LMC hosts Forests Products Expo
LMC hosted its annual Forest Products & Building Materials Expo from October 24 through the 26th at the Marriott in Center City Philadelphia.
“The most important part of this event is the face-to-face meetings and the relationships built by hearing the stories of the LMC staff, our vendors, and the individual dealers,” said Kyra Bishop, LMC board of directors chairwoman. “It affords LMC dealers the chance to get some time with various vendors as well as get in some networking with others in the industry.”
The event kicked off on Tuesday, October 24, with several executive meetings including the meeting of the board of directors. Wednesday opened up with a forum on the 2018 outlook for the forest products industry. Three speakers—Jim Abbott of LP Building Products, Christian Gilbert of JD Irving Limited, and Wendy Minichiello of Weyerhaeuser—all discussed the upcoming year and gave their insights on what can be expected.
“Be bold,” advised Minichiello as she gave her predictions for 2018. She explained that the lumber market will be influenced by a number of factors next year, namely a high demand coupled with supply volatility due to the amount of Canadian lumber that will be available in the US market.
One hot topic at the forum was the issue of Millennials and when, or if, they will enter the housing market.
“Look at Millennials and history,” Dr. William Dunkelberg said. “They are still five or more years away from their peak home owner time.”
The general consensus throughout the event was that forecasters cannot rely on the actions of generations past when it comes to predicting how and when Millennials will enter the market.