Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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Despite being laid off, workers keep on trucking
By: Clare Kennedy
Posted: Friday, November 6, 2009 9:23 pm
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Despite being laid off, workers keep on trucking

A truck loaded with wood frames. Custom Buildign Components was started by workers who had been laid off by Fabricated Wood Products.
By CLARE KENNEDY

ckennedy@owatonna.com



MEDFORD — By now it’s a familiar tale. In December of 2008, Ron Buehler got laid off, along with other employees at Fabricated Wood Products’ manufacturing facility.

But Buehler’s story doesn’t end at the unemployment office. Buehler and a group of co-workers decided to do something different. Together they started Custom Building Components, a company that manufactures wood wall panels used in wood frame construction.

“We had a good core group to work with so we decided to start our own business doing the same thing,” Buehler said. “We thought we still had marketable skills and a good product and there seemed to be a demand.”

Buehler and four others cobbled together some money and bought a building on 21st Avenue in Medford, across from a sand and aggregate mine. After some renovations, the company was ready to roll in June 2009.

The company’s main customers are general contractors, home builders, and developers.  At their plant in Medford, the team builds the rough framing then loads it on their truck and ships it to the site. They can also install the frames.

“We set it in the site with a crane. It’s like a big jigsaw (puzzle) that comes together,” Buehler said.

To add to their offerings, Custom Building also sells building materials like windows and doors.

Their market is a tough one — residential construction has been flat since 2007. Buehler said the company has focused on assisted living facilities and apartments, which were still going up at a good clip until recently.



However a market rally may be a ways off, said Pam Perri-Weaver, executive vice president of Builders Association of Minnesota.

“There are little revivals. So many contractors have gone out of business — there are signs of retraction in the industry indicated by the loss of jobs,” Perri-Weaver said. “They’re still hurting. I don’t see a rush back.”

Commercial construction could fall prey to the same troubles that plague the residential market due to lack of financing, Perri-Weaver said. Buehler said he had seen something similar in assisted living.

“The problem now with future projects out there is that they’re hung up on the financing aspect of it,” Buehler said. “They’re on hold because they can’t get any. Or lenders are requiring more units to be pre-sold and the problems with that it they can pre-sell them but its contingent on whether the owners can sell their previous property. It’s kind of a domino effect.”

Perri-Weaver said federal stimulus funds might prop up multi-family or assisted living projects, though competition for such projects is high.

Perri-Weaver concluded that construction might bounce back once the unemployment rate stabilizes — maybe.

“I think it’s going to remain stagnant for another year,” Perri-Weaver said.

Until then, the crew at Custom Building Components will keep looking for projects wherever they crop up — even if it requires some travel. The company recently completed work in Iowa.

“There are still a few plans out there. We’re still bidding on them,” Buehler said. “It definitely has slowed down out there but we’re still optimistic that we can continue.”

For the time being, the company is renting out a portion of their space to people who need to store vehicles indoors during winter. But when the market does make a comeback they will have room in their building to expand, Buehler said.



Clare Kennedy can be reached at 444-2376.
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Member Opinions:
By: nuthatch on 11/7/09
I didn't know the Southern Mn Intiative Fund was used for private businesses that aren't non profit. Well, you learn something new everyday. Can someone educate me on this?

By: TaxPayer on 11/9/09
nuthatch - I've read this article 4 times & don't see Southern MN Initative Fund mentioned - am I blind?

Congradulations to the folks at CBC they took the intiative to make something happen and did not wait for someone to 'bail them out'. This is the type of thing that will revive this economy, not some government program.

It's American ingenuity and it's the American way!

By: nuthatch on 11/9/09
sorry!! I'm must have gotten up too early and mixed up the stories...my apologies.

By: TaxPayer on 11/10/09
Getting up early will do that to you!!
:)

 
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