Page 23 - BusinessWest June 9, 2021

This building under construction shows how much cold rolled steel Associated Builders uses in a project.
shortages, but we are grateful that has not had a significant impact on our business.”
When COVID first
hit, Sweitzer gave all
his employees a raise
to make sure they were compensated well enough to stay with his company. “We’ve been lucky because we have an extremely good and loyal crew. I’ve found that good labor is worth the investment.”
Looking Ahead
Predictions on
when prices and sup- plies might stabilize is anyone’s guess. Boilard explained that his com- pany determines its lum- ber-buying needs early
trical wire come down before, but he’s more con- cerned about other materials that go into build- ing a house.
“In my years in business, when windows, sid- ing, and roofing shingles increase in price, I’ve never seen them come back down,” he said. “I think increases like that are here to stay.”
Bradbury said he can’t predict what will hap-
“It’s not a fun time because
we have to do a balancing
act of meeting our customers’ needs without having too much inventory on hand.”
pen in his industry, but he hopes to see the sup- ply of steel catch up to demand by the end of this year. “My best guess is supply will get better and lead times will improve before we see prices start to stabilize.”
Sweitzer noted that he has a degree in man- agement, while his two sons have degrees in economics and business administration, so they often discuss what may lie ahead. And their con- versations have been optimistic.
“Markets always find some level of equilib- rium, and I believe that will happen in this mar- ket,” he said. “Market equilibrium may take a temporary vacation, but it has always returned, and I think it will again.” u
new homes only exacerbates an already-tough situation.
One of the thorniest challenges to solving supply shortages, Boilard noted, involves finding truckers to move the goods. “You can’t get drivers to get behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer. There are lots of trucking jobs open right now, but few people to fill them.”
Construction workers were deemed essen- tial during the pandemic, so their time off the job was brief. Bradbury said the short shutdown allowed his company to retain most of its work- ers. “Some of our subcontractors have felt labor
Associated Builders Inc.
in the year, which these days is a real challenge. If a dealer stocks up heavily now only to see prices eventually crash, they are stuck with expensive inventory in a market that no longer supports those higher prices.
“It’s not a fun time because we have to do a balancing act of meeting our customers’ needs without having too much inventory on hand,” he said.
Riley has seen conflicting predictions about lumber prices dropping either at the end of 2021 or sometime in 2022. He’s seen lumber and elec-
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