Business View Magazine | September 2022

93 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 9 SKYL INE BUI LDERS SUPPLY other partners have done everything possible to provide Skyline with the needed materials. Although, there have been very short periods when even these partners could not keep up with demand and Brett admits to taking extreme steps to meet customer needs at times. “We even ran some classified advertisements to get OSB from contractors,” he says. “All of us in the industry have had to find ways to be creative. It was a rough go for a bit but we teamed together.” Skyline never had to shut down even in the early days of the pandemic. As an essential service, the team had to work onsite to meet client needs. “We were very careful and aware of guidelines to keep each other safe during COVID,” Brett says. In fact, Skyline experienced more walk-in traffic during the first of year of the pandemic as it ever had in its history. With that level of dedication and a proven process for running the business, Brett hopes and the company was founded, and back to the Butterfield Lumber days, Skyline also provides trusses, sheet rock, finished goods, decking, siding, and most items that are needed to frame a home. Many of Skyline’s customers live or work in Salt Lake City, about two hours north of the company’s location in Ephraim. These customers remain loyal even though they are farther away because of their high level of service and reliability. Some have been customers of Skyline Builders Supply for well over 20 years. “The secret is delivering faster than our competition, even though we are further away,” Brett says. This competitive difference is the main reason that the company has developed such positive, long-term relationships with its customers. Ephraim is a small town with less than 8,000 residents, so it’s a good location for Skyline which operates like a small-town business with exemplary industry knowledge and service. As Brett attests, “We want to make it more of a personal relationship with our customers. We get to know them, their companies and their families. They are much more than customers.” That mindset trickles down to employees as well. Brett adds, “We collaborate with these great people eight+ hours a day so they are definitely an extension of our family.” Some of those employees have been with Skyline for 15+ years. Brett says that if any employees need extra help, the company tries to be there for them in any way possible. That explains the low employee turnover and the willingness of everyone to chip in – including management. When one of Skyline’s drivers recently retired, and finding a new driver became hard, Brett got his CDL license and started making deliveries to fill the gap. In addition to Boise Cascade, Brett points out other partners, like timber industry leader Weyerhaeuser and building products provider JM Thomas Forest Products, as companies that have long standing relationships with the Butterfield family. And there are many others, as well. Whether it is material shortages of engineered wood or oriented strand board (OSB), these and