The 2017 Lumber and Building Material Expo, sponsored by the Northeast Retail Lumber Association (NRLA) was held February 15-17 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. This year marks NELMA’s 36th consecutive year that NELMA has exhibited at this important regional lumber retailer event. 
Matt Pomeroy, NELMA’s Director of Inspection Services, staffed the “See the Stamp, Trust the Quality” exhibit at the show. The most popular give-aways at this show continues to be the Eastern White Pine Grade Swatch and Pattern Booklet, in addition to NELMA’s Membership Directory + Buyer’s Guide. Matt noted that these items have become well known by the region’s lumber retailers, receiving comments from visitors such as “I absolutely love these things, I show them to my customers all the time”, and “I hope you never stop making these! They are so helpful when trying to describe the grades to a customer.”
“The resources NELMA maintains online, such as our Standard Grading Rules and our Product Locator for sourcing mills and wholesalers received additional high marks in discussions with retailers at the show,” Matt reported. “It’s great to hear feedback from this critical target audience for NELMA’s Outreach Programs, both positive in nature and in addition to construction suggestions for future promotional items.”
