Obstructions and distractions were the key words surrounding this year’s NRLA’s Lumber and Building Material (LBM) Expo, held February 4-6 in Boston at the Hynes Memorial Convention Center. Sandwiched between two major snowstorm weekends and housed next to the parade route for the World Champion New England Patriots on the event’s first day, LBM ’15 got off to an unplanned slow start. However, day two ramped up nicely with a good showing of attendees seeking the latest information from the show’s 122 exhibitors.
NELMA’s 10’x10’ See the Stamp, Trust the Quality exhibit was utilized for this Convention, where the 2015 Membership Directory, the Standard Patterns for Eastern White Pine booklet, the Northeastern Softwood “Map”, and the Eastern White Pine “Grade Swatch” were the popular takeaways with visitors. Visuals on the Association’s new online Grader Academy™ also attracted attention and touted as an excellent educational tool for salesmen to become familiar with lumber grades or refresh their knowledge on specific grade requirements. This was NELMA’s 34th year of exhibiting at NRLA’s annual exposition, one of the show’s oldest exhibitors
“NELMA has a long standing presence at this show and an excellent relationship with the lumber retail industry in the Northeast,” reported Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “We enjoy showcasing our latest reference and lumber product sourcing information to this important customer group on behalf of our manufacturing membership.”