Kitchen & Bath Business - January 2021 - 35

" The vigorous housing market
spurred by the pandemic is a
harbinger of aggressive business
for our industry. "
BILL DARCY, NKBA
KERRIE KELLY, FASID, CAPS

American Society of Interior
Designers National
Board Chair

MANUEL GUTIERREZ

Consulting Economist for
the NKBA

DOUG KING

President of the National
Association of the
Remodeling Industry (NARI)

form of business as usual via virtual meetings, and,
according to Darcy, many retailers beefed up their
online sales capabilities.
" The vigorous housing market spurred by the
pandemic is a harbinger of aggressive business
for our industry, " he added. " Our third-quarter
NKBA/John Burns " Kitchen & Bath Market
Index " (KBMI) revealed that 57% of design firms
reported that their current project pipeline now
exceeds levels enjoyed during the robust days
prior to the start of the pandemic. This is nearly
double the 32% who said so in the KBMI secondquarter report. "
In terms of material prices, lumber was the big
story in 2020, which Dietz says was a reflection of
the strength of the housing market and the lack
of domestic supply. He adds that those prices are
slowly getting back to the figures in 2018 but that
the housing industry needs more domestic production of lumber. This could improve with a revised softwood lumber agreement with Canada, as
the tariffs the country imposes have been reduced.
" During COVID, specifiers sourced products
domestically and adjusted the scopes of their
projects to accommodate rising material costs
and delays in the supply chain, " said Darcy, citing supply-chain disruption as the number-one
industry challenge as suppliers struggle to fulfill
robust demand across new construction and repair
and remodeling end markets.
According to King, it is the importers who pay
the tariffs, which has a negative effect on the U.S.
consumer. If tariffs in China specifically go up,
importers in the U.S. may look to buy those materials locally or from a different country. He said
areas in which the various tropical storms hit this
year will need to rebuild and are further increasing demand in those areas.
In terms of employment, COVID has forced
companies to adjust to having remote workers,
which Manuel Gutierrez, consulting economist
for the NKBA, says it may be easy for them to
adjust to.
" If they find that it doesn't make a difference
if the worker is in Oregon or India, are we going
to see more jobs moving out of the country? "
he added.

Dietz cites one last COVID story regarding our
industry, and that is the revolving geography of the
housing demand. He says part of this has been an
existing trend, but part of the change is because of
the impacts of the virus itself.
" The areas with the most rapid growth are the
lower-density markets, " he added. " Telecommuting
is a factor,with many of those people who are doing
this now saying that they expect to do so in some
form for the foreseeable future. As the economy reopens and a vaccine is employed all over the world,
some of these obstacles will resolve themselves, but
it is still a challenging environment. "

" As the economy reopens and a
vaccine is employed all over the
world, some of these obstacles will
resolve themselves, but it is still a
challenging environment. "
ROBERT DIETZ, NAHB

AN UPDATE ON THE
SKILLED LABOR SHORTAGE

" Many of our members say they can't keep up
with the volume of jobs coming their way, and a
big reason is the lack of skilled trade professionals
to do the work, " said Darcy. " But we are optimistic
given this unique point in time when our industry
offers real opportunities for those who have been
displaced from the retail and restaurant industries
through the pandemic. People need jobs, and our
industry has them. "
According to Ed Brady, president and CEO
of the Home Builders Institute (HBI), this is an
ongoing challenge, but a lot of recruitment and
training programs have slowed down this year
with the lack of face-to-face meetings. However,
training continues with a modified approach.
" A lot of workers have been displaced - especially in the hospitality industry - which means
more potential for them to enter our industry. "
he added, " But we have to train those people with
a skill, which requires more funding. We need to
seize this opportunity. "
To improve the skilled labor shortage, HBI is
talking to various stakeholders in the industry
and is gaining traction with national suppliers,
and Brady says they all understand it is in our best
interest to invest in this. HBI is also expanding its
corrections program so those individuals can go
through training and receive a credential before
they re-enter the job market.

Kitchen & Bath Business - January 2021

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