Wichita's Star Philanthropist
Chris Goebel, owner and president of Star Lumber, has a vacation home in Colorado Springs, Colo., about 460 miles west of the company's headquarters in Wichita, Kan. He makes the drive with his family several times a year and typically passes en route through the small, southwestern Kansas city of Greensburg. Read more
Wichita's Star Philanthropist: Chris Goebel honors a family tradition by giving generously to regional causes. Read more
The Connector
While it might take many hands to build a village, there also needs to be an organizer and leader to bring those hands together. For dozens of homes built through the efforts of The Martin House, a Catholic charity assisting the poor in the Wilbur section of Trenton, N.J., Kim Coleman has been that man. Read more
Tech Trends
When John Askin Jr. walks into work each morning at the Standard Group, a distributor of exterior building materials based in Tinton Falls, N.J., the CFO sees exactly what was sold at each of his six locations the day before. Logging onto a business dashboard that's part of Activant Solutions' Performance Driver Suite, he can see the gross profit on each order that his salespeople wrote. He doesn't have to search for those numbers; the information is "pushed" to him based on predetermined parameters. Read more
Hispanic Housing Design
In addition to serving an ever-growing number of Hispanic contractors, dealers can provide valuable insights to builders regarding the design and finish products that resonate with Hispanic home buyers. For the most part, the big kitchens, open floor plans, and multiuse outdoor areas promoted in Casa Y Communidad, a new book by former HUD secretary Henry Cisneros and co-editor John Rosales, resonate with all types of home buyers. But there are some important details for builders that are targeting, or at least trying to accommodate, a swelling number of Hispanics looking to join the ranks of homeownership. Read more
It was a robbery gone bad--very bad. Last August, a thief broke into Dunmore (Pa.) Lumber Co. When he discovered he had been caught on camera, the intruder torched the building. Up in flames went Dunmore's offices, hardware fasteners, and the millwork section, including windows and interior and exterior doors. Read more
Editor's Product Pick / Activant Expands / LBM Exec Meets Bush Read more