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A few years ago I wrote a piece about the Fastener Hall of Fame. For a few years, they had not inducted anyone and I wrote a blog about that topic.   In response to that post I was notified that the HOF was alive and well and was also informed that there was a physical Fastener Hall of Fame walkway in Columbus, Ohio next to the Columbus Convention Center where the Fastener Show had been held for years.   For the record, he Hall of Fame has inducted new members in both 2014 & 2015.  So, being a student of the fastener industry, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the HOF and see what was there.  In December, 2015  I set aside some time to track down the HOF walkway and took some pictures, some of which are shown below.

While I was visiting the site a construction worker told me that they were doing a lot of work in that area and he was pretty sure they were going to be removing the Fastener Hall of Fame pavers as they expanded the Convention Center.  I called the Columbus Convention Center and, sure enough, they confirmed that the HOF walkway was going to be removed.  I left them my name and asked that they call me to let me know when this would be happening.  I never heard back so I made contact again in January, 2016 and I was told that the bricks had been removed and were sitting in a wooden box on a pallet.  The Fastener Hall of Fame had been removed and they had no idea what to do with the bricks.  I told them that if they did not have anyone to claim them that I would welcome the opportunity to retrieve them.  In mid-January, I was sent an email saying if I wanted to pick them up I could take possession of the bricks.  With the help of a few industry friends, we did just that.

The Hall of Fame pavers are in safe storage until a suitable site can be found for them.  For an audio account of the “Saving of the Hall of Fame” adventure, please visit www.fullythreaded.com and listen to the upcoming Episode #102 to be broadcast on Thursday, February 18.

Here’s a few shots from my visit to the Hall of Fame walkway December, 2015, before I was told they were being removed:

And here is what the same site looked like in January, 2016 when we went to retrieve the bricks:

So, here’s a little walk down memory lane for those of you who were never able to make it to THE Hall of Fame!

Yes, this one was put in upside down.

And, thank you to Fastener Field Trip Team who helped to retrieve the HOF brick pavers that came very close to being discarded:

Again, the Hall of Fame pavers are in safe storage until a suitable site or plan can be found for them.  For an audio account of the “Saving of the Hall of Fame” adventure, please visit www.fullythreaded.com and listen to the upcoming Episode #102 to be broadcast on Thursday, February 18.

We contacted the National Industrial Fastener & Mill Supply show operators to inform them that the Hall of Fame had been removed from its original location and received this response from Karalynn Sprouse of Emerald Expositions:

“We just learned yesterday of this news and we are thrilled he was able to ‘save the bricks’ ….we would like to ask the listeners (of Fully Threaded Radio) to suggest ideas for the bricks.  Emerald is listening and we will continue to find ways to commemorate these innovative people in our industry”

Back in a safe place, the bricks have been sorted and cleaned.

To see a complete list of who is in the fastener hall of fame, click below:

http://www.fastenershows.com/hall-of-fame-members/

I got an opportunity to hear the Young Fastener Professionals (YFP) present their case study at the North Coast Fastener Association (NCFA) meeting last evening.  The presenters included Ryan Kertis of Stelfast and Cory Facemire and Kristen Kessler of NSK Industries, a distributor in Northeast Ohio.  I spoke with numerous people after the presentation and I am happy to report that it was a great success. Attendance at the event was somewhere between 45-50 people.

The presentation lasted between 30-45 minutes and had a great deal of data to go along with the talking points.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the presentation was the question & answer session immediately after.  Millennials do not get to do presentations without getting some push back from “older” or legacy employees of our industry.  Questions came up on whether or not millennials were “job hoppers” that could not be counted on to stay committed to a company once they were trained.  The presenters did a very nice job of responding and even got some support from other millennials who were in attendance to hear the presentation.   One audience member made the point that, as an employer,  he did not really care about the needs and wants of millennials versus any other generation.  The presenters skillfully turned the table saying, “that’s fine, but what if a millennial is now your customer and not your employee.  Do you care what they think then?”  The answer was, “of course” and the point was made.  The millennial employee will also be the millennial customer so it is worth taking note of what motivates them.

At one point in the presentation, the presenters even poked fun at themselves a bit.  The results of one survey question suggested that while millennials do like to part of a team, their generation wants personal feedback and they want to be personally recognized for a job well done.  Both Kertis and Facemire concluded with smiles that the data suggested “it’s all about me, me, me”.  While that might be a turnoff to one generation, it also is good information for employers of millennials.  Make sure to provide feedback to your younger employees and do not assume that they get the big picture.  They want to know mores specifically how what they are doing fits into that “big picture”.

At one point during the presentation, Kertis held up his cell phone and said, “I do everything with this.  I text, email, shop, call, make appointments,  schedule…everything.  And I always have it with me”.  While a lot of us use cell phones for a lot of different things, his comments hit home as many of us watch our own kids tethered to the cell phone.  Their generation embraces it completely.

I know the YFP will be presenting their survey results at several other association meetings.  I would encourage anyone who can to attend.  Even if you are not a millennial.

Last week I was sent the January update on the Fastener Distributor Index (FDI):

“The Index took a hit during the month, which was widely expected by many industry operators.  The FDI dropped to 45.6 in January versus 50.8 in December, seasonally adjusted.”

Within a couple days of getting that notification I was sent this story from Industrial Distribution:

“Fastenal – No. 12 on Industrial Distribution‘s 2015 Big 50 List – posted its January 2016 sales figures on Wednesday, and its numbers may provide a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy past year of earnings reporting for large industrial distributors.

The Winona, MN-based company posted January sales of $308.4 million, a 3.3 percent daily sales increase over January 2015. This marks the first month of year-over-year sales growth for Fastenal since August 2015, when it grew 1.6 percent. December 2015’s total sales were $286.6 million.

Fastenal’s previous four months posted yearly sales declines, each bigger than the last:

• December 2015   -3.8 percent
• November 2015   -1.1 percent
• October 2015   -0.8 percent
• September 2015   -0.3 percent
• August 2015   +1.6 percent”

The Fastenal data suggests they had a bump in January after some pretty slow months at the end of 2015.  Again, Fastenal is just one company but out in the fastener marketplace a lot of companies have suggested that January started off very strong, oil & gas being the possible exception.  And, even with oil & gas, there is still be some activity.  Unfortunately, many start up companies or new branches of oil & gas focused suppliers will close due to the decrease in oil prices. But, not all oil production will cease completely.  There will just be a large bubble burst.  More worrisome is the debt that will come due to all the banks that loaned large amounts to the frackers and drillers, but that is another whole topic.

Getting back to fasteners, I wonder if the FDI somehow gets respondents reacting to recent stock market plunges and business sentiments from the end of 2015.

I think the FDI is an interesting measuring tool and could serve our industry well, especially if more companies took the five minutes needed to respond to the few simple questions. Fastener associations and STAFDA pay large amounts to get reports from economic forecasters and I am told the information is  highly valued and often accurate.  It makes me think we could do a better job mining our own information and sharing it with all our industry.

At the end of my email note regarding the FDI was the following information worth passing along:

NOTE: Beginning in January, we are attempting to have all survey data in to BB&T before the first of the month.  They have asked us to do this to more closely publish FDI results with PMI results.  While this is a minor shift for survey respondents, and a small inconvenience for some, I hope everyone will recognize the importance of timing our index with the PMI and appreciate your accommodation to make this happen.

For additional information, and to register for FDI participation, see the FDI website at www.fdisurvey.com, or contact Eric Dudas at eric@fastenersclearinghouse.com.     

Somebody sent this to me.  My wife and I took it as well as my 24 year old son.   Pretty dead on.

http://www.pewresearch.org/quiz/how-millennial-are-you/

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