Take a look at the November edition of our monthly newsletter!
OWNER -TO- OWNER www.franklinbuildingsupply.com | 208-514-2200 | 9222 W. Barnes Dr., Boise, ID 83709 NOVEMBER 2021
BOGGED DOWN BY SUPPLY AND DEMAND
We’ve Pulled Together to Overcome Hurdles
Our manufacturing partners have also stepped up to help. Vinyl resin, used for the manufacture of windows, has been in short supply, causing window lead times to extend from 2–3 weeks to 14–16
It’s all about supply and demand. At Franklin Building Supply, we are anxiously waiting for supply to catch up with demand to give us some relief, but, according to a variety of industry sources, including John Burns and Ivy Zelman, there is no end in sight. When the pandemic first started, we began experiencing supply chain issues, and we are still in the thick of it. Originally, many lumber mills and other factories shut down for about a month as the unknown settled in with COVID-19. Once many areas went into lockdown, an interest in home improvement and DIY projects skyrocketed. People looked at their 24-hour surroundings and saw things that they could improve and make more enjoyable. Many who were living in apartments began to seek out single-family homes and thus, the industry took off. It has been the largest push in new housing starts and DIY purchases since the Great Recession. A great time to be in lumber business! Many of us in our industry had hit pause at the start of the lockdown as we navigated what would happen to homebuilding and jobs in our industry. Oriented strand board (OSB) and lumber mills scaled back when the pandemic first hit and reduced their inventories. When building and DIY took off at record pace, supply was behind, and the race was on to catch up. To exacerbate this supply side shortage, South Texas recently underwent a freeze, causing pipes to burst in MDI manufacturing plants. Because MDI is one of the main components in the glue they use to hold OSB together, this added to supply side shortages. These petrochemical plants in South Texas ship their product worldwide, and their production issues have caused shortages in other industries like door manufacturing, MDF, and EWP, leading to allocations in each of these areas for us. Allocation has been tough for many lumber yards across the country, with many of them being only allowed to purchase 60% of the product in 2021 as they did in 2020. This has not been the case for Franklin Building Supply. We have worked hard to support our primary vendors through the years with committed purchasing and collaborative effort to grow business with innovative marketing. Our allocation has been above 100% of 2020 purchases and allowed us to grow our business with our customers. There have been pain points admittedly, but our purchasing teams across the company have work together admirably to fill needs and share product and support.
weeks throughout the industry. Our lead time with our primary window supplier have extended out to this time frame. JeldWen, our secondary supplier with
lead times of 4-6 weeks, stepped up and lowered their costs to help us take care of our builders instead of raising costs. Wow! That tells us that we are a great company to do business with, and that is because of our employee-owners. Steel prices have also shot up due to availability issues, impacting the availability of trusses. And a fire at a fiberglass plant in Mexico has placed another strain on the industry. It seems as if there is just no relief in sight. Transportation of the materials presents another issue for us. Much of our hardware and molding comes from overseas, and there are currently 126 ships waiting in the port of Los Angeles, California, to get unloaded. We are currently short 80,000 long haul drivers, and the cost of unloading these ships is astronomical right now. Needless to say, fixing this issue will not be an overnight solution. What will 2022 bring for us? Business will continue to be strong, and shortages we saw this year will continue into 2022. Our suppliers remain committed to us and are working hard to take care of us. Our ability to collaborate and work together will help us through another year of allocation and shortages. 2022 will be a rinse and repeat of 2021 with lots of building opportunities for our builders and supply side challenges for us to navigate together and overcome. I am grateful for our team and the hard work they put in each and every day. Together, we will overcome and thrive!
– James Dowen Vice President of Purchasing
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November is our chance to join hands as a large group of people and make a difference in our communities. With more than 700 employees, we can have an impact. You’ve heard of Toys for Tots , right? Here are some amazing facts about this wonderful charity: • They were founded and operated by the United States Marines in 1947. • 97% of all donations go to providing toys, books, and other gifts to less-fortunate children. HEY TURKEYS, MAKE A DIFFERENCE
OPEN ENROLLMENT November 15–19, 2021
• Not one dollar is spent on salaries or other manpower costs.
Throughout the month of November, we will be collecting toys from our employees to donate as a group to Toys for Tots . Please join us! The toys must be new and unwrapped. If you have questions, please talk to your EO Committee member or send an email to EO@FranklinBuildingSupply.com. To celebrate the generosity of our group in supporting Toys for Tots , we are giving every employee a turkey! Turkeys are scheduled to be delivered to your location on Thursday, Nov. 18. Be ready to take it home and pop it in the freezer or fridge until you are ready to cook! If you don’t like or don't eat turkey, consider giving your bird to a deserving family or friend in your area.
It’s that time of year again: our one-week Open Enrollment (OE) window to customize your family’s benefit package for 2022!
We will be sending out the FBS Benefit Guide 2022 soon to inform your decisions. In the meantime, now is a great opportunity to review and assess your current OE benefits in Kronos:
• Medical — Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Pharmacy — SmithRx (coverage automatically included with medical)
• Dental — Delta or Willamette
• Vision — EyeMed
• Life, STD, LTD — United Heritage
• FSA — National Benefit Services
Insurance decisions can be complicated.
Contact us with your questions at: HR@FranklinBuildingSupply.com.
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‘WOW’ IS THE GREATEST GIFT
from a local bike shop from which I’ve bought bikes in the past. They told me that the bike I wanted was on order, and they didn’t know when it would get here, but they encouraged me to put down a deposit and place the order. It’s been six months, and I’ve heard nothing — not a call, not a peep. When I finally called to check in, they said maybe it would get here by February. Maybe. I get that they can’t control the supply chain, and I believe that they truly don’t know what to promise, but I’m unimpressed with their view of me as a customer. No effort at all on their part to keep me from drawing whatever bad assumptions my mind will conjure. This is the world we live in. It is so easy to set ourselves apart right now. A bike shop that devoted itself to educating its customers about what is going on in the supply chain and, in the process, showed it cared about its customers would have an instant advantage over the other bike shops. The same is true in building supplies. Our salesmen have been on this hunt all year. We’ve been setting ourselves apart by focusing on early and honest communication. There is nothing fun about telling customers what we can’t do, but it’s much worse if we don’t tell them. It is not only our salesmen that have this opportunity. In every corner of the company, we can exceed expectations and make a customer happy they chose us. Getting a WOW from a customer is the best gift an employee-owner can receive.
It is an amazing time to be in business. We have never had a better chance to set ourselves apart, and we never will. Look around, and you see businesses everywhere struggling to provide what they used to routinely do every day. People hoarded toilet paper and cleaning supplies early in the pandemic. Things like ketchup, flour, and bicycles have been difficult to find from time to time. Now, a seemingly random collection of normal products can be scarce, and there are rumors of coming shortages of Christmas presents. We tend to believe these rumors because we also feel labor shortages in our daily lives. Businesses all around us have altered hours or shortened hours of operation. That can be very inconvenient. Very close to home, we know that supply chain problems in our industry have caused incredible upset. If we can feel it this close, and we can feel it daily, it invades our mood. What an opening this is! It’s as if the entire world is expecting to be disappointed. If we can alter that expectation even a little bit, we can create a WOW moment. We can create the sticky sort of customer relationship that will serve us well for years in the future.
The secret is that most businesses don’t think this way. Let me give you an example. I went to purchase a bike
DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS
DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES
LOCATION - EMPLOYEE - YEARS
Scott Ranstrom Rick Swank Stan Buscher Robert Henry Andrew Johnson Makenna Cooper Bart Hutcheson Wayne Luker Jakob Jacaway Mike Taylor Shane Harrison Moe Matys Jeff Thomas Mo Martinez Robyn Walker Pete Moore Javan Stansell Vidal Gil Jimmy Granados Juan Rodriguez Darren Calder Kobe Hutchinson Jay Tegethoff Gary Cooper Trevor Parkin Miguel Heredia Caleb Baker Heidi Magdaleno Freddy Real
17 17 18 18 18 20 20 20 22 22 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 30 31 31 31
Jerome McCall
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3
Richard Belmontez Kory Kautz Jerry Cheney Ashly Sisco
Boise Truss Sawtooth Door Jerome Boise Truss Bellevue Boise Boise Truss McCall Boise Supply Jerome Boise Caldwell Boise Supply Jaguar Twin Falls Pocatello Sawtooth Door Boise Supply
Miguel Heredia Donovan Moye Tim Morrell Christopher Morgan
3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 7 8
Chandler Anderson Ian Beane Efrain Rangel Gutierrez Brandyn Williams Heather Hill Osvaldo Rodriguez Dustyn Casady Rick Runyon Victor Elias Manuel Gomez Bryce Luker Brandon Daigle Tyler Krueger Lana Bryan KC Croner Christopher Whillock Willy Cowan Nate Lish Schuess Schuessler Brayden Danner Bob Davies III Eric Grant Austin Rydalch
1 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 8 9
Boise Boise Caldwell Pocatello Jerome Twin Falls Jerome Truss Jaguar Sawtooth Door
Trent Griffith Trevor Parkin Andrew Hawley
Daniel Midby Keigan Helm
Michael Zimmer Matt Farnworth Marcus Hardy Curtis Hansen Mike Taylor Shane Ellis Greg Schofield Kent Jobe Tracy Hansen Rob Chandler Dixie Garrett Justin Brown
Chris Hunt Juan Sanez
Lily Sheridan Judy Dudley Michael White
Fruitland Fruitland Boise Truss Boise Boise Truss Boise Boise Truss
Zachary Downer Adam Harfmann Cole Slagle Danny Montgomery Steve Morgan David Cruz
10 10 10 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 17 17
13 20 22
Spencer Urie Allen Johns Jr. Steve Cloyd Kellen Palmer
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
www.franklinbuildingsupply.com 9222 W. Barnes Dr. Boise, ID 83709
I N S I D E
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Riding Out a Tough Year
Hey, Turkeys Make a Difference Open Enrollment:
November 15–19, 2021 ‘Wow’ Is the Greatest Gift December Birthdays and Anniversaries
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Spotlight on Wendy Arens
SPOTLIGHT ON WENDY ARENS
Setting Franklin Building Supply Apart With Great Employees
is grateful for. She says it feels amazing to enjoy herself at work while also building some solid friendships along the way.
Wendy Arens is a professional in design center sales, flooring, lighting, and hardware. She works in our Pocatello location where we support the building professionals of
Lean, a series of five principles designed to improve the efficiency in the workplace, includes defining value, mapping the value stream, creating flow, using a pull system, and pursuing perfection. Wendy feels that Lean helps her to be organized via prioritizing customers and products to put a smooth and efficient process in place. In her free time outside of work, Wendy enjoys doing absolutely anything with her family. She has a loving husband of 25 years, Jeff, who installs flooring for Franklin Building Supply. Her daughter (Coral), sons (Jaxon and Dahlen), and soon-to-be son-in-law (Jimmy) mean the world to her. Wendy is also proud to be expecting her first grandbaby in the next coming months. As a family, they enjoy camping, razor riding, and vacationing anywhere that’s warm. Wendy, we thank you for making Franklin Building Supply an enjoyable experience for our clients. Your devotion, friendliness, and professionalism sets you apart, and we appreciate you!
Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, and Eastern Idaho. She has been with Franklin Building Supply for four years now and is happy that she made the decision to join our team. “I would have to say my favorite part of my job is my customers and the contractors I assist,” Wendy says. “I love to be able to help them find everything that they need to make their project a success. I provide them with the best knowledge and pricing.” Wendy also shares that her coworkers are another part of her job that she truly
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