Episode 1857
Warning Lights: The Economic Impact of West Coast Manufacturing Closures
The latest update reveals a concerning trend of mass manufacturing closures along the West Coast, particularly affecting companies that produce essential home improvement materials. Host Eric G. highlights the impact of these shutdowns, including significant job losses and the potential for a supply crisis in the building industry. With seven major mills closing in Oregon alone, the ripple effects on local economies and the availability of materials are likely to be severe. Additionally, Eric discusses the broader implications for homeowners and builders, stressing that when demand for construction rebounds, the lack of suppliers could lead to increased costs and delays. As the episode unfolds, listeners are encouraged to reflect on how these changes may affect their own home improvement projects and communities.
The podcast episode delves into the alarming trend of manufacturing closures on the West Coast, particularly focusing on the home improvement sector. Host Eric G. highlights the significant economic shifts as numerous companies that produce essential building materials and home products shutter their operations. This trend is not just a localized issue; it has broader implications for the entire industry, including potential delays and cost increases for homeowners and builders alike. Eric discusses the ripple effects of these closures, emphasizing how they could create a shortage of materials when the housing market rebounds, reminiscent of the aftermath of the economic downturn in 2008.
Listeners are provided with a detailed account of the closures occurring in Oregon, including the shutdown of major sawmills and manufacturing plants. Eric cites specific examples of companies that have ceased operations, shedding light on the devastation these closures bring to small communities dependent on these jobs. The discussion also points to regulatory changes and rising costs that have contributed to these business failures, painting a dire picture of the future for home improvement industries. The episode serves as a cautionary tale for homeowners and industry professionals to be aware of these trends and prepare for the implications they may have on their projects in the near future.
Takeaways:
- The podcast highlights significant closures of home improvement brands in the Pacific Northwest.
- There has been a troubling trend of sawmill closures affecting the Oregon economy.
- Manufacturing layoffs are impacting the supply chain for home improvement materials nationwide.
- The host warns about potential shortages in building materials that could drive up costs.
- Fisher-Price recalls over 2 million infant swings due to a suffocation hazard.
- Upcoming Halloween special features a remastered episode on haunted houses from years past.
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Western Cascade Industries
- Malheur Lumber Company
- Wayne Dalton
- Cornerstone Building Brands
- Fisher Price
- Colson
- Anchor
- Olivia
- Rehe Group
- John Deere
- Polaris Industries
To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.
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Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.
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Transcript
It's around the house.
Speaker A:When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know, but we've got you covered.
Speaker A:This is around the house.
Eric G.:Welcome to the around the house show, the next generation of home improvement.
Eric G.:I'm Eric G.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining today.
Eric G.:This is our midweek update.
Eric G.:This is where we talk about the stuff that didn't make it into last week's show and sure not going to make it into this weekend show.
Eric G.:And it's the middle of the week where we do this every single Wednesday.
Eric G.:Thanks for joining me today.
Eric G.:We've got an interesting one because a couple things.
Eric G.:First, if you want to find out more about us, head over to aroundthehouse online.com dot.
Eric G.:I wanted to give I'm seeing some warning lights going on out there with our economy that I wanted to talk about because a lot of stuff's been happening in my area.
Eric G.:And feel free to comment back on this.
Eric G.:I'd like to see if it's happening in your area.
Eric G.:We are seeing so many home improvement brands closing up out here in the Pacific Northwest, a lot of house related stuff.
Eric G.:So I thought I'd talk about it today.
Eric G.:It's something that's not been making big news, but it seems every week it's something pretty big.
Eric G.:So over the last year, we've had a huge problem here in the state of Oregon, where I am closing sawmills.
Eric G.:They are dropping like flies.
Eric G.:So I was looking here and I found out an interesting article on the Oregon mill closures.
Eric G.:And basically this is an interesting discussion.
Eric G.:This is from amforest.org.
Eric G.:dot and lumber mills are shuttering, and the US has become the largest global importer of wood products from Canada, China, and Brazil.
Eric G.:We had one of the biggest dominant wooden timber industries here in the country.
Eric G.:And we've had closures after closures after closures.
Eric G.: ig mills closing in Oregon in: Eric G.:We still got a couple of months left.
Eric G.:There are more coming, and this is a big issue.
Eric G.:So we've had some big issues here in Oregon.
Eric G.:And so we're losing a lot of those mills, and there's a lot of different reasons from it.
Eric G.:Like Western Cascade Industries, they closed a big mill on July 31.
Eric G.: n Toledo, basically a town of: Eric G.:So they lost their big employer there.
Eric G.:We have so many people at the Malheur lumber company that's closing its facility in John day.
Eric G.:Geez, it's crazy.
Eric G.:So it has been an operation for 41 years.
Eric G.:We're 76 full time.
Eric G.:These are really hitting small towns and communities out there.
Eric G.:And so it's really tough.
Eric G.:We're seeing a lot of this now.
Eric G.:They did a couple of things.
Eric G.:One, they changed some rules for logging here in the Portland area and all over Oregon.
Eric G.:So that's been a big issue.
Eric G.:And that has rise, raised the price of logs, and it's really hurt the market here.
Eric G.:And so we've got a lot of things going on.
Eric G.:So we're seeing a lot of empty buildings just in the industry here.
Eric G.:So what were going to do, I think, is were just going to be importing logs out of Brazil, Canada, and of course, China.
Eric G.:And its really, really crazy.
Eric G.:And weve had a lot of issues like forest service, roads not reopening from wildfires, things like that.
Eric G.:But there have been a lot of issues.
Eric G.:The latest, though, are some really big layoffs here for manufacturing and.
Eric G.:What are you talking about?
Eric G.:Weve got a lot of stuff going on here.
Eric G.:We have Wayne Dalton is closing their manufacturing facility for garage doors here that is going to cease operations in January.
Eric G.:And thats a big one right there, just down the road for me, cornerstone building brands, which is the largest manufacturer of exterior building products in North America, is shuttering its location to Alton, right down the street from me.
Eric G.:And so that one is crazy.
Eric G.:Again, were going to be losing a lot of people out of there as well.
Eric G.:So we're losing 76 employees there, and they're stopping making their residential and commercial windows here in Oregon.
Eric G.:So we're seeing a lot of big closures right now.
Eric G.:And I think it's really going to be hitting the economy out there.
Eric G.:And here's what the problem is.
Eric G.:When things turn around and building starts getting back again, we're going to see a really big hole of suppliers here across the country.
Eric G.: o I see what happened back in: Eric G.:That means that when we start rocking and rolling again, we are not going to have the capacity to build like we've had in that past because those material suppliers are not going to be there.
Eric G.:So we're seeing a lot of that stuff closing down.
Eric G.:And just like we're seeing in our area here, a lot of the breweries are closing.
Eric G.:We're losing a lot of beer manufacturing.
Eric G.:There's a lot of different things closing up Portland institution this week.
Eric G.:If youve stayed on the Pacific Northwest at all Sherrys restaurants, which was your cafe diner, they had just one in every town here in Pacific Northwest.
Eric G.:They just closed up.
Eric G.:They have been circling the drain for a while, but were seeing so many places closing up.
Eric G.:It reminds me of some of our big crashes that we had back in the two thousands, and theyre just quietly closing up and nobody is really talking about it.
Eric G.:Be careful out there, guys, especially here on west coast stuff.
Eric G.:When we see east coast companies closing down their west coast plants, that's usually a sign of a retraction.
Eric G.:If they thought in the next year or two that they needed that capacity, they probably wouldn't be closing it down.
Eric G.:So that tells you a lot right now.
Eric G.:When people are really trying to cut back and make the profits look good when they close it, rarely do they open it back up again.
Eric G.:And so maybe these aren't layoffs, these are plant closures, which means I, those materials that are in that facility will get shipped back to their main plants.
Eric G.:And they're all counting on not turning that around in the next couple of years.
Eric G.:So we need to pay attention to that stuff right there.
Eric G.:And that could be a real issue for us here in the building community, for homeowners, for builders and all of those things, because that ends up being very expensive for people.
Eric G.:And I just worry about what's going to happen here with those jobs and others when we start to see this stuff happen.
Eric G.:I'm going to take a look here real quick, guys, and see what we have for recalls out there.
Eric G.:We've had some interesting ones here.
Eric G.:As of late.
Eric G.:There have been a lot of different things rolling on the recall list.
Eric G.:A lot of them were just kind of household stuff that didn't matter.
Eric G.:We've had a lot of things this year from appliances, the things like that.
Eric G.:Right now, the big one is the Fisher price recalls.
Eric G.:More than 2 million snug infants swing due to suffocation hazard after five deaths reported.
Eric G.:That's a big one right there.
Eric G.:We need to make sure that.
Eric G.:So if you've got one of those Fisher price swings, pay attention to that.
Eric G.:If it's a family member or a gift that you gave, take a look at that.
Eric G.:You can find a lot of this information at CPSC Dot Gov, which is the consumer Product Safety Commission.
Eric G.:Really here.
Eric G.:Colson recalls fire pits due to risk of serious burner injury from flame jetting and fire spreading hazards.
Eric G.:There's about 89, about 90,000 of those out there.
Eric G.:And be very careful with those.
Eric G.:Do not resell or donate those anchor power banks.
Eric G.: fire and burn hazards, about: Eric G.:So not a lot of those.
Eric G.:Let's see.
Eric G.:Olivia, cigars recall cigars, slim lighters due to missing child safety feature.
Eric G.:Another one here.
Eric G.:Let's see.
Eric G.:Rehe group is and droid for youth altering vehicles.
Eric G.:ATV's have a recall there.
Eric G.:Not a lot of those.
Eric G.:Here's a big one.
Eric G.:Homeworks worldwide recalls Alan and Roth.
Eric G.:Lighted bathroom mirrors due to injury and laceration hazards.
Eric G.:These are those lighted mirrors that you pick up, Lowe's.
Eric G.:And so that's a big one right there.
Eric G.:And to find more information on this stuff, again, you can go to CPSC, dot gov dot.
Eric G.:There's a lot of information there on it.
Eric G.:Let me see if there's anything else on my list here.
Eric G.:Liberty hardware recalls multi grip tub safety bars.
Eric G.:These are the ones that you really grab ahold of.
Eric G.:You could put in for people to have extra access to their tub.
Eric G.:They're not staying on the tubs, so they should stop immediately using the recalled multi grip safety bar and contact Liberty hardware.
Eric G.:John Deere recalls compact utility tractors due to crash hazard.
Eric G.:The front bell crank on the brake linkage can fail, causing the tractor to lose braking, resulting in a crash hazard.
Eric G.: ,: Eric G.:16,800 in Canada.
Eric G.:That's a big one.
Eric G.: Industries recalls Ranger XD: Eric G.:That's pretty much all that we see right there.
Eric G.:Those are some big ones right there.
Eric G.:We're coming up on Halloween, guys, and we've got a fun one coming up this weekend for the show.
Eric G.:And I'm going to give you a little tease here so you can catch this.
Eric G.:I went back probably seven years.
Eric G.:Six or seven years ago.
Eric G.:We did a Halloween special live on our old flagship station over at KXL.
Eric G.:And I had Clyde Lewis on from ground zero.
Eric G.:He is the world renowned paranormal conspiracy guy over there on ground zero media.
Eric G.:He is the guy that is out there on the same radio network I am, but he is an expert in that.
Eric G.:And we talk haunted houses.
Eric G.:And this was a live call in.
Eric G.:We haven't aired this for a number of years.
Eric G.:I thought I'd bring back for a fun themed episode.
Eric G.:And this one gets crazy.
Eric G.:We're gonna get back to our normal stuff next week, but this I thought, hey, let's do a Halloween episode.
Eric G.:Let's grab that one because that was one that we could never really recreate the same way.
Eric G.:And it was so darn good.
Eric G.:I thought we'd do the wayback machine and share that one out with you.
Eric G.:It is great.
Eric G.:I remastered it, so it's a lot clearer than the original and remixed it up and got it looking good for you guys.
Eric G.:And so that'll be on Saturday show coming up.
Eric G.:We'll tease it on Thursday, Friday like we normally do, but that's going to be a fun one.
Eric G.:And then we got some great guests coming up.
Eric G.:We've got tools.
Eric G.:We got so many more things coming up in the future with a fair amount of interviews, and then we'll get back into some solo stuff with me, of course, that we normally do on around the house.
Eric G.:And make sure you're catching around the, around the house.
Eric G.:Northwest, our television show that we reimagined it, is a new version of it.
Eric G.:If you haven't been catching it, you can watch the segments.
Eric G.:Just head over to aroundthehouse online.com and you can find out more information over there.
Eric G.:We've got a ton going on there, as well as our own YouTube channel.
Eric G.:We've got some fun stuff going on.
Eric G.:All right, everybody, I got to get back to work here.
Eric G.:I got a busy day ahead.
Eric G.:Just wanted to get you updated on recalls and some of these closures out there that are really going to affect people across the country, especially if you're working with some of these companies and they're now supplying the entire us versus just the area you are in.
Eric G.:They're going to be shipping a lot of products across the US to fill those holes of manufacturing where they're closing.
Eric G.:And that can lead to extended lead times and, of course, higher costs because you're having to ship it across the country, especially with our fuel prices.
Eric G.:Have a great rest of the week.
Eric G.:Stay safe out there.
Eric G.:Keep your head up.
Eric G.:Elections are over here in just a couple weeks, so we can get rid of all those political ads that we're all, well, tired of hearing.
Eric G.:Thanks for tuning in around the house.
Eric G.:I'll see you Saturday.
Speaker C:Somewhere unseen and undiscovered anywhere beyond the me love is a love song let's be lovers we're all over the radio take mine out nowhere to go all over the radio with.
