Well, there has been a noticable lack of participation of this particular manufacturer in all of the west coast shows. I was at the ICFA in Portland Oregon a couple of weeks ago, and there was not a booth by this mfgr, nor did I run into there territory rep who is local to Oregon. I have heard that the budget for their territory rep had been slashed and this has basically tied his hands. (I would not be surprised with the aggressive recruiting by the ARXX group that he lands with them in some capacity.) Then a friend of mine in the molding industry hears that they are having a hard time paying one of their molders. Don't know if it is true or not, but just the word on the street. Don't know if the payment issue is lack of funds or lack of molder performance. But, if it were me and I was building a project, I would make sure I got all of my foam before I paid anything. Just a thought

Tom you are right it is a great place to start, continue, refute, or quash any rumor out there.

ICF Contractor

It won't be Amvic... likely Logix.

icfcontractor, I believe the territory rep was at another show in California after having a booth at West Coast Green a couple days prior... But, two of Amvic's big wigs were there, including the new VP of Sales and Marketing, to meet with several of their dealers/distributors. I'm curious about the bill payment issue you refer to... the molder closest to you and I (I'm in Seattle) didn't seem to have any issues with Amvic when I visited them a month ago.

Why beat around the bush, who are you talking about? Which rep wasn't there?
Paul Stevens

Schwa,

I didn't run into them myself, but I heard that they were possibly making the rounds. I didn't know they had a meeting with the distributors. It is always good to stay in touch with your sales force.

As for the molder I know my friend is not naming names, so which one it is I don't know. I guess my reason to make the statement was this. In these tougher and less predictable economic times, people's budgets and contractor's bugdets are getting tighter and tighter. To me it doesn't matter if it is ICF or windows ,or wood, or what ever building material. You should do your due diligence to make sure the company you do business with will be there when you need them to be. See in the whole chain of things all it takes is one of the following, a manufacturer, molder, distributor, and or dealer to go belly up and you are out your money and maybe the rest of your foam. This could bankrupt an individual or a builder on a single project. So make sure you have recourse to get your foam. A couple ways that come to mind is open an account with you distributor and have them bill you or if you are being required to put down a down payment, spend the money and use an escrow company. Have the money held in escrow and when the contract is satisfied everyone gets paid and everyone is happy. When banks, companies, and individuals are going belly up at near record pace, I say be wise.

ICF Contractor

icfcontractor,

I can assure you the company we're talking about is in very good financial standing.

In regards to molder's going belly up and you not getting your foam, well, I don't see that as being an issue because you're purchasing from the dealer/distributor/manufacture, not the molder. An example of this is when a large molder in Utah went under... This did not cause any issues other than SW people having to ship from a further molder (idaho). And I believe you understand many molders produce for 3,4, or more manufactures. So, if your logic was accurate, nobody would be safe no matter which brand of block you went with.

I understand your concerns with the current world economic crisis. This is why it would probably be best to stick with one of the more established block companies.

Well Schwa not to rain on your parade but the WAMu (Washington Mutual) president and CEO said his company was sound and had plenty of liquid assets to cover their deposits publically less than 10 days before the feds took over his bank and auctioned it off to complete the largest bank failure in US history. Sorry to be a little skidish but companies can go under through no fault of their own but due to their exposure to different lines of credit or the fact that the way they choose to finance their daily operations can dry up.

ICF Contractor