LMC goes live in Philly
Building materials buying group LMC hosted its network of dealers and supplier in person at the 2021 LMC EXPO.
Held Nov. 15 to Nov. 17, this was the first in-person LMC event in nearly two years.
LMC Dealers reconnected in Philadelphia with exhibitors and the LMC team bringing a sense of normalcy that had been missing over the last two years, the Wayne, Pa.-based buying group said. Dealers discussed current industry challenges and gathered market intelligence from insiders to help plan their purchasing strategy for the upcoming year.
“I come to the LMC EXPO because it’s a great opportunity to network with my fellow yards, and also meet the people with LMC that you don’t often get the chance to see face to face and get a little bit of that personal time,” said Jason Pickelsimer, operations manager for Building Solutions in Bend, Ore. “The most beneficial thing for me is actually the networking. People buy from people but at the end of the day LMC is a big family.”
Sessions during the EXPO included the LMC Update from newly appointed president and CEO Paul Ryan, who assumed the role this past July. Ryan gave his first organization-wide recap of LMC’s past year and what to expect for 2022.
LMC EXPO keynote speaker Dr. Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D., president and chief economist of graphsandlaughs.net and former senior economist at the National Association of Home Builders, presented an overview of the housing and economic outlook for 2022.
Attendees also heard about challenges from a supplier’s perspective at the Supplier Forum as key principals from leading suppliers touched upon their own challenges of 2021 and what to anticipate for 2022 from a supplier perspective.
“There was a unique sense of excitement about this event before it even started. The hotel lobbies were buzzing, and you could tell it was going to be a successful show,” said Sean Tighe, LMC senior vice president of purchasing. “The energy once the event began really reflected that and was just further proof that relationships are always best built in-person.”
LMC said its EXPO event serves as a key component for its dealers to gather market intelligence to build their purchasing strategy for the upcoming year. Emphasis has been placed on negotiating and securing contracts and commitments with key LMC Forest Products suppliers for 2022.
The LMC dealer network includes more than 1,400 locations.
