The ProDealer Industry Summit makes an impact
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA —The three-day ProDealer Industry Summit drew to a close Oct. 11, after attracting to Savannah key players from the lumber and building supply sector. This annual summit, hosted jointly by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and HBSDealer engaged the industry in the trifecta of performance, leadership, and policy.
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Next generation dealers: Nichole Mitchell, Wilson Lumber; Eric Borchardt, Simonson Lumber; Virginia Lewis, Tart Lumber; Chad Bankston, Bankston Lumber; Kevin Fogle, Bliffert Lumber; and Vince Tague, Tague Lumber. -
Short & Paulk Supply Co.'s Jay Short , left, with Scott Yates of Denver Lumber Company. -
A networking event at Service Brewing Company helped kick off day one. -
Dan "Rowdy" Rau of Run Payments chats with Nichole Mitchell of Wilson Lumber. -
Espy Lumber’s Henry Madlinger leads a yard tour in Okatie, S.C.
It also attracted members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans Buddy Carter and Marjorie Taylor Greene shared their priorities and engaged with the attendees during day two of the 2024 ProDealer Industry Summit. Carter described himself as a friend of sustainable forestry, and Greene emphasized her position as an enemy of government regulations.
Carter promoted the Forest Restoration Act, which intends to protect the forestry industry from natural disasters, among other things. He also described the cost of the national debt as completely unsustainable. “We have got to address that, and in a bipartisan way,” he said.
Greene, a surprise addition to the event’s agenda, drew on her history in the construction industry during her brief remarks. She attacked excessive regulations, inheritance taxes and out of control government spending as threats to individual businesses and the overall economy.
“How I view this election is this,” she said. “I view it through a business lens. The garbage you see online is a distraction from the real work of writing a tax law that works for Americans.”
A panel of Washington, D.C. industry insiders added to the “inside-the-beltway” vibe of the event. Representatives form the National Association of Realtors, Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Home Builders and the NLBMDA weighed in on the upcoming election. Bottom line: expect a close presidential election, and don’t expect more than a slim majority to take over either house.
In addition to political considerations, the ProDealer Industry Summit embraced the practical. A yard tour of Espy Lumber Company in Okatie, South Carolina, demonstrated the operations of an award winning prodealer. Espy was recognized as the 2022 Independent ProDealer of the Year by HBSDealer and the NLBMDA.
Keynote speaker Abhi Singh of LMS Strategies posed the question: “Are your salespeople market makers or order takers?” And if they’re just order takers, he explained, they’re leaving business on the table.
Among the marquee presentations was a panel of next-generation leaders moderated by Virginia Lewis of Tart Lumber. Also, the intersection of building materials and technology was explored by four industry leaders who are embracing technology.
The field of Artificial Intelligence (or AI) weaved through a number of discussions, including one from Michael Chriszt, the vice president and regional engagement officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
“It’s not just how many people are going to lose their jobs because of AI, it’s how many people’s jobs are going to change because of AI, and does that lead to an increase in productivity,” Chriszt said, in response to a question from the audience. That “has a big impact on the long term growth rate for the economy. Because the more productive we are, the faster we can grow.”
The 2025 ProDealer Industry Summit is slated for Oct. 8-10 in Louisville, Kentucky.
