June 2006

Building Materials Holding Corp., San Francisco, CA, ($2.9 billion in 2005 sales) provider of construction services and building materials to professional residential builders and contractors, has launched SelectBuild Construction, Inc., as a successor to BMC Construction. SelectBuild will be focused on the needs of high-volume production homebuilders. Beginning in 1999, BMC Construction has worked with […]

Rockwell Automation, Inc., Milwaukee, WI, plans to sell the company’s Dodge mechanical and Reliance Electric motors and motor repair services businesses. These are producers of mechanical power transmission products and industrial motors, and are the principal businesses of the company’s Power Systems reporting segment. Rockwell Automation will retain the Reliance Electric and Reliance branded drives

Mayer Electric Supply Company, Birmingham, AL, recently acquired Biloxi Electric Supply, Biloxi, MS, and at the same time has opened a new branch in Gulfport, MS. Biloxi Electric Supply has served the gulf area since the late 1980s and will soon move to a larger, newer facility with increased inventory and access to Mayer’s network of

Stuart C. Irby Co., a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, has agreed to acquire Rigby Electric Supply, Inc. (RE Supply). RE Supply is an electric utility distributor operating out of Rocky Mount, NC, that specializes in servicing municipalities, investor-owned and co-operative electric utilities within North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Michael C. Wigton, President of Irby,

Stock Building Supply, Raleigh, NC, a supplier of building materials to professionals in the U.S., has acquired Coleman Floor Company, Inc.  Coleman primarily sells and installs residential flooring products to production residential home builders throughout the Eastern U.S. and Chicago. Its product line includes carpet, vinyl wood, laminates and ceramic tile. In 2005, Coleman recorded

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for May 2006: Building PermitsPrivately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,932,000. This is 2.1 percent (1.2%) below the revised April rate of 1,973,000 and is

Pro-Build Holdings Inc., Boston, MA, professional building materials supplier, has agreed to purchase Hope Lumber and Supply Company, a supplier of lumber, trusses, engineered wood products, millwork and other building materials to professional residential contractors from Rooney Holdings, Inc. Based in Tulsa, OK, Hope Lumber operates 49 yards and five truss plants in nine states

of decline that began in December 2004. The slump in steel prices in 2005 (Chinese steel production surged, causing prices to fall) was offset in part by strong demand resulting from major investment in non-residential construction in Western Canada. Together, Alberta and British Columbia accounted for more than three-fourths of the total increase in national construction investment in

Red Man Pipe and Supply Co., Tulsa, OK, (more than $700 million in annual sales) has acquired Bear Tubular Inc., Marcus Hook, PA. Bear Tubular has annual sales of more than $15.1 million. It has 33 employees, and more than $2.5 million in inventory. Bear Tubular has supplied the heavy industrial market with complete piping packages ‘ seamless

Industrial production declined 0.1% in May after an increase of 0.8% in April. Manufacturing production also fell 0.1 percent last month. The output index for mining moved down 0.2%, but the output index for utilities was up by the same amount. At 112.1% of the 2002 average, overall industrial output was 4.3% above its May

Tencarva Machinery Company, Greensboro, N.C., (about $100 million in annual sales) has acquired the Municipal Division of emoryWilson Company, a pump distribution company, effective May 1, 2006.Tencarva’s municipal division includes Tencarva’s current municipal group in Arkansas and Tennessee, as well as the territory of the former emoryWilson Municipal Division, which covers North Carolina, South Carolina,

oils and for phosphates turned up in May, while the index for stemmed and redried tobacco was unchanged after declining in the previous month. By contrast, prices for paint materials fell 2.7% in May compared with a 2.1% rise in April. The index for potassium and sodium compounds (excluding bleaches and alkalies) also decreased after advancing a

April U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $255.13 million, according to the Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was down 27.7 percent from March but up 6.8 percent from the total of $238.85 million reported for April 2005. With a

Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, has agreed to purchase the Sintec Group, Buching, Germany. The purchase of Sintec, which manufactures ceramic engineered components used in the aerospace, general engineering, metallizing and medical markets, complements Kennametal’s core knowledge of materials science. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2006, and remains subject to customary regulatory

highly fragmented, are an opportunity for Stock, Hord said. The company has acquired three operations in this area, as well as opened two greenfield locations this year. Others are planned.A large number of small distributors presents an opportunity for acquisition in this area, Hord said.Stock has also recently increased its capacity to supply rebar. Its

CBS News Disaster LinksLee Eagan’s Speech at the ISA Annual MeetingOliver H. Van Horn Co. Katrina Slideshow ‘Wake-Up Call’Without question, the busy 2005 hurricane season served as a wake-up call to many businesses. The Insurance Information Institute estimated $56.6 billion in insured losses and three million claims related to catastrophic events in 2005. (A catastrophe

fix a dysfunctional process.”ChallengesThe key challenge in implementing any new process is communication and training, especially when you have several branches and sales teams used to old ways. The Neff Group operates eight branches in four states. “You get some people that adapt early and do very well,” Norman says. But for others, it may

A common accounting method used by many distributors is gaining attention in Washington as a potential source of tax revenue. At end of April, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee incorporated the repeal of LIFO a 70-year-old inventory accounting method into a Republican energy bill to help pay for a $100 gas rebate for 100 million

be complementary to Schneider’s building automation platform. Invensys Building Systems had $142 million in sales in the fiscal year ended Mar. 31, 2006.Universal Forest Products, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI, announced its subsidiary has acquired Dura-Bilt Mfg. Co., a roof and floor truss manufacturer based in Riverbank, CA. Dura-Bilt’s 2005 sales were approximately $16 million. The