April 16, 2020 • 62 mins
Every new day is fluid due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Are your construction materials arriving on time, or have state and local protective orders caused delays? How are ordering and expediting critical materials changing to accommodate the current situation?
Many questions are being asked in these uncertain times, and AWCI along with Hamer Marketing Group is here to help provide answers. This podcast is a reproduction of the Webinar held on April 16, 2020. You can watch the Webinar on AWCI's COVID 19 and Contractors webpage or on the Covid19 and Construction page at Hamer Marketing Group.
About AWCI
AWCI represents 2,200 companies and organizations in the acoustics systems, ceiling systems, drywall systems, exterior insulation, and finishing systems, fireproofing, flooring systems, insulation, and stucco contractors, suppliers and manufacturers and those in allied trades. Our mission is to provide services and undertake activities that enhance the members' ability to operate a successful business.
About Kyle Hamer
A sales and marketing veteran with a deep understanding of strategy, digital marketing execution, and using technology to enhance brand impact. A hands-on leader with a passion for solving business challenges with process, operations, and technology. When Kyle's not tinkering on businesses, you'll find him spending time with those he loves, learning about incredible people, and making connections.
About Hamer Marketing Group
Market growth for a new product or service is often limited by market distractions, unreliable data, or systems not built to scale. Hamer Marketing Group helps companies build data-driven strategies focused on client acquisition and sales development supported by the technology and operations necessary to create profitable growth.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The broadcast is now starting.
All attendees are in listen onlymode.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AWC I's
convention and in Tech's exporeconstructed.
Today's presentation isnavigating uncharted waters.
It'll be seen by suppliers anddistributors in covert 19 my
name is Chris Williams.
AWC.
I is director of membership andI'll be your host for today's
presentation.
Also teaming up with me will beAmarie Silva tele and also a
(00:47):
nice all star lineup of AWImembers.
Speakers here that we'll get toin just a second.
So on your screen you'll see ourwhole question.
I would like to ask this at thebeginning of every webinar.
It helps us determine how manypeople are in our audience, so
please answer and clicking onyour screen now, how many people
are viewing this webinar withyou today.
If you click on that selection,hit submit, we'll be able to
tell you and get a better ideaof our audience who to send out
(01:09):
the recording to.
Before we start, a fewhousekeeping items.
All attendees should be on muteduring today's presentation.
However, safety first in ourindustry, we ask that you please
mute your phones or yourcomputer microphones as well to
ensure that we keep the lineclear for our presenters.
If you have any questions at anytime during today's broadcast,
please submit it using thequestion box and your
(01:31):
GoToMeeting dashboard and we'llhave a brief Q and a at the end
of our presentation and alsointerspersed during the
presentation, the Q and a andwe'll make every attempt to get
to all of your questions today.
Our moderators today are myselfand Kyle hammer, Kyle's the
president of Haimer marketinggroup and is passionate about
helping business leveragetechnology and data to grow
their businesses, no stranger tothe technology or the
(01:53):
association.
He previously held executiveleadership positions with
software technology and servicecompanies.
With that, I'd like to turn itover to Kyle to introduce
today's panelists.
Kyle,
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Chris, thanks for having me.
You know, we're very excited tohave our member panelists today.
Andy Calloway, Jerry reeks, andRob Waterhouse.
Many of you know Andy is thedirector of merchandising forL
and w supply.
He's been in the industry forover 15 years and i s an active
memory of member of severalindustry associations.
He lives in Glen Ellyn, Illinoiswith his wife and two kids and
(02:26):
though he normally likes totravel, run and watch sports
these days.
He's working on his socialdistancing skills.
J erry started Jarkko in 1975after graduating with a BS from
Briar cliff university.
He's an active A WC AI and Siouxcity chamber of commerce member.
He recently retired fromofficiating f reestyling G roman
(02:48):
r eco wrestling.
I didn't know that.
I'm going to have to talk to them about it after this session.
U h, this took him from 12different trips overseas and t
wo different 1220 differentwhere he officiated for USA
world team trials.
And after 44 years, Jerry wentback to school last month and f
inished his m aster's degree inbusiness management.
(03:10):
You all recognize a k now Rob asthe president and CEO for
grabber construction parts.
He has been o ur grabberconstruction products.
Excuse me, I want to get that.
Get that right.
Rob.
U h, h e's a 34 year career inconstruction product
manufacturing and distributionwith USG,L and w.
and now grabber for 25 years.
Rob has been an active member ofAW C AI a nd it s f oundation.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Okay,
Speaker 2 (03:35):
thanks Kyle.
Uh, with our presentation today,uh, as a Q and a based with our
three esteemed panelists here,and we'll kick this off here.
The first question, uh, directedto each of you gentlemen, uh,
we'll start with Rob and then goto Jerry and then Andy for their
answers.
How is your company managingthis situation?
Is this your first, uh, crisisor have you had to lead through
(03:55):
the recession of Oh eight, Ohnine, the great recession, uh,
nine 11 other downturns, thingslike that.
And what were you able to takefrom those prior experiences and
apply to this current situation,if anything, being how different
it is?
Rob, we'll kick it off with you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Thanks, Chris.
I appreciate you having me.
Pleased to represent, uh,grabber and, uh, speak on behalf
of a lot of friends in theindustry.
We've established fivepriorities for managing through
this virus situation.
First, the health of ouremployees and their families.
Second, clarity communication.
(04:31):
Third, serving our customers.
Fourth, alignment with our asupply partners and fifth,
preserving our strengths forbetter days ahead.
This is my fifth recession in mycareer.
Third, as an executive.
So a few things that, uh, we'redoing.
Uh, things that I've learnedover time.
(04:51):
First of all, set clearpriorities and stick with them
and make decisions within thatset of priorities.
And I walked through the fivethat we have a NEC establish a
level of calm and confidence.
Um, you know, the, this is the,this is the fairly scary time.
There's some fear involved in,in all of this.
(05:12):
Uh, you know, similar to rightafter nine 11, there was a level
of a fear, rational fear infact.
And so, uh, calm and confidencehelps give people something
stable that they can hang on to.
Any source of stability is goodright now.
Uh, and uh, I found thatreacting to patterns of facts or
(05:35):
is really important duringturbulent times because there's
going to be one offs.
They're going to, you're goingto hear a lot of rumor and
innuendo and there's going to besomething happening in some
parts of the country, but, uh,patterns of fact I think are
really helpful in.
And the last thing I'll mentionon this question is, uh, you
(05:56):
know, look at your overhead andknow how the money you spend is
valued by your customers.
And the way I've, I've done itover time was if it's not valued
by your customer or thatspending is not keeping you out
of the ditch, meeting compliancewith rules, regulations, laws,
and so forth.
If it's not valued by yourcustomer or it's not about
(06:18):
compliance and maybe you don'tspend that money.
And so those would be the thingsthat I've learned that we're
applying now.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Thanks Rob.
Jerry, your thoughts[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (06:31):
for us, uh, managing the situation.
Good morning, West coast andgood afternoon to the rest of
you first.
This is a first time for me, uh,as a panelist.
So bear with me for the mostpart.
We here in the Midwest in Iowaare doing good.
I'm, we're actually on theborder of Iowa, Nebraska and
(06:53):
South Dakota.
Um, just crossed three or twodifferent rivers.
So we have no shelter in placeorders.
And all of those three Stateshave no shelter in place orders.
So, uh, we're fairly open forbusiness as usual.
Most of our, uh, all of our, uh,eating establishments and, and
(07:15):
that is closed.
Um, and all of our, uh, uh,retirement people, anybody I
can't see over a 65 cause that'sme, but, uh, uh, our in our stay
in home.
So, uh, that's, that's changedthe outlook here, uh, for a lot
of different people.
(07:36):
Um, for us, we're keeping theoffice traffic to a minimum.
Uh, we've had a run on masks, uh, hand soap and toilet paper as
usual.
Everybody has.
Um, for me, I've been inbusiness for 46 years, so I have
seen that a lot.
But obviously nothing like this.
(07:57):
Um, crisis is, I do remember 16%interest rates as, as many of
you do.
And I do recall recent years, wewere way too far in our credit
line.
So the eight years after thehousing crash were devastating
to our bottom line, that's forsure.
Including a couple of years thatwere lost when, uh, that was
(08:21):
over.
We had a lot of vintageequipment.
Uh, that's for sure that we werepatching together.
I think in those eight years we,uh, bought two brand new
vehicles and in the last threewe've bought a new boom truck
and, and eight new vehicles.
So, um, and with the a abilitynow for us, uh, uh, where we're
(08:44):
at, those, uh, were depreciated,uh, that same year we were able
to, that we bought them.
So that was an initial shot inthe arm that, uh, all of us
received.
Um, the last three years hadbeen very good and we did not
take any cash out of thecompany.
And that's probably the mostimportant thing I learned.
(09:06):
Life lessons of course havealways taught me and my father
passed it on to me is that, uh,to stay in business, you have to
have three ingredients.
One of them is the best bankerand the other, the best
accountant they ended up.
And lastly, the best lawyer andkeep them all on a speed dial.
(09:27):
Um, so far this time in thiscrisis, we haven't had to use,
uh, the lawyer, that's for sure.
So back to you
Speaker 1 (09:35):
extra and Andy.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Thanks Chris.
And um, this is my first step.
Panelists.
Mmm.
Uh, I'm on a panel here with theAWC, so thanks for having me.
And, uh, glad to be here.
Mmm.
LNW has been around for almost50 years, so this is definitely
not our first crisis.
Uh, we've got, uh, um, anationwide footprint and an
experienced leadership teamthat's seen a lot.
(10:00):
We, you know, we were, um, a lotof us here during the great
recession, you know, many folks,uh, during nine, 11.
And, um, and through the ups anddowns that our industry's seen
over, over a long cycle.
This is the first pandemic we'veall been through, I think.
Um, so that's, it makes it verydifferent.
And so I think, uh, this is thesituation we're in right now is
(10:20):
really unique.
And so, um, there are somethings we can apply and some
things you probably can't applyfrom our prior experience.
I think the things, uh, we canapply our, our lot, uh, in my
mind a lot what like Rob said,um, now we're taking confidence
that we're going to get throughthis.
You know, we've seen some prettytough times.
Um, certainly the greatrecession, you know, that, you
(10:41):
know, with, with[inaudible] ourbusiness dropping by by nearly
half, you know, that was, thosewere tough times and, um, well
we take competence that we gotthrough that and, and we're
going to get through this.
Mmm no, for us, you know,listening to our people and to
our customers and continuing towork to solve problems like we
do every day is, is a keyfoundation for us on how we're
going in, get through that.
(11:02):
Know we want to keep an eye onwhat's right in front of us
here.
You know, uh, the, you know,there's certainly uncertainty
and immediately in front of us.
And how do we manage throughthat.
And we're also keeping, youknow, one eye down the road too.
So we need to plan for both theshort and the long term as we
try to figure out what's coming.
Certainly the longer term is amid to long term is uncertain as
is even the short term.
(11:23):
But we're trying to keep one eyeon both so we can manage
effectively and, and look tocome out of this stronger.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Jerry does Kylie, you know, I, um, by the way, thanks
guys for, for sharing yourperspective and advice.
One of the things I'm reallyinterested in about, uh, Jerry
and Andy is, and Jerry, youspecifically, you just talked
about how all the States thatyou're in don't have a stay at
home order.
Are you seeing a disruption tojob sites?
Um, are there any closures?
(11:50):
Are you having trouble gettingproducts, um, delivering orders?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Um, right now, um, we are, we're in good shape.
Uh, all of the constructionsites, uh, are open, uh, here
in, in, in probably the 90 mileradius.
Uh, Sioux falls is changed alittle bit.
Uh, they, uh, they've had arecent outbreak, um, so they're
(12:15):
starting to close a few thingsup there.
But here in Sioux city andaround the Suitland area, um,
all the construction is, uh, isbusiness as usual and, and
there's, there is a lot ofconstruction here.
We've, we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
That's great.
Andy, what do you, what do youguys announce at WC and with
orders that can be delivered?
Or are you not running into anyrestrictions yet?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
Uh, as a nationwide distributor, we're certainly
seeing probably a bit ofeverything.
Um, you know, we're, we're, uh,um, we're in markets that are
some of the most restrictive anduh, and we're in some of the
markets that, that are, are notseeing as many restrictions.
So, you know, I think that, yeah, you know, the situation for
us, if you think about it, is,is not all that different than
(13:00):
every day.
And in some ways it's sodifferent.
Right.
And the way it's not differentis we run into challenges on job
sites every day.
And, and a lot of that's justabout communicating with our
customers.
And I think we just need to bemore proactive about that
communication now or are asproactive as ever, maybe is a
better way to say it.
And so, um, certainly the, thesituation, you know, can change
now unlike what we wouldnormally see with a, with a
(13:23):
governor's order, um, overnight.
And we have seen that.
And, um, and so we've reacted,we've been very proactive with
customers to talk to them aboutwhat's going on on their job
sites.
[inaudible] trying to avoid, youknow, going out to a job site
where we're work isn'thappening.
So really taking us, um, youknow, communicating a lot with
customers, but that's what we doevery day.
(13:43):
So.
Mmm.
So really in some ways, again,it's, it's not that different.
Um, just, just the circumstancesaround it are widely different.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It is.
Chris, I have a quick questionfollow up question to that.
You talked about, you know,being as proactive as you guys
have been from communicationstandpoint.
Have you had to tailorcommunications at the regional
yard level or is there beenstatus quo in terms of
frequency, communication?
What the messages,
Speaker 5 (14:15):
we've certainly had to change some things.
Um, you know, a lot of[inaudible] our industry, you
know, loves to be face to face.
We love to be, we love to beface to face with our customers.
And so we've had to change someof that people, uh, you know,
walking into branches and beingat our counters, no, we can't do
like that.
Like we used to.
Uh, but you know, our customeris over time.
(14:37):
Have you used the technologythat's available to them there?
You know, they call us, emailus, text us w, you know, and
they reach out to us in manyways.
And, and so we're just usingthose more as, as, as it
pertains to to customers.
And you know, when, when itcomes to the, to day on jobs,
Speaker 4 (14:52):
a lot of that's done on the phone or via text or, or
email or what have you.
So, so that's pretty normal andpretty natural.
Um, and again, the bank, I thinkthat's probably changing is, you
know, the face to face and thebranch activity.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
[inaudible] Rob, this next question, sir, are you a,
how is Granberg experiencing anycapacity issues?
And by that I mean, um, any, anyissues do you do, let's say
increased orders from parts ofthe country that are still
somewhat business as usual or uh, even decreased orders,
different parts of the country,placing orders that you would
normally expect and supplies?
Uh, things like driver shortagesor just your shipping that
(15:27):
shortages or raw materialshortages, things like that.
And if so, how are you resolvingthem?
Speaker 4 (15:33):
We don't really have any Oh, shortages of anything
right now.
Think back a year ago.
Oh, okay.
Almost every company in ourindustry couldn't get enough of
something and usually it wasskilled labor and my wooden,
we'd like to have those problemsand we'll get those problems
back someday.
Uh, the, the only product thatwe're not able to source at the
(15:54):
volumes that we would like areour masks.
And um, you know, that's, that'snatural because the healthcare
industry is, uh, very much inneed of, of the mass that are
available.
So we're sourcing maps where wecan, but we're not going to get
into an auction, a minute formatbecause we would end up bidding
against the healthcare industryand we simply refused, uh, to do
(16:17):
that.
That's where they're needed most.
Um, otherwise we're in reallygood shape in terms of, uh, R R
product supply, the availabilityof skilled labor and so forth.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Thanks, Rob.
Quick follow up question beforewe go onto our next question for
you.
Um, you mentioned that theindustry is a whole year ago, we
were scrambling for, for mostraw materials and it's, you
know, we look back and thedemand at that point probably
was the primary driver alongsome, uh, some, some other
economic issues.
Do you think that the fact thatthere isn't as much of a
(16:51):
scramble now when a month or twoago we were projecting material
shortages on the manufacturingside, is that due to a decrease
in demand, do you think?
Just, just,
Speaker 4 (17:02):
yeah,
Speaker 2 (17:02):
out there?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Well, there's, there's absolutely a decrease in
demand.
And, uh, you know, I think weall started to feel it about a
month ago and, uh, you know, the, uh, the demand differences
Andy referenced, there arecertainly some regional
differences in terms of thedemand dropped, but there's no
doubt demands is down everywhereand no matter where you live,
(17:27):
uh, people are aware of thevirus and are concerned about
it.
And so, um, and you know, thathas some natural impact on, uh,
demand right now and demandgoing forward because, uh, the
path of this virus, the pathtowards some resolution, the
path towards a new normal isjust not well understood.
(17:48):
Anybody who thinks they knowwhat that path looks like, uh,
it's really not telling you thetruth.
It's just not absolutely clear.
And I personally have an awfullot of respect for the governors
out there because they're, uh,having to make that a balanced
choice between lives andlivelihoods.
(18:08):
And, um, those are, those aretough choices.
So I have a lot of respect forthe decisions they're making and
every decision they make hassome impact on demand.
And it's really our role torespond to that.
Uh, rather than to complainabout it.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Hmm.
All right.
Our next questions for you, Rob.
What protocols?
Grep again, grabbers got anumber of locations throughout
the country, a regionalpersonnel.
What protocols have youinstituted to protect your
employees?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
We've had a number of policies in place for, uh, about
a month.
It's a fight.
Look back at the dates.
It's probably closer to fiveweeks.
So, you know, regularhand-washing, um, uh, you know,
a sanitary products, you know,hand sanitizer and wipes
available, covering costs,social distancing.
(18:57):
Uh, all of our 24 facilitieshave'em thermometers now.
Uh, no touch the monitors, we'retaking everybody's temperature
when they arrive.
Uh, first thing in the morning.
And if you've got a temperatureover a certain level, we send
you home.
Just one more way we can keepour employee safety is priority
(19:19):
one.
And, uh, we were also keepingall visitors out of our
facilities and uh, you know, wenormally would certainly be
happy to have visitors, but wewant to make sure that the only
people that walk into a grabberfacility right now are those
grab employees.
And, uh, they know our policiesand procedures and they're
(19:42):
following them.
We've got a number of peopleworking from home because they
can and we're certainly keepingthem off the road and you know,
there's no airplane travel, nohotel stays.
And uh, we're just, uh, doingeverything we can to keep our
team intact and keep ouremployees safe.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Thanks Rob.
Kyle, back to you.
Yeah, yeah.
Jerry.
Andy.
Um, man, it, Jerry, it sounds tome like at least based on the
way you, you shared thingsearlier that there hasn't been
really a, a large interruption,but it does sound like forL and
w i n what you're experiencing,Andy, i t's, it's very
regionalized and pocketed.
So when we look at job sites,having to stagger, start times
(20:29):
for different t rades, u m, to,to help, you know, manage things
around social distancing andsome of the different
requirements, how is thataffecting delivery schedules?
Or is it really not having animpact on it at all?
Because demand is n ow,
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I'll go first.
I think for us, um,
Speaker 5 (20:48):
delivery is always have been coordinated.
So if a buck oysters involved,we scan that's already
prescheduled, at least the babyhair, uh, before, if a multi
stories, most of them only leaveyou one window per floor and the
, uh, hotels that we have going.
So that's always thecoordination to superin with the
(21:09):
superintendent.
We know ahead of time, uh, wherethe access is and how we will,
uh, Oh, we will get it there.
Um, so it really hasn't changedfor us.
Um, in most instance instances
Speaker 6 (21:27):
maybe.
What about you and LNW and someof your, your markets there are
more interrupted.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Yeah, I, I certainly, we've, we've had to, um, okay.
Prepare for things.
Uh, and maybe, maybe somedifferent things like, like
greater restrictions on jobsites.
You alluded to staggered starttimes.
There's some jobs where we'reseeing, um, a limitation on the
number of trades and we'reconsidered a trade, so, Mmm.
But to Jerry's point, you know,uh, we schedule and we plan with
(21:57):
our customers every day.
You know, we're scheduling, youknow, where they need the
material, when they need it.
And, uh, those things aredynamic in a normal cycle.
So I think that w we're used tothat.
Again, it's a different reasonwhy things are changing and the
magnitude and, and kind ofrestrictions are, are, um, in
some cases, okay.
(22:18):
More than we're used to, but,but we're managing it.
And I think, um, certainly itprobably helps that in those
places where the restrictionsare the greatest.
Mmm.
You know, businesses, um, youknow, there's, there's probably
less, uh, you know, going on,um, you know, there, there may
be more likely, uh, another jobshutdown so we can be a little
more coordinated.
(22:38):
But, um, but the reality iswe're used to this every day.
And so I think that we'recomfortable managing it are our
branch managers and supervisorsare our experienced that handled
it, handling this, working withour customers, and we know how
to do that with them reallywell.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
So it sounds like for the most part, the, the
procedures and policies in anoperating business for you and,
and, and Jerry, at least the waythat you've set up things, the
impact has been minimal based onadditional regulations because
you're already really good athandling curve balls.
On a, on a daily basis.
Does that sound a fair summaryof what's going on for both of
(23:14):
you?
Speaker 5 (23:16):
For me, yes.
That's the case.
The only procedures that we'vechanged our face masks on all
our commercial jobs, uh, jobdeliveries, that's, that's
mandatory.
Uh, the residential, we, we givethem a little bit more leeway
cause most of the time there'sonly, uh, one or two people in
(23:36):
that, uh, a house delivery andI'm talking new residential net,
uh, not remodel.
Um, and they're not requiredthere.
But that's really the onlyprocedural change we've had.
Yeah.
I would say for us, you know,there's less, there's no, no
real formal procedural changewhen it comes to yeah, the bulk
(23:58):
of the job sites.
It's, you know, we'd have toreact to the demands of the job
site and we're reacting todifferent demands of the job
site and, and, um, and so we'readapting to that for us.
Um, at the branch, as Imentioned earlier, you know, we
for temporary for now, like Robmentioned, I'm on the grabber
side, they're doing, you know,we're, we're closing our
showrooms to only our employeesso folks can pick up material at
(24:20):
our branches.
They just can't come in our showroom.
And so probably the[inaudible]the impact we've had is on, on
that pickup business.
You know, folks like to come inand talk to us at the counter as
I mentioned earlier.
And um, you know, we have goodrelationship with them.
We're just having to do that ina, you know, outside the branch
loading their truck or the aretheir equipment, their material
on their, on their equipment,um, without that face to face
(24:44):
interaction.
But that's, and that's thegreatest impact we're having.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Thanks for that.
Rob.
Next question for you here.
Like you mentioned just a minuteago that it doesn't appear that
a lot of the supply chain hasbeen disrupted other than masks.
Most materials are availableand, and you have what you need
in order to complete a project.
Are you seeing that that'svaried state to state or is that
Countrywide?
It's still wide open.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Oh, we're not really seeing any supply issues.
Oh, state the state or, orregion to region.
Um, know we haven't had any, uh,Oh, manufacturing facility
shutdown.
And so, uh, we really have nosupply issues other than, uh,
the math.
(25:30):
Obviously we're, you know, keeptrack of this really closely on
a regular basis.
Um, but we don't anticipate anyissues right now.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Thanks Rob.
Jerry and Andy, a move on hereto youth.
The next question, generallyspeaking, have you encountered
any disruptions in products,supplies from manufacturers, and
if so, how have you workedthrough them?
Jerry, we'll start with you.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Well, for us, uh, we have increased our inventory
significantly.
Um, last week, uh, we receivedinformation that USG was
shuttering, uh, uh, a few plants, um, for deep cleaning and, uh,
that got us concerned.
So we increased our inventory,uh, more.
(26:21):
Uh, we built a new warehouse,uh, two years ago and I mean,
that's kind of the new normalanymore when, when you have
price increases, announced a30%, you're on January 3rd.
Um, you, you, you do buy a heada little bit more.
Um, but it's the been normal andhaving lived through allocations
(26:41):
in the past years, um, uh, we,we keep a bigger, uh, supply, a
larger supply of installation, alarger supply of drywall and
acoustical here,
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Andy that was on w
Speaker 5 (27:00):
um, you know, I just started a, uh,[inaudible] come
to the forefront more and morein February and March.
We took a proactive approach tomake sure we had a product on
hand.
Like Jerry said.
Uh, we wanted to be, you know,proactive that material in case
there was an issue.
We haven't really seen it.
You know, there have beenchallenges as I mentioned, we
(27:22):
cover the country.
So as, as a governor has put ina, uh, shelter in place order
and restricted business toessential work only.
And there was some early, I callit a confusion as the what
classified as essential work.
And manufacturers might've hadto push to get approval.
Um, you know, there were sometemporary delays.
(27:44):
Uh, thankfully they weretemporary.
Are our partners talk to usregularly?
We, we, we always have goodcommunication.
And I would say we've heightenedthat communication at this time.
And, um, they've been reallygreat about letting us know the
specific specifics of theirsituations and how they're
working through them, theprogress of them.
And it's allowed us to be, youknow, proactive and handling
(28:06):
that and haven't had anyproblems, uh, when it comes to
the market.
So there may have been a a daywhere they had to stop operating
to get clarity and they got itand they were back up and
running and supplying us.
And in the meantime, thatinventory we had helped us.
But that's really most of whatwe've seen.
And, um, and, and thankfully forall of us, you know, I think as
(28:28):
it's come through most of thework, certainly the work we do
on the distribution level hasbeen deemed[inaudible]
essential.
Um, a lot of our customers' workhas been deemed essential and in
of Ottoman and water markets.
And then our partners on themanufacturing side have gotten
that, uh, as well.
So we've, we've continued tooperate[inaudible].
We're taking the approach ofmaking sure we have what we need
and I'm taking care of ourcustomers cause that's a big
(28:50):
priority for us.
Um, you know, along with thesafety of our people and, and
make sure we get through this
Speaker 2 (28:58):
and for both Jerry and Andy, I have a followup
question but I'm going to rewordit a little bit just because of
both of your answers.
In terms of talking about kindof stockpiling product early on
a few months ago when having theforesight to see that this could
potentially be an issue, do youthink that at some point there's
going to be a cost impact ofhaving that surplus of material
since we talk about demand isstill there but it hasn't, the
(29:21):
supply is keeping pace with itright now.
Is there a potential, um, andthen this is generally speaking,
no trade secrets or anythingthat, any costs impact that
might've come about when demandpicks up again is going to be
mitigated by the fact thatyou've got that supply on hand?
Or is there going to be asituation where there may be an
oversupply at some point downthe road?
Speaker 5 (29:41):
I don't foresee an oversupply.
Um, uh, right now, uh, all thedrywall is, uh, you know, a
phone call is, is going to getyou a truck.
The availability of bothdrywall, full steel and, and
insulation and acousticalmaterial, that's that right now
(30:01):
I'm, they're 100% full of goals,so we haven't seen that a
discontinuation of, of aoperation for any of them, but
tomorrow could be an entirelydifferent thing.
And I think that's life hastaught both Andy and myself that
, uh, um, to, uh, be preparedfor that I, nobody has announced
(30:23):
pricing increases, um, that I'maware of, uh, in the near
future.
And if they are, I would, Iwould think a lot of them would
be rescinded.
Um, historically speaking, Iguess.
So, um, coming out of, uh, outof this, I, I think, I know
material will be available and,uh, in the short term, uh, and
(30:47):
I'm not sure what the long termbrings for us.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I think, um, you know,I'm not going to speculate on
anything, you know,[inaudible]input costs, I suppose.
But for us, certainly carryinginventory has a cost.
Um, we do that to service ourcustomers and we do it every
day.
You know, certainly, uh, w wemay scale it up or, or got back
(31:10):
down as we feel appropriate.
Mmm.
You know, we'll, we'll makedecisions regularly to do things
that we could do lessexpensively yeah.
To service our customers and,and, uh, and that's really okay.
Some of what we're having tojuggle now, Mmm.
As, Mmm.
No, we have[inaudible] differentjob sites, situations and
different branch and staterestrictions.
(31:32):
You know, we may need to, as anationwide distributor service
from a branch that's less idealfrom a cost perspective because
there's a little further away.
But we do that, uh, to servicethe customer.
And so we'll make thosedecisions.
That's[inaudible] part of thevalue we bring our customers,
frankly.
And so, Mmm.
You know, we, you know, we've,we manage the costs in our
(31:52):
business and, you know, yeah.
Um, we try to keep them as lowas we absolutely possibly can.
But, uh, you know, certainly we,there are times where we have to
take some incremental costs todo right by her, by our
customers.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
Thanks guys.
Kyle, back to you.
But this is where it gets funfor me cause we're talking about
stuff that they, that reallygets me excited.
Um, you know, Jerry, Andy, youguys have commented on the shift
that you've done in person, inthe fields, in your, in your,
you know, your houses or your,um, your showrooms versus your
floors in person ordering a lotof shifts.
(32:29):
But really when we see thingslike COBIT 19 and viruses like
this hit, it forces people towork from home or speed up their
digital transformation.
What changes, uh, Andy, whatchanges have you guys had to
make specifically the yard levelto keep up
Speaker 5 (32:48):
for us?
Um, well we've, we've, we've hadto, again, as I alluded to
earlier, I mentioned earlier,we've had to deal with the fact
that folks can't come into ourshowroom.
Um, but we, again, we were usedto that.
Uh, the large majority of ourbusiness doesn't come in through
the showroom every day.
So yeah.
Mmm.
We have a process and aprocedure to handle that.
(33:08):
Uh, we can, we can manageinvoicing our customers and all
that because many of ourcustomers use[inaudible] all
sorts of digital means that fromthe[inaudible] most
sophisticated to the leastsophisticated, uh, you know,
[inaudible] we serve as them theway they want to be serviced,
whether that's a phone call or afax machine, uh, or, uh, a text,
uh, an email.
Right.
So, so we're, we're ready to dothat.
(33:30):
Mmm.
The shift has been, you know,we've had, we've had, again, to
move away from the face to faceat the counter transaction, but
otherwise, um, we're ready.
We're ready to serve ascustomers.
Um, as we normally do.
[inaudible] you know, I, I thinkthat it hasn't, with that, with
that one exception, it hasn'tchanged things dramatically for
(33:51):
us.
We haven't, you know, are a lotof our customers.
Um, our, you know, the, not the,not the folks on job sites but
maybe estimated hours or, oroffice personnel are having to
work from home and a, and a lotof our, Mmm.
Uh, you know, our office staff,I'm not at the branch but, but
um, and our national sportscenter, I have had to make
(34:15):
different arrangements to, asRob mentioned, we're not
traveling where we're notgetting out to places we would
normally get to and we're doinga little more virtually to
communicate across our networkwith, uh, things like zoom
meetings and uh, and othertechnology to stay connected
internally.
Yeah.
But as it pertains to ourcustomers, it's not been a huge
shift in how we interact withcustomers.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
There hasn't been a Barisan been a disruption in the
ability to order because youdon't have people in the
physical locations to enterorders as they come in through
like a mainframe network youhaven't had to work through.
Is it in the cloud or a localintranet?
The systems were already there.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Yeah.
For us, they were already therein place.
Again, we handle a lot ofdifferent types of transactions
today from a lot of differentcustomers.
And so we're ready to[inaudible][inaudible] take care of things,
you know.
Mmm[inaudible] we can handlepeople paying their bills online
and hang them.
Um, other ways too.
And we've got, you know, we've[inaudible] we've made
adjustments if people need to goin to get checks, you know, to a
(35:15):
physical location and they'renot necessarily going into an
office though.
They're going into thatexception to go take care of
those types of things.
And then immediately going backto a safer spot.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Jerry, a little bit different spin on the same
question.
Given that it seems to be workas usual for you in the, uh, the
Sioux city area, if, if thingswere to change dynamically in
the work work from home orderbecame, um, mandated there for
you guys locally, what sort ofimpact would that have on your
(35:46):
day to day operations and whatsort of changes would you guys
need to make in order toaccommodate?
Speaker 5 (35:52):
For us.
I, I don't foresee thathappening.
But if that's the case and, and,uh, construction is not, is
deemed a non obsessional, nonessential, then we would have,
um, big problems, um, that wouldpretty well close the doors and
we'd shut her up for a while.
But getting back to Andy'squestion that he had regarding
(36:15):
digital transformation, uh, lastmonth our sister company,
tri-state drywall began usinglabor chart and as this coal bed
, uh, 19, it became evidencethat the pandemic Jarkko joining
that bandwagon.
So our delivery men now aren'tcoming into the office.
(36:38):
Um, the delivery site is texttexted to them.
Any special request is put inthat text, um, and they can
touch the screen and Google mapswill take them right to the
front door.
And so that's one digitaltransformation that I wanted to
share with you.
Speaker 6 (36:58):
That was going to be my followup question, so thanks
for taking us right through tothat.
Um, so just, uh, just toreiterate, we haven't really
seen an impact in ordering orprocessor ability to deliver for
, um, people being stuck at homefor either of you.
Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (37:18):
For me, our front door's still open in our sales
floors, still open.
Um, normally one or twocustomers is at a time is, is,
is our norm.
So social distancing guidelinesare met.
We've seen an increase in boththe store customers and, and
phone traffic.
(37:39):
I think people just wanting toget out of the house and, um,
they've been pent up too long.
Uh, we also offer a service, uh,the people of hand measuring
houses, um, new houses, so thosedarn drywall hangers don't, uh,
don't gouge that poor guy.
So, or that floor owner.
So we continue that service, um,still going out and, and uh,
(38:02):
writing on the walls is exactlywhat it should take, uh, to hang
that house.
Well, we haven't you thefollowup Jerry's comment, we
really just haven't seen a wholelot difference.
We, we were, Mmm.
We have a lot of capabilities inthe digital area before that
we're utilizing, but okay.
(38:23):
Again, we're adapting andworking with whatever technology
our customers are used to and,and, and a lot of the way we do
business was set up well tohandle this.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Mmm.
So we're, we're in a good spotthere.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Great.
Chris.
Thanks Kyle.
I'm going to go old school alittle bit with a question we've
got from one of our audiencemembers.
Uh, how much, and this is forall three of you, how much
impact is social distancinghaving a meeting, managing the
six foot rule?
How much does it having on youremployees?
Uh, both have the yards.
Uh, and in the office itself, ifyou guys still have office open,
Speaker 5 (39:05):
this is Jerry and I'll take that first.
I think that it has had verylittle impact, but it is a
concern for every, every, all ofour employees.
They're way more aware of thesituation they're in and, and,
uh, and what's gonna keep themsafe and not, so we just
(39:26):
automatically, I think thatsocial distincts Vince
distancing has happened for us.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
[inaudible]
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Danny and Rob.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
Yeah, I'll go next.
I think it's had an impact forsure.
There's a lot of our day to dayand normal day to day that
happens within six feet.
Um, or maybe maybe thathistorically we just wouldn't
have thought about.
Mmm.
So, as Jerry mentioned, ourpeople are far more aware.
I would say we haven't had theyou well police are people.
(39:59):
We're not, we don't take thatapproach.
Mmm.
They've been pretty good about,um, managing their own, um,
space.
I think a lot of people are veryconcerned about this.
And so, uh, so we've, you know,and, and we've, we've helped
them adapt.
As I mentioned, we've closed ourshowrooms temporarily, which
give them a little bit easier,um, situation to manage.
(40:21):
And then we've, we've createdthe right space and in our
environment, uh, so people canfollow those guidelines.
I would say that there are twoanswers.
The first is that ourfacilities, and, uh, I think the
first week or so, uh, and we'vehad a social social distancing
(40:41):
policies in place for over amonth.
The first week or so wasprobably, uh, you know, why do
we need to do this?
And then people started to seewhat was happening in the news
and they understood and wereappreciative and, uh, adjusted.
So whether that's a new normal,how long we have to be in this
situation, I don't know.
(41:02):
So that's the first part.
The second part is firstSalesforce.
This is hard.
Salespeople are meant to be outand with customers and making
things happen and they can't dothat right now.
So, you know, they, they dophone calls and emails and we're
doing a lot of training of oursales force cause we've got an
opportunity to, uh, talk aboutproducts and product skills and
(41:24):
so forth.
It's hard.
Salespeople are built to be outand they can't do that right
now.
So that's probably the biggestcomplexity we have.
And social distancing.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Yeah.
I was going to ask Robin this,is this the end of the
handshake?
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Well, uh, you know, for awhile, I mean, you know,
humans are built for'em, uh, youknow, to connect with each other
and um, be, be close and uh,shake hands and give hugs.
And so, you know, that's, uh,that's human nature.
So I, you know, I hope we, uh,aren't in this phase
(42:03):
permanently.
I don't think we are.
But, um, uh, you know,handshakes are the normal
everywhere on the globe.
So maybe we'll have a newtradition.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
And Rob, we'll stick with you here.
This next question.
How are you working with youremployees to help them in
handling and dealing with coven?
19 pandemic?
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Yeah, a lot of uh, clear, uh, concise
communications.
Um, you know, no requirements,things that just aren't
electives, again, designed tokeep our people healthy.
And so we post a lot of thingsinside the branches in addition
to emails and everybody's got amanager.
So we make sure that we get allthat one-on-one conversation and
(42:46):
I think that's the, the nextthing, just being available to
talk and answer questions.
You know, there's some rationalfear out there.
And so, uh, just being able totalk and walk people through
situations, the next thing I sayis just, uh, double check to
make sure that your message isproperly understood.
(43:07):
Turbulent times can cause amisinterpretation that you don't
intend.
And so, you know, you dosomething with great intention,
but it's understood a differentway.
Sometimes you've got to clarifyit, make sure that it's handled
and understood properly.
And of course, you know, every,I probably said this four times,
it just staying focused on thepriorities, making decisions
(43:30):
within those priorities, thatlevel of calm and, and
consistent and stable ouremployees.
Uh, so far I've reacted reallymost of that.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
And my next question, Rob, uh, specifically for you
clients, but we're assuming theloose potentially the
significant amounts of revenuein the short term here with the
spans AMEC and that'llinevitably impact their projects
for later this year, early nextyear.
Is the assumption, what are yourthoughts about this potentially
becoming a sustained economicdecline?
(44:04):
And on the flip side of that,how will you prepare?
How will grab them prepare forthe eventual rebound that we
know is going to come?
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Yeah, they're a big question.
Um, you know, we're, we're inthe first phase of this, uh,
this whole thing right now.
Every company is, every nationis really the first phase of the
world dealing with the lifeconsequences of the virus and
business down right now.
I think we can all, um,recognize that, um, uh, and, and
(44:31):
it's gonna stay down for aperiod of time.
I have no doubt that this isgoing to create a recession.
Oh, I think it's going to bemore like the recession that
followed nine 11 than like thegreat recession.
Uh, maybe somewhere in between.
The fact is nobody knows.
The second phase though I thinkis going to be, uh, upon us
(44:54):
pretty quickly.
And that's, you know, what arethe new realities for
construction regarding PPE, uh,social distancing, which we
talked about sequencing tradeson the job site, um, the
realities of inspectors comingonto job sites and, you know,
does that elongate theconstruction cycle?
And, um, you know, how do theeconomics of getting buildings
(45:19):
built work with, with these newrealities?
So I think that's a phase we'llstart getting into in the next
couple of months.
And there are probably somecontractors that already you're
starting to answer some of thosethings.
And then the third phase is therecessionary impacts to
construction.
We certainly expect a fewquarters of a decreased
(45:41):
opportunity.
And I think the timeline ofwhatever the recession impact
looks like just totally dependson how long it takes to get
control over this virus.
And, uh, none of us know.
And then the fourth phase is,uh, you know, a return to normal
or a new normal.
And we haven't even startedthinking about 20, 21 yet.
We're, we're all eyes on rightnow, this corridor and the
(46:06):
managing the business throughthe end of 2020.
Speaker 6 (46:11):
I think I speak for many of us when I say that it
feels like we're already on2021, but we're just in April,
so of 20, 20.
So thanks Rob.
Kyle, I'll turn it over to you.
Yeah.
And I'll, I'll, uh, I'll closeit out before we get to the Q
and a for the um, uh, from the,from the audience, like we've
just talked about a lot of theshort term realities, the things
(46:32):
that are consequences of, ofwhat we're going through related
to the virus and what our shortterm realities are, you know,
for, for the group.
And we'll start with Andy, doyou have any longterm thoughts
that you'd like to share withus?
Share with the audience?
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Yeah.
So I started with'em, you know,some of the things we learned in
the past and competences, it's abig part of how we're going
through this content that we'regoing to come out and the other
side, and I didn't comment thatwe're going to learn things.
You know, if you look back tothe great recession or prior,
you know, we, we've learned alot and adapted after each, each
(47:09):
one of these a challenging timesand the ideas that we learned.
Um, some of them are short termthings that we may put in a
playbook or Mmm.
And hopefully don't need to useagain, unfortunately.
Maybe we will here.
Um, yeah.
There's also some things that wetake away that, uh, become great
ideas that we should put intopractice every day.
And so we're seeing some of thathappen already.
Speaker 5 (47:31):
Um, you know, things that we're learning in terms of
how we're, uh, operatingefficiencies we're finding in,
in a, in a difficult situation.
So I, aye.
You know, in turn, in additionto optimism that we're going to
get through this and be in abetter spot down the road.
Mmm.
From an economy standpoint, uh,you know, there's optimism that
(47:53):
we're going to, we're going tolearn and grow and, and we're
all going to bring thisexperience to make our
individual businesses betterdown the road.
And, um, that's something that,Mmm.
It gives me excitement andenthusiasm to[inaudible] to
charge through this.
Mmm.
And get to the other side.
Speaker 6 (48:12):
Thanks for sharing that.
Jerry.
What do you think?
Speaker 5 (48:15):
Well, for me on longterm thoughts, I think the
election is going to besignificant.
Uh, uh, and, and how that playsout is going to, um, show the
path that construction is goingto going to take.
I think in the future nearfuture at least.
Uh, the PPP funds have been, uh,some of them have been released
(48:36):
that, but I heard that, uh, theyran out of money.
So those that got their PPPfunds, uh, um, are, are able to
keep their people busy in, inwhere we're at.
And we were hiring to beginwith.
Um, uh, they'll keep us employedin, in the two and a half months
(48:57):
when they're paid back.
I think, uh, um, the banks willhave some of their, uh, loans
retired, uh, that we have onour, on our equipment, which is
going to be good for us.
Um, and uh, probably there'll beused to pay, uh, additional
taxes for, uh, um, for our, uh,you know, our bottom line, I
(49:20):
think the stark stock market andwhere it's at right now.
Um, if it continues to, uh, um,stay where it's at, uh, we're
going to be in good shape forretirement funds and everything.
If it doesn't, uh, if it, uh,continues a decline, uh,
everyone's going to have aproblem.
Housing market just wasannounced that the houses are,
(49:43):
are going down real, real fast.
Uh, the market is drying up forthem and I can see that
happening in the short term.
Uh, commercial's going to stayokay for us, I think, uh, four
year in year and a half.
And, but if this continues,commercial's going to get
(50:05):
affected also.
Um, so plan, plan for the worstand hope for the best.
Speaker 6 (50:13):
Can you say that, Rob, you want to, uh, we want to
close this out with yourthoughts on, you know, what, uh,
what, what should we think aboutlong term?
Speaker 5 (50:20):
Yeah.
Uh, let me first.
Speaker 4 (50:31):
Okay.
The whole thing's happeningalmost full employment, uh,
optimism for the rest of theyear and beyond.
And now we, we get thrown amajor curve ball, major curve
ball.
This is a health induced issue.
W our economy, we'll return to avery healthy state.
(50:53):
It just absolutely will.
It always does.
The Americans are built as thetoughest stuff possible.
And so we'll get back, we've gotto solve this crisis, but we'll
get back and, um, uh, we havebefore and if the journey is not
going to be easy on this onebecause there's just an awful
lot of uncertainty about whathappens next.
(51:14):
But I don't think any of usshould have any doubt in terms
of, Oh, our nation or ourcompany or our skills, uh, as
individuals or our skills, uh,as you know, team members in our
companies.
Um, we're built the top stuff.
We're going to get through this.
And I think it's reallyimportant as whatever we're
(51:36):
doing right now, managing,leading our families through
this, leading our companiesthrough this just every once in
a while to imagine yourself fiveyears from now and just reflect
back on what you were able to doto get your family, your
company, your coworkers throughthis.
And just, just having that typeof five-year perspective I think
(52:01):
just helps create, um, a littlebit of calmness, a little bit of
confidence, a little bit ofstability to, to drive us
through this thing.
So, uh, I'm, uh, I'm veryoptimistic, uh, and longterm,
very bullish and, uh, I'm, uh,keep it as healthy a perspective
as I can and sharing that witheverybody that I can.
(52:24):
And I'm pleased to share it withthis group today.
Thank you
Speaker 2 (52:29):
gentlemen.
Thank you.
And we have a few questions herefrom our audience members.
I want to get to a quickly andI'll start with a what's easily
the hardest question to ask.
Um, and, and those that aresubmitted, and I'll, I'll frame
this from a general perspective.
Do you foresee any layoffsmoving forward?
Not from a company standpoint,but from an industry standpoint
or what are your views on that?
Speaker 5 (52:52):
This is Jerry.
I'll go first.
Um, I think for us it's going todepend on what the housing
market does.
If a, this is a short termbecause a lot of, a lot of our
residential drives sooner orlater drives our commercial.
So in the, in the, uh, I do notforesee a layoff right now,
(53:12):
layoffs right now, but thatpotential is really out there
for us.
And I think the, the PPP funds,um, have pretty well insured, at
least our company that therewon't be any layoffs for the
next and a half months.
So.
Gotcha.
I guess I'll, I guess I'll gonext.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (53:34):
Speaking maybe broadly.
I think, you know, I think a lotof folks in our industry
Speaker 2 (53:39):
[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (53:39):
always looking two manage supply and demand and,
um, and so I think a lot of it'sgoing to come down to what
happens to the economy and, uh,and how that reacts.
So, uh, you know, and I don'twant, I don't think anybody
desires that outcome.
Uh, but, uh, w we need to, whenyou made the right, make the
(54:01):
right business decisions and, um, and so know I think[inaudible]
everyone in the industry will,we'll take a look at that, uh,
their own way and, and approachit.
Um, you know, each their ownway.
And certainly, um, you know,[inaudible] at L a nd w R our
approach is that we're anassociate first company.
And when you run into situationslike, y ou k now, w hen, when
(54:22):
times are good, it's e asy tosay that.
A nd w hen, when times arechallenging are you l ifting?
And so our intent is to, to liveit to the best we can.
This is Rob.
Oh, we're doing everything wecan.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (54:41):
To avoid layoffs.
We haven't even had aconversation about layoffs and
so there are a lot of things wecan do between now and having to
even have that conversation.
Um, and so, um, right now we'refocused on those five priorities
and the health of our employeesis, is number one.
(55:02):
No, we're going to keep, we'regoing to keep it that way.
Speaker 2 (55:07):
Thanks guys.
Uh, next question here.
Uh, do any of you foresee yourrespective companies reducing
your footprint?
Uh, for example, number ofbranches at the local level, uh,
in favor of larger, moreregional based distribution
centers moving forward.
Andy, we'll start with you.
Put you on the spot there.
Speaker 5 (55:28):
Yeah.
This feels, this feels maybelike for me, uh, I'll say every
one of our branches remains opentoday.
And, uh, you know, certainly
Speaker 2 (55:37):
[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (55:37):
you know, that may be a, and that, that just shows, I
guess where our mind is at.
Um, you know, we[inaudible], um,we haven't scaled back in and
even the most restrictive States, um, are we, we feel it's
important to be close to ourcustomers.
We deliver heavy things.
[inaudible] delivering them along way is not particularly
efficient, so, Mmm.
(55:57):
Yeah.
That, that's Mmm.
Yup.
That's kind of our approach atthis point.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
Hmm.
Speaker 5 (56:05):
Yeah, for sure.
24.
Go ahead, Jerry.
I'm sorry, Rob.
Nope.
Um, for all drywall supplycompanies, uh, you know, in the
United States there's alwaysbeen, uh, the competition
between the box stores, um, tostay viable, we've had, uh, to,
to,
Speaker 4 (56:26):
uh,
Speaker 5 (56:27):
get smarter and do better things and offer more.
Uh, so we're already have in, Ithink all of us have in place,
uh, a plan to, to stay wherewe're at and, and, uh, um,
continue to flourish.
Speaker 4 (56:47):
Oh, we have 24 facilities in North America and,
um, we don't have any plans tochange that.
Speaker 2 (56:56):
[inaudible].
Next question here.
Uh, how do you expect to dealwith vendors at the yard level?
And Andy, I believe that I'llgear that one towards you.
Speaker 4 (57:08):
Sure.
Uh, I guess, you know, my firstanswer is really not all that
differently.
We certainly made practicesocial distancing, um, manage it
inbound deliveries.
Mmm.
You know, I, I, I think maybeone thought we have to be
careful about, one thing we werehaving to be careful about is,
(57:28):
is anything direct to a job sitebecause of[inaudible], because
things can be dynamic.
So, um, I think we're having towatch that a little bit more
than normal because somethingcould change from yesterday to
today, but overall, Mmm, yeah.
Vendors are coming into our yard.
They always have.
Um, and[inaudible] they're theircompanies and, um, yeah, they're
(57:50):
there.
They're there, they're socialdistancing.
You know, I think Rob alluded toit.
Uh, yeah.
As we've gone through this,people have become just
[inaudible] increasingly awareand, uh, I think that we're
seeing them practice thepractices as they come into our
yard.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Gentlemen, I've got one last question.
It's a perfect question to wrapthings up.
Any recommendations or requestsof your customers?
In other words, what do you wishpeople would do to make things
better, easier, safer as wenavigate these uncharted waters?
Rob, we'll start with you.
Speaker 4 (58:29):
Well, I'm gonna go back to something I said.
Um, you know, we, we expectthere to be a recession, not a
long one, but a recession thatcomes out of this virus
situation.
And I think that, uh, everycompany needs to look at the
money they spend, notnecessarily the people they have
on their payroll, but the moneythey spend and say, do my
(58:50):
customers value those things?
And they can always thatoverhead, uh, uh, something my
customers are willing to payfor.
And that, that would be my pieceof advice, uh, to customers
other than, again, every once ina while, just step back and
think about that five-yearperspective.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
Thanks, Rob.
Jerry?
Speaker 5 (59:13):
Well, for us, I think , uh, the use of the phone is,
has increased a lot to, to stayin, uh, you know, our, our is
our customers.
So I find myself calling a fewof them, uh, more often than not
because, you know, the days ofbeing able to take them to lunch
, uh, have gone away.
(59:35):
So the phone is, is, is reallyessential now and more so than,
uh, than it has been in thepast.
That that's the belief I have.
Speaker 2 (59:48):
Andy, we'll wrap up with you.
Yeah.
So I think for, for me
Speaker 5 (59:53):
and for us, you know, I think about what I look for
from our suppliers and, and fromour customers.
And I think that a lot of it'sabout communication and
especially in the short term,you know, we want to be talking
about jobs that are going,
Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (01:00:06):
Things that may be coming,
Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
ah,
Speaker 5 (01:00:08):
things that may be delayed in the near term.
So as, as much as ever,
Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:00:13):
Communication that we have with our customers is
critical.
So, and we need to have it
Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
with[inaudible],
Speaker 5 (01:00:19):
with our suppliers where we're their customer.
And so I think I'm making surethat we're talking openly about
what's happening.
We're taking a very honest andproactive approach.
It's no different than what wealways do.
Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (01:00:31):
You know, because frankly, it's, it's just the
best means of doing business totalk truthfully about what we
see and, uh, and then asking ourcustomers do the same so that we
can, we can really be effectiveto manage their business down
the road.
Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
And we're having great
Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
open discussions like, like usual, but in an
unchartered times where wefrankly, I don't think any of us
know the answer.
Um, and so, um, we'll keep doingthat and, and we're appreciative
of of those customers of oursthat, that are just giving us
everything they know and tellingus what they know so that we
can, we can serve their businesswell and Hey, take care of our
people and take care of them andour
Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
and our vendor partners.
Gentlemen, thank you.
On behalf of uh, AWC and myself,uh, again, want to extend my
thanks to Andy, Jerry Robin,Kyle for taking out time out of
their schedules today to walk usthrough, uh, this coven 19
pandemic from the supplierdistributor perspective.
I also want to thank you forjoining our attendees for
(01:01:28):
joining us for today's ATV CISconvention in Tex expo
reconstructed webinar.
As a reminder, this program wasrecorded and you'll receive a
link to[inaudible] onlineprogram library following the
conclusion of today's broadcast.
Be on the lookout for our weeklyFriday recap email tomorrow with
details of upcoming conventionin text expo, reconstructed
(01:01:49):
events through may eighteveryone, thanks again a stay
well and stay safe out there.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
The broadcast is now starting.
All attendees are in listen onlymode.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to AWC I's
convention and in Tech's exporeconstructed.
Today's presentation isnavigating uncharted waters.
It'll be seen by suppliers anddistributors in covert 19 my
name is Chris Williams.
AWC.
I is director of membership andI'll be your host for today's
presentation.
Also teaming up with me will beAmarie Silva tele and also a
(00:47):
nice all star lineup of AWImembers.
Speakers here that we'll get toin just a second.
So on your screen you'll see ourwhole question.
I would like to ask this at thebeginning of every webinar.
It helps us determine how manypeople are in our audience, so
please answer and clicking onyour screen now, how many people
are viewing this webinar withyou today.
If you click on that selection,hit submit, we'll be able to
tell you and get a better ideaof our audience who to send out
(01:09):
the recording to.
Before we start, a fewhousekeeping items.
All attendees should be on muteduring today's presentation.
However, safety first in ourindustry, we ask that you please
mute your phones or yourcomputer microphones as well to
ensure that we keep the lineclear for our presenters.
If you have any questions at anytime during today's broadcast,
please submit it using thequestion box and your
(01:31):
GoToMeeting dashboard and we'llhave a brief Q and a at the end
of our presentation and alsointerspersed during the
presentation, the Q and a andwe'll make every attempt to get
to all of your questions today.
Our moderators today are myselfand Kyle hammer, Kyle's the
president of Haimer marketinggroup and is passionate about
helping business leveragetechnology and data to grow
their businesses, no stranger tothe technology or the
(01:53):
association.
He previously held executiveleadership positions with
software technology and servicecompanies.
With that, I'd like to turn itover to Kyle to introduce
today's panelists.
Kyle,
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Chris, thanks for having me.
You know, we're very excited tohave our member panelists today.
Andy Calloway, Jerry reeks, andRob Waterhouse.
Many of you know Andy is thedirector of merchandising forL
and w supply.
He's been in the industry forover 15 years and i s an active
memory of member of severalindustry associations.
He lives in Glen Ellyn, Illinoiswith his wife and two kids and
(02:26):
though he normally likes totravel, run and watch sports
these days.
He's working on his socialdistancing skills.
J erry started Jarkko in 1975after graduating with a BS from
Briar cliff university.
He's an active A WC AI and Siouxcity chamber of commerce member.
He recently retired fromofficiating f reestyling G roman
(02:48):
r eco wrestling.
I didn't know that.
I'm going to have to talk to them about it after this session.
U h, this took him from 12different trips overseas and t
wo different 1220 differentwhere he officiated for USA
world team trials.
And after 44 years, Jerry wentback to school last month and f
inished his m aster's degree inbusiness management.
(03:10):
You all recognize a k now Rob asthe president and CEO for
grabber construction parts.
He has been o ur grabberconstruction products.
Excuse me, I want to get that.
Get that right.
Rob.
U h, h e's a 34 year career inconstruction product
manufacturing and distributionwith USG,L and w.
and now grabber for 25 years.
Rob has been an active member ofAW C AI a nd it s f oundation.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Okay,
Speaker 2 (03:35):
thanks Kyle.
Uh, with our presentation today,uh, as a Q and a based with our
three esteemed panelists here,and we'll kick this off here.
The first question, uh, directedto each of you gentlemen, uh,
we'll start with Rob and then goto Jerry and then Andy for their
answers.
How is your company managingthis situation?
Is this your first, uh, crisisor have you had to lead through
(03:55):
the recession of Oh eight, Ohnine, the great recession, uh,
nine 11 other downturns, thingslike that.
And what were you able to takefrom those prior experiences and
apply to this current situation,if anything, being how different
it is?
Rob, we'll kick it off with you.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Thanks, Chris.
I appreciate you having me.
Pleased to represent, uh,grabber and, uh, speak on behalf
of a lot of friends in theindustry.
We've established fivepriorities for managing through
this virus situation.
First, the health of ouremployees and their families.
Second, clarity communication.
(04:31):
Third, serving our customers.
Fourth, alignment with our asupply partners and fifth,
preserving our strengths forbetter days ahead.
This is my fifth recession in mycareer.
Third, as an executive.
So a few things that, uh, we'redoing.
Uh, things that I've learnedover time.
(04:51):
First of all, set clearpriorities and stick with them
and make decisions within thatset of priorities.
And I walked through the fivethat we have a NEC establish a
level of calm and confidence.
Um, you know, the, this is the,this is the fairly scary time.
There's some fear involved in,in all of this.
(05:12):
Uh, you know, similar to rightafter nine 11, there was a level
of a fear, rational fear infact.
And so, uh, calm and confidencehelps give people something
stable that they can hang on to.
Any source of stability is goodright now.
Uh, and uh, I found thatreacting to patterns of facts or
(05:35):
is really important duringturbulent times because there's
going to be one offs.
They're going to, you're goingto hear a lot of rumor and
innuendo and there's going to besomething happening in some
parts of the country, but, uh,patterns of fact I think are
really helpful in.
And the last thing I'll mentionon this question is, uh, you
(05:56):
know, look at your overhead andknow how the money you spend is
valued by your customers.
And the way I've, I've done itover time was if it's not valued
by your customer or thatspending is not keeping you out
of the ditch, meeting compliancewith rules, regulations, laws,
and so forth.
If it's not valued by yourcustomer or it's not about
(06:18):
compliance and maybe you don'tspend that money.
And so those would be the thingsthat I've learned that we're
applying now.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Thanks Rob.
Jerry, your thoughts[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (06:31):
for us, uh, managing the situation.
Good morning, West coast andgood afternoon to the rest of
you first.
This is a first time for me, uh,as a panelist.
So bear with me for the mostpart.
We here in the Midwest in Iowaare doing good.
I'm, we're actually on theborder of Iowa, Nebraska and
(06:53):
South Dakota.
Um, just crossed three or twodifferent rivers.
So we have no shelter in placeorders.
And all of those three Stateshave no shelter in place orders.
So, uh, we're fairly open forbusiness as usual.
Most of our, uh, all of our, uh,eating establishments and, and
(07:15):
that is closed.
Um, and all of our, uh, uh,retirement people, anybody I
can't see over a 65 cause that'sme, but, uh, uh, our in our stay
in home.
So, uh, that's, that's changedthe outlook here, uh, for a lot
of different people.
(07:36):
Um, for us, we're keeping theoffice traffic to a minimum.
Uh, we've had a run on masks, uh, hand soap and toilet paper as
usual.
Everybody has.
Um, for me, I've been inbusiness for 46 years, so I have
seen that a lot.
But obviously nothing like this.
(07:57):
Um, crisis is, I do remember 16%interest rates as, as many of
you do.
And I do recall recent years, wewere way too far in our credit
line.
So the eight years after thehousing crash were devastating
to our bottom line, that's forsure.
Including a couple of years thatwere lost when, uh, that was
(08:21):
over.
We had a lot of vintageequipment.
Uh, that's for sure that we werepatching together.
I think in those eight years we,uh, bought two brand new
vehicles and in the last threewe've bought a new boom truck
and, and eight new vehicles.
So, um, and with the a abilitynow for us, uh, uh, where we're
(08:44):
at, those, uh, were depreciated,uh, that same year we were able
to, that we bought them.
So that was an initial shot inthe arm that, uh, all of us
received.
Um, the last three years hadbeen very good and we did not
take any cash out of thecompany.
And that's probably the mostimportant thing I learned.
(09:06):
Life lessons of course havealways taught me and my father
passed it on to me is that, uh,to stay in business, you have to
have three ingredients.
One of them is the best bankerand the other, the best
accountant they ended up.
And lastly, the best lawyer andkeep them all on a speed dial.
(09:27):
Um, so far this time in thiscrisis, we haven't had to use,
uh, the lawyer, that's for sure.
So back to you
Speaker 1 (09:35):
extra and Andy.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Thanks Chris.
And um, this is my first step.
Panelists.
Mmm.
Uh, I'm on a panel here with theAWC, so thanks for having me.
And, uh, glad to be here.
Mmm.
LNW has been around for almost50 years, so this is definitely
not our first crisis.
Uh, we've got, uh, um, anationwide footprint and an
experienced leadership teamthat's seen a lot.
(10:00):
We, you know, we were, um, a lotof us here during the great
recession, you know, many folks,uh, during nine, 11.
And, um, and through the ups anddowns that our industry's seen
over, over a long cycle.
This is the first pandemic we'veall been through, I think.
Um, so that's, it makes it verydifferent.
And so I think, uh, this is thesituation we're in right now is
(10:20):
really unique.
And so, um, there are somethings we can apply and some
things you probably can't applyfrom our prior experience.
I think the things, uh, we canapply our, our lot, uh, in my
mind a lot what like Rob said,um, now we're taking confidence
that we're going to get throughthis.
You know, we've seen some prettytough times.
Um, certainly the greatrecession, you know, that, you
(10:41):
know, with, with[inaudible] ourbusiness dropping by by nearly
half, you know, that was, thosewere tough times and, um, well
we take competence that we gotthrough that and, and we're
going to get through this.
Mmm no, for us, you know,listening to our people and to
our customers and continuing towork to solve problems like we
do every day is, is a keyfoundation for us on how we're
going in, get through that.
(11:02):
Know we want to keep an eye onwhat's right in front of us
here.
You know, uh, the, you know,there's certainly uncertainty
and immediately in front of us.
And how do we manage throughthat.
And we're also keeping, youknow, one eye down the road too.
So we need to plan for both theshort and the long term as we
try to figure out what's coming.
Certainly the longer term is amid to long term is uncertain as
is even the short term.
(11:23):
But we're trying to keep one eyeon both so we can manage
effectively and, and look tocome out of this stronger.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Jerry does Kylie, you know, I, um, by the way, thanks
guys for, for sharing yourperspective and advice.
One of the things I'm reallyinterested in about, uh, Jerry
and Andy is, and Jerry, youspecifically, you just talked
about how all the States thatyou're in don't have a stay at
home order.
Are you seeing a disruption tojob sites?
Um, are there any closures?
(11:50):
Are you having trouble gettingproducts, um, delivering orders?
Speaker 5 (11:55):
Um, right now, um, we are, we're in good shape.
Uh, all of the constructionsites, uh, are open, uh, here
in, in, in probably the 90 mileradius.
Uh, Sioux falls is changed alittle bit.
Uh, they, uh, they've had arecent outbreak, um, so they're
(12:15):
starting to close a few thingsup there.
But here in Sioux city andaround the Suitland area, um,
all the construction is, uh, isbusiness as usual and, and
there's, there is a lot ofconstruction here.
We've, we've been blessed.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
That's great.
Andy, what do you, what do youguys announce at WC and with
orders that can be delivered?
Or are you not running into anyrestrictions yet?
Speaker 5 (12:38):
Uh, as a nationwide distributor, we're certainly
seeing probably a bit ofeverything.
Um, you know, we're, we're, uh,um, we're in markets that are
some of the most restrictive anduh, and we're in some of the
markets that, that are, are notseeing as many restrictions.
So, you know, I think that, yeah, you know, the situation for
us, if you think about it, is,is not all that different than
(13:00):
every day.
And in some ways it's sodifferent.
Right.
And the way it's not differentis we run into challenges on job
sites every day.
And, and a lot of that's justabout communicating with our
customers.
And I think we just need to bemore proactive about that
communication now or are asproactive as ever, maybe is a
better way to say it.
And so, um, certainly the, thesituation, you know, can change
now unlike what we wouldnormally see with a, with a
(13:23):
governor's order, um, overnight.
And we have seen that.
And, um, and so we've reacted,we've been very proactive with
customers to talk to them aboutwhat's going on on their job
sites.
[inaudible] trying to avoid, youknow, going out to a job site
where we're work isn'thappening.
So really taking us, um, youknow, communicating a lot with
customers, but that's what we doevery day.
(13:43):
So.
Mmm.
So really in some ways, again,it's, it's not that different.
Um, just, just the circumstancesaround it are widely different.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
It is.
Chris, I have a quick questionfollow up question to that.
You talked about, you know,being as proactive as you guys
have been from communicationstandpoint.
Have you had to tailorcommunications at the regional
yard level or is there beenstatus quo in terms of
frequency, communication?
What the messages,
Speaker 5 (14:15):
we've certainly had to change some things.
Um, you know, a lot of[inaudible] our industry, you
know, loves to be face to face.
We love to be, we love to beface to face with our customers.
And so we've had to change someof that people, uh, you know,
walking into branches and beingat our counters, no, we can't do
like that.
Like we used to.
Uh, but you know, our customeris over time.
(14:37):
Have you used the technologythat's available to them there?
You know, they call us, emailus, text us w, you know, and
they reach out to us in manyways.
And, and so we're just usingthose more as, as, as it
pertains to to customers.
And you know, when, when itcomes to the, to day on jobs,
Speaker 4 (14:52):
a lot of that's done on the phone or via text or, or
email or what have you.
So, so that's pretty normal andpretty natural.
Um, and again, the bank, I thinkthat's probably changing is, you
know, the face to face and thebranch activity.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
[inaudible] Rob, this next question, sir, are you a,
how is Granberg experiencing anycapacity issues?
And by that I mean, um, any, anyissues do you do, let's say
increased orders from parts ofthe country that are still
somewhat business as usual or uh, even decreased orders,
different parts of the country,placing orders that you would
normally expect and supplies?
Uh, things like driver shortagesor just your shipping that
(15:27):
shortages or raw materialshortages, things like that.
And if so, how are you resolvingthem?
Speaker 4 (15:33):
We don't really have any Oh, shortages of anything
right now.
Think back a year ago.
Oh, okay.
Almost every company in ourindustry couldn't get enough of
something and usually it wasskilled labor and my wooden,
we'd like to have those problemsand we'll get those problems
back someday.
Uh, the, the only product thatwe're not able to source at the
(15:54):
volumes that we would like areour masks.
And um, you know, that's, that'snatural because the healthcare
industry is, uh, very much inneed of, of the mass that are
available.
So we're sourcing maps where wecan, but we're not going to get
into an auction, a minute formatbecause we would end up bidding
against the healthcare industryand we simply refused, uh, to do
(16:17):
that.
That's where they're needed most.
Um, otherwise we're in reallygood shape in terms of, uh, R R
product supply, the availabilityof skilled labor and so forth.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Thanks, Rob.
Quick follow up question beforewe go onto our next question for
you.
Um, you mentioned that theindustry is a whole year ago, we
were scrambling for, for mostraw materials and it's, you
know, we look back and thedemand at that point probably
was the primary driver alongsome, uh, some, some other
economic issues.
Do you think that the fact thatthere isn't as much of a
(16:51):
scramble now when a month or twoago we were projecting material
shortages on the manufacturingside, is that due to a decrease
in demand, do you think?
Just, just,
Speaker 4 (17:02):
yeah,
Speaker 2 (17:02):
out there?
Speaker 4 (17:04):
Well, there's, there's absolutely a decrease in
demand.
And, uh, you know, I think weall started to feel it about a
month ago and, uh, you know, the, uh, the demand differences
Andy referenced, there arecertainly some regional
differences in terms of thedemand dropped, but there's no
doubt demands is down everywhereand no matter where you live,
(17:27):
uh, people are aware of thevirus and are concerned about
it.
And so, um, and you know, thathas some natural impact on, uh,
demand right now and demandgoing forward because, uh, the
path of this virus, the pathtowards some resolution, the
path towards a new normal isjust not well understood.
(17:48):
Anybody who thinks they knowwhat that path looks like, uh,
it's really not telling you thetruth.
It's just not absolutely clear.
And I personally have an awfullot of respect for the governors
out there because they're, uh,having to make that a balanced
choice between lives andlivelihoods.
(18:08):
And, um, those are, those aretough choices.
So I have a lot of respect forthe decisions they're making and
every decision they make hassome impact on demand.
And it's really our role torespond to that.
Uh, rather than to complainabout it.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Hmm.
All right.
Our next questions for you, Rob.
What protocols?
Grep again, grabbers got anumber of locations throughout
the country, a regionalpersonnel.
What protocols have youinstituted to protect your
employees?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
We've had a number of policies in place for, uh, about
a month.
It's a fight.
Look back at the dates.
It's probably closer to fiveweeks.
So, you know, regularhand-washing, um, uh, you know,
a sanitary products, you know,hand sanitizer and wipes
available, covering costs,social distancing.
(18:57):
Uh, all of our 24 facilitieshave'em thermometers now.
Uh, no touch the monitors, we'retaking everybody's temperature
when they arrive.
Uh, first thing in the morning.
And if you've got a temperatureover a certain level, we send
you home.
Just one more way we can keepour employee safety is priority
(19:19):
one.
And, uh, we were also keepingall visitors out of our
facilities and uh, you know, wenormally would certainly be
happy to have visitors, but wewant to make sure that the only
people that walk into a grabberfacility right now are those
grab employees.
And, uh, they know our policiesand procedures and they're
(19:42):
following them.
We've got a number of peopleworking from home because they
can and we're certainly keepingthem off the road and you know,
there's no airplane travel, nohotel stays.
And uh, we're just, uh, doingeverything we can to keep our
team intact and keep ouremployees safe.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Thanks Rob.
Kyle, back to you.
Yeah, yeah.
Jerry.
Andy.
Um, man, it, Jerry, it sounds tome like at least based on the
way you, you shared thingsearlier that there hasn't been
really a, a large interruption,but it does sound like forL and
w i n what you're experiencing,Andy, i t's, it's very
regionalized and pocketed.
So when we look at job sites,having to stagger, start times
(20:29):
for different t rades, u m, to,to help, you know, manage things
around social distancing andsome of the different
requirements, how is thataffecting delivery schedules?
Or is it really not having animpact on it at all?
Because demand is n ow,
Speaker 4 (20:43):
I'll go first.
I think for us, um,
Speaker 5 (20:48):
delivery is always have been coordinated.
So if a buck oysters involved,we scan that's already
prescheduled, at least the babyhair, uh, before, if a multi
stories, most of them only leaveyou one window per floor and the
, uh, hotels that we have going.
So that's always thecoordination to superin with the
(21:09):
superintendent.
We know ahead of time, uh, wherethe access is and how we will,
uh, Oh, we will get it there.
Um, so it really hasn't changedfor us.
Um, in most instance instances
Speaker 6 (21:27):
maybe.
What about you and LNW and someof your, your markets there are
more interrupted.
Speaker 5 (21:34):
Yeah, I, I certainly, we've, we've had to, um, okay.
Prepare for things.
Uh, and maybe, maybe somedifferent things like, like
greater restrictions on jobsites.
You alluded to staggered starttimes.
There's some jobs where we'reseeing, um, a limitation on the
number of trades and we'reconsidered a trade, so, Mmm.
But to Jerry's point, you know,uh, we schedule and we plan with
(21:57):
our customers every day.
You know, we're scheduling, youknow, where they need the
material, when they need it.
And, uh, those things aredynamic in a normal cycle.
So I think that w we're used tothat.
Again, it's a different reasonwhy things are changing and the
magnitude and, and kind ofrestrictions are, are, um, in
some cases, okay.
(22:18):
More than we're used to, but,but we're managing it.
And I think, um, certainly itprobably helps that in those
places where the restrictionsare the greatest.
Mmm.
You know, businesses, um, youknow, there's, there's probably
less, uh, you know, going on,um, you know, there, there may
be more likely, uh, another jobshutdown so we can be a little
more coordinated.
(22:38):
But, um, but the reality iswe're used to this every day.
And so I think that we'recomfortable managing it are our
branch managers and supervisorsare our experienced that handled
it, handling this, working withour customers, and we know how
to do that with them reallywell.
Speaker 6 (22:53):
So it sounds like for the most part, the, the
procedures and policies in anoperating business for you and,
and, and Jerry, at least the waythat you've set up things, the
impact has been minimal based onadditional regulations because
you're already really good athandling curve balls.
On a, on a daily basis.
Does that sound a fair summaryof what's going on for both of
(23:14):
you?
Speaker 5 (23:16):
For me, yes.
That's the case.
The only procedures that we'vechanged our face masks on all
our commercial jobs, uh, jobdeliveries, that's, that's
mandatory.
Uh, the residential, we, we givethem a little bit more leeway
cause most of the time there'sonly, uh, one or two people in
(23:36):
that, uh, a house delivery andI'm talking new residential net,
uh, not remodel.
Um, and they're not requiredthere.
But that's really the onlyprocedural change we've had.
Yeah.
I would say for us, you know,there's less, there's no, no
real formal procedural changewhen it comes to yeah, the bulk
(23:58):
of the job sites.
It's, you know, we'd have toreact to the demands of the job
site and we're reacting todifferent demands of the job
site and, and, um, and so we'readapting to that for us.
Um, at the branch, as Imentioned earlier, you know, we
for temporary for now, like Robmentioned, I'm on the grabber
side, they're doing, you know,we're, we're closing our
showrooms to only our employeesso folks can pick up material at
(24:20):
our branches.
They just can't come in our showroom.
And so probably the[inaudible]the impact we've had is on, on
that pickup business.
You know, folks like to come inand talk to us at the counter as
I mentioned earlier.
And um, you know, we have goodrelationship with them.
We're just having to do that ina, you know, outside the branch
loading their truck or the aretheir equipment, their material
on their, on their equipment,um, without that face to face
(24:44):
interaction.
But that's, and that's thegreatest impact we're having.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Thanks for that.
Rob.
Next question for you here.
Like you mentioned just a minuteago that it doesn't appear that
a lot of the supply chain hasbeen disrupted other than masks.
Most materials are availableand, and you have what you need
in order to complete a project.
Are you seeing that that'svaried state to state or is that
Countrywide?
It's still wide open.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
Oh, we're not really seeing any supply issues.
Oh, state the state or, orregion to region.
Um, know we haven't had any, uh,Oh, manufacturing facility
shutdown.
And so, uh, we really have nosupply issues other than, uh,
the math.
(25:30):
Obviously we're, you know, keeptrack of this really closely on
a regular basis.
Um, but we don't anticipate anyissues right now.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Thanks Rob.
Jerry and Andy, a move on hereto youth.
The next question, generallyspeaking, have you encountered
any disruptions in products,supplies from manufacturers, and
if so, how have you workedthrough them?
Jerry, we'll start with you.
Speaker 5 (25:58):
Well, for us, uh, we have increased our inventory
significantly.
Um, last week, uh, we receivedinformation that USG was
shuttering, uh, uh, a few plants, um, for deep cleaning and, uh,
that got us concerned.
So we increased our inventory,uh, more.
(26:21):
Uh, we built a new warehouse,uh, two years ago and I mean,
that's kind of the new normalanymore when, when you have
price increases, announced a30%, you're on January 3rd.
Um, you, you, you do buy a heada little bit more.
Um, but it's the been normal andhaving lived through allocations
(26:41):
in the past years, um, uh, we,we keep a bigger, uh, supply, a
larger supply of installation, alarger supply of drywall and
acoustical here,
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Andy that was on w
Speaker 5 (27:00):
um, you know, I just started a, uh,[inaudible] come
to the forefront more and morein February and March.
We took a proactive approach tomake sure we had a product on
hand.
Like Jerry said.
Uh, we wanted to be, you know,proactive that material in case
there was an issue.
We haven't really seen it.
You know, there have beenchallenges as I mentioned, we
(27:22):
cover the country.
So as, as a governor has put ina, uh, shelter in place order
and restricted business toessential work only.
And there was some early, I callit a confusion as the what
classified as essential work.
And manufacturers might've hadto push to get approval.
Um, you know, there were sometemporary delays.
(27:44):
Uh, thankfully they weretemporary.
Are our partners talk to usregularly?
We, we, we always have goodcommunication.
And I would say we've heightenedthat communication at this time.
And, um, they've been reallygreat about letting us know the
specific specifics of theirsituations and how they're
working through them, theprogress of them.
And it's allowed us to be, youknow, proactive and handling
(28:06):
that and haven't had anyproblems, uh, when it comes to
the market.
So there may have been a a daywhere they had to stop operating
to get clarity and they got itand they were back up and
running and supplying us.
And in the meantime, thatinventory we had helped us.
But that's really most of whatwe've seen.
And, um, and, and thankfully forall of us, you know, I think as
(28:28):
it's come through most of thework, certainly the work we do
on the distribution level hasbeen deemed[inaudible]
essential.
Um, a lot of our customers' workhas been deemed essential and in
of Ottoman and water markets.
And then our partners on themanufacturing side have gotten
that, uh, as well.
So we've, we've continued tooperate[inaudible].
We're taking the approach ofmaking sure we have what we need
and I'm taking care of ourcustomers cause that's a big
(28:50):
priority for us.
Um, you know, along with thesafety of our people and, and
make sure we get through this
Speaker 2 (28:58):
and for both Jerry and Andy, I have a followup
question but I'm going to rewordit a little bit just because of
both of your answers.
In terms of talking about kindof stockpiling product early on
a few months ago when having theforesight to see that this could
potentially be an issue, do youthink that at some point there's
going to be a cost impact ofhaving that surplus of material
since we talk about demand isstill there but it hasn't, the
(29:21):
supply is keeping pace with itright now.
Is there a potential, um, andthen this is generally speaking,
no trade secrets or anythingthat, any costs impact that
might've come about when demandpicks up again is going to be
mitigated by the fact thatyou've got that supply on hand?
Or is there going to be asituation where there may be an
oversupply at some point downthe road?
Speaker 5 (29:41):
I don't foresee an oversupply.
Um, uh, right now, uh, all thedrywall is, uh, you know, a
phone call is, is going to getyou a truck.
The availability of bothdrywall, full steel and, and
insulation and acousticalmaterial, that's that right now
(30:01):
I'm, they're 100% full of goals,so we haven't seen that a
discontinuation of, of aoperation for any of them, but
tomorrow could be an entirelydifferent thing.
And I think that's life hastaught both Andy and myself that
, uh, um, to, uh, be preparedfor that I, nobody has announced
(30:23):
pricing increases, um, that I'maware of, uh, in the near
future.
And if they are, I would, Iwould think a lot of them would
be rescinded.
Um, historically speaking, Iguess.
So, um, coming out of, uh, outof this, I, I think, I know
material will be available and,uh, in the short term, uh, and
(30:47):
I'm not sure what the long termbrings for us.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I think, um, you know,I'm not going to speculate on
anything, you know,[inaudible]input costs, I suppose.
But for us, certainly carryinginventory has a cost.
Um, we do that to service ourcustomers and we do it every
day.
You know, certainly, uh, w wemay scale it up or, or got back
(31:10):
down as we feel appropriate.
Mmm.
You know, we'll, we'll makedecisions regularly to do things
that we could do lessexpensively yeah.
To service our customers and,and, uh, and that's really okay.
Some of what we're having tojuggle now, Mmm.
As, Mmm.
No, we have[inaudible] differentjob sites, situations and
different branch and staterestrictions.
(31:32):
You know, we may need to, as anationwide distributor service
from a branch that's less idealfrom a cost perspective because
there's a little further away.
But we do that, uh, to servicethe customer.
And so we'll make thosedecisions.
That's[inaudible] part of thevalue we bring our customers,
frankly.
And so, Mmm.
You know, we, you know, we've,we manage the costs in our
(31:52):
business and, you know, yeah.
Um, we try to keep them as lowas we absolutely possibly can.
But, uh, you know, certainly we,there are times where we have to
take some incremental costs todo right by her, by our
customers.
Speaker 6 (32:06):
Thanks guys.
Kyle, back to you.
But this is where it gets funfor me cause we're talking about
stuff that they, that reallygets me excited.
Um, you know, Jerry, Andy, youguys have commented on the shift
that you've done in person, inthe fields, in your, in your,
you know, your houses or your,um, your showrooms versus your
floors in person ordering a lotof shifts.
(32:29):
But really when we see thingslike COBIT 19 and viruses like
this hit, it forces people towork from home or speed up their
digital transformation.
What changes, uh, Andy, whatchanges have you guys had to
make specifically the yard levelto keep up
Speaker 5 (32:48):
for us?
Um, well we've, we've, we've hadto, again, as I alluded to
earlier, I mentioned earlier,we've had to deal with the fact
that folks can't come into ourshowroom.
Um, but we, again, we were usedto that.
Uh, the large majority of ourbusiness doesn't come in through
the showroom every day.
So yeah.
Mmm.
We have a process and aprocedure to handle that.
(33:08):
Uh, we can, we can manageinvoicing our customers and all
that because many of ourcustomers use[inaudible] all
sorts of digital means that fromthe[inaudible] most
sophisticated to the leastsophisticated, uh, you know,
[inaudible] we serve as them theway they want to be serviced,
whether that's a phone call or afax machine, uh, or, uh, a text,
uh, an email.
Right.
So, so we're, we're ready to dothat.
(33:30):
Mmm.
The shift has been, you know,we've had, we've had, again, to
move away from the face to faceat the counter transaction, but
otherwise, um, we're ready.
We're ready to serve ascustomers.
Um, as we normally do.
[inaudible] you know, I, I thinkthat it hasn't, with that, with
that one exception, it hasn'tchanged things dramatically for
(33:51):
us.
We haven't, you know, are a lotof our customers.
Um, our, you know, the, not the,not the folks on job sites but
maybe estimated hours or, oroffice personnel are having to
work from home and a, and a lotof our, Mmm.
Uh, you know, our office staff,I'm not at the branch but, but
um, and our national sportscenter, I have had to make
(34:15):
different arrangements to, asRob mentioned, we're not
traveling where we're notgetting out to places we would
normally get to and we're doinga little more virtually to
communicate across our networkwith, uh, things like zoom
meetings and uh, and othertechnology to stay connected
internally.
Yeah.
But as it pertains to ourcustomers, it's not been a huge
shift in how we interact withcustomers.
Speaker 6 (34:38):
There hasn't been a Barisan been a disruption in the
ability to order because youdon't have people in the
physical locations to enterorders as they come in through
like a mainframe network youhaven't had to work through.
Is it in the cloud or a localintranet?
The systems were already there.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
Yeah.
For us, they were already therein place.
Again, we handle a lot ofdifferent types of transactions
today from a lot of differentcustomers.
And so we're ready to[inaudible][inaudible] take care of things,
you know.
Mmm[inaudible] we can handlepeople paying their bills online
and hang them.
Um, other ways too.
And we've got, you know, we've[inaudible] we've made
adjustments if people need to goin to get checks, you know, to a
(35:15):
physical location and they'renot necessarily going into an
office though.
They're going into thatexception to go take care of
those types of things.
And then immediately going backto a safer spot.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Jerry, a little bit different spin on the same
question.
Given that it seems to be workas usual for you in the, uh, the
Sioux city area, if, if thingswere to change dynamically in
the work work from home orderbecame, um, mandated there for
you guys locally, what sort ofimpact would that have on your
(35:46):
day to day operations and whatsort of changes would you guys
need to make in order toaccommodate?
Speaker 5 (35:52):
For us.
I, I don't foresee thathappening.
But if that's the case and, and,uh, construction is not, is
deemed a non obsessional, nonessential, then we would have,
um, big problems, um, that wouldpretty well close the doors and
we'd shut her up for a while.
But getting back to Andy'squestion that he had regarding
(36:15):
digital transformation, uh, lastmonth our sister company,
tri-state drywall began usinglabor chart and as this coal bed
, uh, 19, it became evidencethat the pandemic Jarkko joining
that bandwagon.
So our delivery men now aren'tcoming into the office.
(36:38):
Um, the delivery site is texttexted to them.
Any special request is put inthat text, um, and they can
touch the screen and Google mapswill take them right to the
front door.
And so that's one digitaltransformation that I wanted to
share with you.
Speaker 6 (36:58):
That was going to be my followup question, so thanks
for taking us right through tothat.
Um, so just, uh, just toreiterate, we haven't really
seen an impact in ordering orprocessor ability to deliver for
, um, people being stuck at homefor either of you.
Is that correct?
Speaker 5 (37:18):
For me, our front door's still open in our sales
floors, still open.
Um, normally one or twocustomers is at a time is, is,
is our norm.
So social distancing guidelinesare met.
We've seen an increase in boththe store customers and, and
phone traffic.
(37:39):
I think people just wanting toget out of the house and, um,
they've been pent up too long.
Uh, we also offer a service, uh,the people of hand measuring
houses, um, new houses, so thosedarn drywall hangers don't, uh,
don't gouge that poor guy.
So, or that floor owner.
So we continue that service, um,still going out and, and uh,
(38:02):
writing on the walls is exactlywhat it should take, uh, to hang
that house.
Well, we haven't you thefollowup Jerry's comment, we
really just haven't seen a wholelot difference.
We, we were, Mmm.
We have a lot of capabilities inthe digital area before that
we're utilizing, but okay.
(38:23):
Again, we're adapting andworking with whatever technology
our customers are used to and,and, and a lot of the way we do
business was set up well tohandle this.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
Mmm.
So we're, we're in a good spotthere.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Great.
Chris.
Thanks Kyle.
I'm going to go old school alittle bit with a question we've
got from one of our audiencemembers.
Uh, how much, and this is forall three of you, how much
impact is social distancinghaving a meeting, managing the
six foot rule?
How much does it having on youremployees?
Uh, both have the yards.
Uh, and in the office itself, ifyou guys still have office open,
Speaker 5 (39:05):
this is Jerry and I'll take that first.
I think that it has had verylittle impact, but it is a
concern for every, every, all ofour employees.
They're way more aware of thesituation they're in and, and,
uh, and what's gonna keep themsafe and not, so we just
(39:26):
automatically, I think thatsocial distincts Vince
distancing has happened for us.
Speaker 4 (39:34):
[inaudible]
Speaker 2 (39:35):
Danny and Rob.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
Yeah, I'll go next.
I think it's had an impact forsure.
There's a lot of our day to dayand normal day to day that
happens within six feet.
Um, or maybe maybe thathistorically we just wouldn't
have thought about.
Mmm.
So, as Jerry mentioned, ourpeople are far more aware.
I would say we haven't had theyou well police are people.
(39:59):
We're not, we don't take thatapproach.
Mmm.
They've been pretty good about,um, managing their own, um,
space.
I think a lot of people are veryconcerned about this.
And so, uh, so we've, you know,and, and we've, we've helped
them adapt.
As I mentioned, we've closed ourshowrooms temporarily, which
give them a little bit easier,um, situation to manage.
(40:21):
And then we've, we've createdthe right space and in our
environment, uh, so people canfollow those guidelines.
I would say that there are twoanswers.
The first is that ourfacilities, and, uh, I think the
first week or so, uh, and we'vehad a social social distancing
(40:41):
policies in place for over amonth.
The first week or so wasprobably, uh, you know, why do
we need to do this?
And then people started to seewhat was happening in the news
and they understood and wereappreciative and, uh, adjusted.
So whether that's a new normal,how long we have to be in this
situation, I don't know.
(41:02):
So that's the first part.
The second part is firstSalesforce.
This is hard.
Salespeople are meant to be outand with customers and making
things happen and they can't dothat right now.
So, you know, they, they dophone calls and emails and we're
doing a lot of training of oursales force cause we've got an
opportunity to, uh, talk aboutproducts and product skills and
(41:24):
so forth.
It's hard.
Salespeople are built to be outand they can't do that right
now.
So that's probably the biggestcomplexity we have.
And social distancing.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Yeah.
I was going to ask Robin this,is this the end of the
handshake?
Speaker 4 (41:41):
Well, uh, you know, for awhile, I mean, you know,
humans are built for'em, uh, youknow, to connect with each other
and um, be, be close and uh,shake hands and give hugs.
And so, you know, that's, uh,that's human nature.
So I, you know, I hope we, uh,aren't in this phase
(42:03):
permanently.
I don't think we are.
But, um, uh, you know,handshakes are the normal
everywhere on the globe.
So maybe we'll have a newtradition.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
And Rob, we'll stick with you here.
This next question.
How are you working with youremployees to help them in
handling and dealing with coven?
19 pandemic?
Speaker 4 (42:22):
Yeah, a lot of uh, clear, uh, concise
communications.
Um, you know, no requirements,things that just aren't
electives, again, designed tokeep our people healthy.
And so we post a lot of thingsinside the branches in addition
to emails and everybody's got amanager.
So we make sure that we get allthat one-on-one conversation and
(42:46):
I think that's the, the nextthing, just being available to
talk and answer questions.
You know, there's some rationalfear out there.
And so, uh, just being able totalk and walk people through
situations, the next thing I sayis just, uh, double check to
make sure that your message isproperly understood.
(43:07):
Turbulent times can cause amisinterpretation that you don't
intend.
And so, you know, you dosomething with great intention,
but it's understood a differentway.
Sometimes you've got to clarifyit, make sure that it's handled
and understood properly.
And of course, you know, every,I probably said this four times,
it just staying focused on thepriorities, making decisions
(43:30):
within those priorities, thatlevel of calm and, and
consistent and stable ouremployees.
Uh, so far I've reacted reallymost of that.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
And my next question, Rob, uh, specifically for you
clients, but we're assuming theloose potentially the
significant amounts of revenuein the short term here with the
spans AMEC and that'llinevitably impact their projects
for later this year, early nextyear.
Is the assumption, what are yourthoughts about this potentially
becoming a sustained economicdecline?
(44:04):
And on the flip side of that,how will you prepare?
How will grab them prepare forthe eventual rebound that we
know is going to come?
Speaker 4 (44:10):
Yeah, they're a big question.
Um, you know, we're, we're inthe first phase of this, uh,
this whole thing right now.
Every company is, every nationis really the first phase of the
world dealing with the lifeconsequences of the virus and
business down right now.
I think we can all, um,recognize that, um, uh, and, and
(44:31):
it's gonna stay down for aperiod of time.
I have no doubt that this isgoing to create a recession.
Oh, I think it's going to bemore like the recession that
followed nine 11 than like thegreat recession.
Uh, maybe somewhere in between.
The fact is nobody knows.
The second phase though I thinkis going to be, uh, upon us
(44:54):
pretty quickly.
And that's, you know, what arethe new realities for
construction regarding PPE, uh,social distancing, which we
talked about sequencing tradeson the job site, um, the
realities of inspectors comingonto job sites and, you know,
does that elongate theconstruction cycle?
And, um, you know, how do theeconomics of getting buildings
(45:19):
built work with, with these newrealities?
So I think that's a phase we'llstart getting into in the next
couple of months.
And there are probably somecontractors that already you're
starting to answer some of thosethings.
And then the third phase is therecessionary impacts to
construction.
We certainly expect a fewquarters of a decreased
(45:41):
opportunity.
And I think the timeline ofwhatever the recession impact
looks like just totally dependson how long it takes to get
control over this virus.
And, uh, none of us know.
And then the fourth phase is,uh, you know, a return to normal
or a new normal.
And we haven't even startedthinking about 20, 21 yet.
We're, we're all eyes on rightnow, this corridor and the
(46:06):
managing the business throughthe end of 2020.
Speaker 6 (46:11):
I think I speak for many of us when I say that it
feels like we're already on2021, but we're just in April,
so of 20, 20.
So thanks Rob.
Kyle, I'll turn it over to you.
Yeah.
And I'll, I'll, uh, I'll closeit out before we get to the Q
and a for the um, uh, from the,from the audience, like we've
just talked about a lot of theshort term realities, the things
(46:32):
that are consequences of, ofwhat we're going through related
to the virus and what our shortterm realities are, you know,
for, for the group.
And we'll start with Andy, doyou have any longterm thoughts
that you'd like to share withus?
Share with the audience?
Speaker 4 (46:47):
Yeah.
So I started with'em, you know,some of the things we learned in
the past and competences, it's abig part of how we're going
through this content that we'regoing to come out and the other
side, and I didn't comment thatwe're going to learn things.
You know, if you look back tothe great recession or prior,
you know, we, we've learned alot and adapted after each, each
(47:09):
one of these a challenging timesand the ideas that we learned.
Um, some of them are short termthings that we may put in a
playbook or Mmm.
And hopefully don't need to useagain, unfortunately.
Maybe we will here.
Um, yeah.
There's also some things that wetake away that, uh, become great
ideas that we should put intopractice every day.
And so we're seeing some of thathappen already.
Speaker 5 (47:31):
Um, you know, things that we're learning in terms of
how we're, uh, operatingefficiencies we're finding in,
in a, in a difficult situation.
So I, aye.
You know, in turn, in additionto optimism that we're going to
get through this and be in abetter spot down the road.
Mmm.
From an economy standpoint, uh,you know, there's optimism that
(47:53):
we're going to, we're going tolearn and grow and, and we're
all going to bring thisexperience to make our
individual businesses betterdown the road.
And, um, that's something that,Mmm.
It gives me excitement andenthusiasm to[inaudible] to
charge through this.
Mmm.
And get to the other side.
Speaker 6 (48:12):
Thanks for sharing that.
Jerry.
What do you think?
Speaker 5 (48:15):
Well, for me on longterm thoughts, I think the
election is going to besignificant.
Uh, uh, and, and how that playsout is going to, um, show the
path that construction is goingto going to take.
I think in the future nearfuture at least.
Uh, the PPP funds have been, uh,some of them have been released
(48:36):
that, but I heard that, uh, theyran out of money.
So those that got their PPPfunds, uh, um, are, are able to
keep their people busy in, inwhere we're at.
And we were hiring to beginwith.
Um, uh, they'll keep us employedin, in the two and a half months
(48:57):
when they're paid back.
I think, uh, um, the banks willhave some of their, uh, loans
retired, uh, that we have onour, on our equipment, which is
going to be good for us.
Um, and uh, probably there'll beused to pay, uh, additional
taxes for, uh, um, for our, uh,you know, our bottom line, I
(49:20):
think the stark stock market andwhere it's at right now.
Um, if it continues to, uh, um,stay where it's at, uh, we're
going to be in good shape forretirement funds and everything.
If it doesn't, uh, if it, uh,continues a decline, uh,
everyone's going to have aproblem.
Housing market just wasannounced that the houses are,
(49:43):
are going down real, real fast.
Uh, the market is drying up forthem and I can see that
happening in the short term.
Uh, commercial's going to stayokay for us, I think, uh, four
year in year and a half.
And, but if this continues,commercial's going to get
(50:05):
affected also.
Um, so plan, plan for the worstand hope for the best.
Speaker 6 (50:13):
Can you say that, Rob, you want to, uh, we want to
close this out with yourthoughts on, you know, what, uh,
what, what should we think aboutlong term?
Speaker 5 (50:20):
Yeah.
Uh, let me first.
Speaker 4 (50:31):
Okay.
The whole thing's happeningalmost full employment, uh,
optimism for the rest of theyear and beyond.
And now we, we get thrown amajor curve ball, major curve
ball.
This is a health induced issue.
W our economy, we'll return to avery healthy state.
(50:53):
It just absolutely will.
It always does.
The Americans are built as thetoughest stuff possible.
And so we'll get back, we've gotto solve this crisis, but we'll
get back and, um, uh, we havebefore and if the journey is not
going to be easy on this onebecause there's just an awful
lot of uncertainty about whathappens next.
(51:14):
But I don't think any of usshould have any doubt in terms
of, Oh, our nation or ourcompany or our skills, uh, as
individuals or our skills, uh,as you know, team members in our
companies.
Um, we're built the top stuff.
We're going to get through this.
And I think it's reallyimportant as whatever we're
(51:36):
doing right now, managing,leading our families through
this, leading our companiesthrough this just every once in
a while to imagine yourself fiveyears from now and just reflect
back on what you were able to doto get your family, your
company, your coworkers throughthis.
And just, just having that typeof five-year perspective I think
(52:01):
just helps create, um, a littlebit of calmness, a little bit of
confidence, a little bit ofstability to, to drive us
through this thing.
So, uh, I'm, uh, I'm veryoptimistic, uh, and longterm,
very bullish and, uh, I'm, uh,keep it as healthy a perspective
as I can and sharing that witheverybody that I can.
(52:24):
And I'm pleased to share it withthis group today.
Thank you
Speaker 2 (52:29):
gentlemen.
Thank you.
And we have a few questions herefrom our audience members.
I want to get to a quickly andI'll start with a what's easily
the hardest question to ask.
Um, and, and those that aresubmitted, and I'll, I'll frame
this from a general perspective.
Do you foresee any layoffsmoving forward?
Not from a company standpoint,but from an industry standpoint
or what are your views on that?
Speaker 5 (52:52):
This is Jerry.
I'll go first.
Um, I think for us it's going todepend on what the housing
market does.
If a, this is a short termbecause a lot of, a lot of our
residential drives sooner orlater drives our commercial.
So in the, in the, uh, I do notforesee a layoff right now,
(53:12):
layoffs right now, but thatpotential is really out there
for us.
And I think the, the PPP funds,um, have pretty well insured, at
least our company that therewon't be any layoffs for the
next and a half months.
So.
Gotcha.
I guess I'll, I guess I'll gonext.
Speaker 2 (53:33):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (53:34):
Speaking maybe broadly.
I think, you know, I think a lotof folks in our industry
Speaker 2 (53:39):
[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (53:39):
always looking two manage supply and demand and,
um, and so I think a lot of it'sgoing to come down to what
happens to the economy and, uh,and how that reacts.
So, uh, you know, and I don'twant, I don't think anybody
desires that outcome.
Uh, but, uh, w we need to, whenyou made the right, make the
(54:01):
right business decisions and, um, and so know I think[inaudible]
everyone in the industry will,we'll take a look at that, uh,
their own way and, and approachit.
Um, you know, each their ownway.
And certainly, um, you know,[inaudible] at L a nd w R our
approach is that we're anassociate first company.
And when you run into situationslike, y ou k now, w hen, when
(54:22):
times are good, it's e asy tosay that.
A nd w hen, when times arechallenging are you l ifting?
And so our intent is to, to liveit to the best we can.
This is Rob.
Oh, we're doing everything wecan.
Speaker 2 (54:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (54:41):
To avoid layoffs.
We haven't even had aconversation about layoffs and
so there are a lot of things wecan do between now and having to
even have that conversation.
Um, and so, um, right now we'refocused on those five priorities
and the health of our employeesis, is number one.
(55:02):
No, we're going to keep, we'regoing to keep it that way.
Speaker 2 (55:07):
Thanks guys.
Uh, next question here.
Uh, do any of you foresee yourrespective companies reducing
your footprint?
Uh, for example, number ofbranches at the local level, uh,
in favor of larger, moreregional based distribution
centers moving forward.
Andy, we'll start with you.
Put you on the spot there.
Speaker 5 (55:28):
Yeah.
This feels, this feels maybelike for me, uh, I'll say every
one of our branches remains opentoday.
And, uh, you know, certainly
Speaker 2 (55:37):
[inaudible]
Speaker 5 (55:37):
you know, that may be a, and that, that just shows, I
guess where our mind is at.
Um, you know, we[inaudible], um,we haven't scaled back in and
even the most restrictive States, um, are we, we feel it's
important to be close to ourcustomers.
We deliver heavy things.
[inaudible] delivering them along way is not particularly
efficient, so, Mmm.
(55:57):
Yeah.
That, that's Mmm.
Yup.
That's kind of our approach atthis point.
Speaker 2 (56:05):
Hmm.
Speaker 5 (56:05):
Yeah, for sure.
24.
Go ahead, Jerry.
I'm sorry, Rob.
Nope.
Um, for all drywall supplycompanies, uh, you know, in the
United States there's alwaysbeen, uh, the competition
between the box stores, um, tostay viable, we've had, uh, to,
to,
Speaker 4 (56:26):
uh,
Speaker 5 (56:27):
get smarter and do better things and offer more.
Uh, so we're already have in, Ithink all of us have in place,
uh, a plan to, to stay wherewe're at and, and, uh, um,
continue to flourish.
Speaker 4 (56:47):
Oh, we have 24 facilities in North America and,
um, we don't have any plans tochange that.
Speaker 2 (56:56):
[inaudible].
Next question here.
Uh, how do you expect to dealwith vendors at the yard level?
And Andy, I believe that I'llgear that one towards you.
Speaker 4 (57:08):
Sure.
Uh, I guess, you know, my firstanswer is really not all that
differently.
We certainly made practicesocial distancing, um, manage it
inbound deliveries.
Mmm.
You know, I, I, I think maybeone thought we have to be
careful about, one thing we werehaving to be careful about is,
(57:28):
is anything direct to a job sitebecause of[inaudible], because
things can be dynamic.
So, um, I think we're having towatch that a little bit more
than normal because somethingcould change from yesterday to
today, but overall, Mmm, yeah.
Vendors are coming into our yard.
They always have.
Um, and[inaudible] they're theircompanies and, um, yeah, they're
(57:50):
there.
They're there, they're socialdistancing.
You know, I think Rob alluded toit.
Uh, yeah.
As we've gone through this,people have become just
[inaudible] increasingly awareand, uh, I think that we're
seeing them practice thepractices as they come into our
yard.
Speaker 2 (58:07):
Gentlemen, I've got one last question.
It's a perfect question to wrapthings up.
Any recommendations or requestsof your customers?
In other words, what do you wishpeople would do to make things
better, easier, safer as wenavigate these uncharted waters?
Rob, we'll start with you.
Speaker 4 (58:29):
Well, I'm gonna go back to something I said.
Um, you know, we, we expectthere to be a recession, not a
long one, but a recession thatcomes out of this virus
situation.
And I think that, uh, everycompany needs to look at the
money they spend, notnecessarily the people they have
on their payroll, but the moneythey spend and say, do my
(58:50):
customers value those things?
And they can always thatoverhead, uh, uh, something my
customers are willing to payfor.
And that, that would be my pieceof advice, uh, to customers
other than, again, every once ina while, just step back and
think about that five-yearperspective.
Speaker 2 (59:11):
Thanks, Rob.
Jerry?
Speaker 5 (59:13):
Well, for us, I think , uh, the use of the phone is,
has increased a lot to, to stayin, uh, you know, our, our is
our customers.
So I find myself calling a fewof them, uh, more often than not
because, you know, the days ofbeing able to take them to lunch
, uh, have gone away.
(59:35):
So the phone is, is, is reallyessential now and more so than,
uh, than it has been in thepast.
That that's the belief I have.
Speaker 2 (59:48):
Andy, we'll wrap up with you.
Yeah.
So I think for, for me
Speaker 5 (59:53):
and for us, you know, I think about what I look for
from our suppliers and, and fromour customers.
And I think that a lot of it'sabout communication and
especially in the short term,you know, we want to be talking
about jobs that are going,
Speaker 2 (01:00:06):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (01:00:06):
Things that may be coming,
Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
ah,
Speaker 5 (01:00:08):
things that may be delayed in the near term.
So as, as much as ever,
Speaker 2 (01:00:13):
yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:00:13):
Communication that we have with our customers is
critical.
So, and we need to have it
Speaker 2 (01:00:18):
with[inaudible],
Speaker 5 (01:00:19):
with our suppliers where we're their customer.
And so I think I'm making surethat we're talking openly about
what's happening.
We're taking a very honest andproactive approach.
It's no different than what wealways do.
Speaker 2 (01:00:31):
Mmm.
Speaker 5 (01:00:31):
You know, because frankly, it's, it's just the
best means of doing business totalk truthfully about what we
see and, uh, and then asking ourcustomers do the same so that we
can, we can really be effectiveto manage their business down
the road.
Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
And we're having great
Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
open discussions like, like usual, but in an
unchartered times where wefrankly, I don't think any of us
know the answer.
Um, and so, um, we'll keep doingthat and, and we're appreciative
of of those customers of oursthat, that are just giving us
everything they know and tellingus what they know so that we
can, we can serve their businesswell and Hey, take care of our
people and take care of them andour
Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
and our vendor partners.
Gentlemen, thank you.
On behalf of uh, AWC and myself,uh, again, want to extend my
thanks to Andy, Jerry Robin,Kyle for taking out time out of
their schedules today to walk usthrough, uh, this coven 19
pandemic from the supplierdistributor perspective.
I also want to thank you forjoining our attendees for
(01:01:28):
joining us for today's ATV CISconvention in Tex expo
reconstructed webinar.
As a reminder, this program wasrecorded and you'll receive a
link to[inaudible] onlineprogram library following the
conclusion of today's broadcast.
Be on the lookout for our weeklyFriday recap email tomorrow with
details of upcoming conventionin text expo, reconstructed
(01:01:49):
events through may eighteveryone, thanks again a stay
well and stay safe out there.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com