Composite Panel Association Meeting Marked With Optimism, High Attendance

by | Jun 5, 2015 | News

Business is improving, albeit slowly, for the composite panel industry. The news set the tone for the Composite Panel Association’s spring annual meeting, which saw its highest attendance since 2007. More than 280 people, representing 118 woodworking firms and related organizations, converged on Bonita Springs, Florida, May 31-June 3 for the event.

Dr. Bill Conerly, Conerly Consulting LLC, kicked off Monday’s session, providing an economic outlook for building materials, including a look at new opportunities and risk factors. Although the early outlook is positive for 2015 and 2016, he cautioned companies to take a “flexible stance” when planning for a changing economic landscape. In a nutshell, he said, the most likely economic scenario will be: “better markets for composite panels, stronger growth in the rest of 2015 and for 2016, higher interest rates, and oil prices around $60 to $70.”

To ensure they stayed successful, John Spence of John Spence LLC provided wood industry executives with a winning formula: (T+C+ECF) x DE = Success. The elements in the equation represent Talent + Culture + Extreme Customer Focus, multiplied by a Disciplined Execution. Culture, he explained, should not only reflect what corporate wants, but employees’ needs as well. Spence cited a recent study which found employees are most satisfied in their jobs when the following terms are met: parity in pay, challenging work, cool colleagues, a winning culture/fun workplace, the opportunity for personal and professional growth, and a boss or leader that can admire.

“One of my favorite sayings is ‘Ambiguity breeds mediocrity,'” Spence added. To avoid that pitfall and create a good corporate culture, there needs to be: goal setting, trust, communication (open, honest, robust and transparent), accountability (personal and mutual) and recognition. “The customer’s experience will never exceed the employee’s experience,” he added. “Create a culture that catches people doing things right.”

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/composite-panel-group-meeting-kicks-optimism-high-attendance?ss=news,woodworking_industry_news

Composite Panel Association Names Morrill Its New President

by | Mar 30, 2015 | News

The Composite Panel Association has hired Jackson Morrill as its new president, effective April 13. Morrill replaces Tom Julia, who left the CPA last August.

Morrill has been serving as director for the American Chemistry Council (ACC) since 2010, where he managed the Formaldehyde Panel directing comprehensive state and federal advocacy initiatives, communications, third-party outreach and scientific studies on formaldehyde. He also represented ACC as a member of the Federal Wood Industries Coalition (FWIC), along with CPA and other key industry associations and stakeholders.

“We are pleased to have Jackson on board to lead our association. He brings a solid background of legislative and regulatory advocacy and technical expertise,” said Grady Mulbery, CPA chairman and member of the executive search team. “I was greatly impressed with the caliber of the candidates and I believe we found an extraordinary fit both in terms of experience and personality with Jackson and he will complement the already strong CPA staff.”

“I am honored to join CPA and represent the North American composite panel industry. I look forward to continuing to build upon CPA’s strong industry reputation as a leader in advocacy and to support the membership and its initiatives,” said Morrill.

An adjunct professor at Washington College of Law of American University, Morrill also practiced environmental law at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. and was an environmental legal consultant at The World Bank prior to his work at ACC.

From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/Composite-Panel-Association-Names-Morrill-Its-New-President-297691911.html#sthash.NgwcJmPR.MoVAe6zT.dpbs