January, 2007

Risks & Rewards

By Rick Schumacher

It wasn’t so long ago that the word “entrepreneur” conjured up images of someone insufficiently disciplined to make it in the real world of business. Even Ted Turner, a wildly successful entrepreneur, explained his son’s career choice this way: “My son is now an ‘entrepreneur.’ That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.” Just as the world of business has changed, so have our ways of describing its evolution. And the stigma attached to entrepreneurship has joined the dot-com bubble in the business graveyard.

Today, entrepreneurship isn’t restricted to under-funded startups. Stacy Perman summed it up best in BusinessWeek: “Being an entrepreneur means making your own opportunities, and there’s no telling where a good idea can lead you.”

Thus it’s with great enthusiasm that LBM Journal salutes the 2007 Entrepreneurs of the Year. As you’ll discover when you read about The Deck Store in the Twin Cities (category: under $10 million), Ward Lumber in Jay, N.Y. (category: $10-$50 million), and Wheeler’s Building Supply in Rome, Ga. (category: more than $50 million), the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and generating success in the lumber/building material industry.

As expected, judging was extremely tough; we evaluated a number of entries from deserving companies. To those who entered and didn’t win the prize, I applaud your energy and drive, and encourage you to keep pushing forward—and don’t forget to enter again for 2008. And to those who didn’t enter, remember: as in your business, you can’t win if you don’t play.  

In addition to honoring these innovative companies, it’s my hope that telling their stories might create a spark that will help you launch your own company toward new opportunities.

With an award honoring entrepreneurs, it was only fitting that an entrepreneurial vendor step up to sponsor the awards. A big thank you to Charles Morando, president/CEO of WoodSmart Solutions, whose BluWood product helped create a new product category: wood treated to repel mold as well as termites. With BluWood as the sponsor of the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year awards, guess what color the winners’ plaques are?

If you think there’s something different about this issue, you’re right. Our New Year’s issue features a new and improved layout—designed to be even easier to read and more pleasing to the eye. The bigger difference is one that is intended to make your job and your life easier. Beginning with the fold-out tab on page 64 is the 2007 LBM Superbook, the first and only buyer’s resource guide of products, vendors, and services for the lumber/building material industry.

The front part of the Superbook includes company and product profiles—purchased by your vendors as another way to share their story with you. The middle section consists of category listings, and the last section is vendor contact information. Additional resources include a calendar of events, listings of industry associations, and a quick index of editorial features that appeared in LBM Journal in 2006.

We created the 2007 LBM Superbook as a resource you can refer to all year. If we did our job well, this issue will be well-worn by the time the 2008 LBM Superbook lands with a thud on your desk in December.