The Mid-America Lumbermens Association announced Robert Uhlerjoined the staff as the association's regional manager. ... Don Magruder, president of Ro-Mac Lumber, Leesburg, Fla., received the Industry Service Award from the Florida Building Material Association. ... Sawmills in the western United States produced just 10.39 billion board feet (bbf) of lumber in 2009, 20% below 2008's rate and the lowest annual production since the Western Wood Products Association began keeping statistics. Meanwhile, production in the South dropped 19.5% to 11.79 bbf, the lowest number since 1986, and imports shrank 30% to 8.9 bbf, the lowest since 1976. ... Huttig Building Products Inc. entered into an agreement to extend by three years and amend its $120 million senior secured credit facility. ... Amerhart opened a new distribution facility in Traverse City, Mich., that previously was a North Pacific operation. It also bought the hardware division from Jaeckle Wholesale Inc. ... The Western Wood Products Association and theLumber Association of California & Nevada are jointly developing signage and other information to meet the requirements of the addition of "wood dust" to the list of chemicals and substances the State of California has listed as causing cancer or birth defects. "Wood dust" was added to the list of more than 800 chemicals and other substances on the Proposition 65 list in December 2009, despite arguments that the term is too vague to be defined, the groups said. The final rule takes effect Dec. 18. ... Windsor Windows & Doors promoted Mark Rieser to president and Richard Stephens to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Outgoing president John Smit will retire on Dec. 31. ...Associated Materials LLC, the exterior building products manufacturer and distributor whose brands include Alside, Revere, and Gentek, agreed to be acquired for roughly $1.3 billion by affiliates of the investment firm Hellman & Friedman. ... Jeff Benzing was named communications director at Do it Best Corp., the hardware and lumber buying co-op. ... American Lumber Inc. completed the purchase of a 98,000 square foot facility in Birmingham, Ala., that it will use as a remanufacturing facility and distribution center. ... Jeld-Wen cofounder Richard L. Wendt died Aug. 14. Wendt helped build a window and door company that employed 20,000 people in 22 countries and took in billions of dollars, but he was so shy, unassuming, and modestly dressed that security officers would fail to recognize him when he showed up at his Klamath Falls, Ore., factories.
