSales' editor, Craig Webb, at cwebb@hanleywood.com.

And don't forget you can find previous ProSales Business Updates online!