The covidsummit.buildingip.com site and accompanying downloadable PDF contains more than 10 hours of online discussions that took place April 22-24 during the Building Industry Leaders COVID-19 Crisis Summit.
Moderators at the invitation-only event included consultant Ruth Kellick-Grubbs, John Burns of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, Hanley Wood editorial director John McManus, Margaret Whelan of Whelan Advisory, Greg Brooks of the Building Supply Channel, Building Industry Advisors’ Michael Collins, and MiTek’s former president, Maged Diab.
The list of panelists included the chief executives of U.S. LBM, Kodiak Building Partners, Hancock Lumber, Ganahl Lumber, Franklin Building Supply, Alexander Lumber, Central Valley, Brand Vaughan Lumber, Parr Lumber, Millard Lumber, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, CBUSA, Misura Group and LBM Advantage.
Lumbermens Merchandising Corp. CEO John Somerville gave opening remarks on the second day, and Kodiak Chairman Paul Hylbert both gave opening remarks and served on a panel. Other panelists came from the senior ranks of Kuiken Brothers, 84 Lumber, BMC, SRS Distribution and The Farnsworth Group.
The sessions covered:
- Keeping our people safe and our supply chain open
- The near-term sales outlook
- Will our economic and housing recovery be V-, U- or L-shaped?
- Government lifelines and capital structure considerations
- Sales and marketing strategies
- Managing expenses and working capital
- Leadership, culture, and communication during a pandemic
- “Silver Lining” opportunities emerging from the crisis
- Individual and collective action for policy impact
Building Industry Partners, a private equity investment firm, and Webb Analytics, a consultancy, organized the online event.
“For three days, many of LBM’s greatest leaders shared questions, challenges, wisdom and ideas in navigating these unprecedented times,” Matt Ogden, BIP managing partner says. “They explored how to navigate economic uncertainty and take action in all parts of their companies. And they did all this with realism as well as resolve, knowing that great challenge inevitably creates great opportunity–to learn, to adapt, to innovate and to evolve.”
“All building material dealers have had to adjust because of COVID-19, but some not only are adjusting better than others, they are making decisions now that will pay dividends later, once pandemic fears recede and the economy recovers," says Craig Webb. "This Summit was a master class on how to lead and manage for the long term. BIP and Webb Analytics created this website and PDF to help assure that as many people in the industry as possible can benefit from what was said at the event.”