The Pro Dealer of the Year: A primer
During a ceremony at the ProDealer Industry Conference in Savannah, Ga., Boise, Idaho-based BMC received the HCN Pro Dealer of the Year award. Here are the facts behind the award and the 2012 ceremony.
The award criteria
The HCN Pro Dealer of the Year Award is presented annually to a lumber and building material dealer based on three main criteria: high performance, innovation and corporate behavior that reflects the values of the LBM industry.
Selection process
The Pro Dealer of the Year selection process begins with analysis of the HCN Top 200 Pro Dealer Scoreboard, which shows sales performance of the nation’s leading lumberyard dealers.
Historical note
BMC’s selection as 2012 Pro Dealer of the Year coincides with the pro dealer’s 25th anniversary. It was spun out of Boise Cascade in 1987.
Historical twist
The 2012 ceremony marked the first time the award was given to a company that descended directly from a previous honoree. Building Material Holding Co. (BMHC), the former parent of BMC West and Select Build, received the Pro Dealer of the Year award in 2005.
The ceremony
BMC was recognized during the 2012 ProDealer Industry Summit held in Savannah, Ga. The summit is co-sponsored by HCN and the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association. The 2013 event is scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tenn.
The honoree’s charitable cause
BMC is a major supporter of Light the Night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The pro dealer’s employees raised about $175,000 in 2012, largely through volunteering for Light the Night Walks in virtually every market. BMC is one of the top five corporate sponsors of Light the Night.
The introduction
Weyerhaeuser’s Larry Burrows, senior VP residential wood products, introduced BMC CEO Peter Alexander. “I don’t need to tell the people in this room how difficult it is to change and transform your business; to think, to act and to execute differently,” Burrows said. “We’ve all been doing that and living that over the years. The work that Peter and that the BMC team here have been doing and continue to do is a wonderful example of that transformation.“
The acceptance speech
“As part of our 25th anniversary, in every single branch, we recommitted to our values, we celebrated our success and survival, and we celebrated the people who got us here,” Alexander said. “It’s ultimately a people business. It’s not about me, it’s not about our group here, it’s about the people who work their tails off out in the yards, the drivers, the front line to our customer — who deliver happily through rain, sleet, snow and heat. It’s our pickers, it’s our truss and wall production lines that never settle for less than 100% accuracy as we say in the halls — ‘every damn day.’ And it’s our sales force and our credit teams and our operations teams that execute every day.”