VRLDA Appoints rk MILES’ Jeremy Baker as President
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT – The Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Association (VRLDA) appointed Jeremy Baker, rk MILES’ Fleet and Safety Manager to serve as their next President of their Board of Directors at their Annual Meeting on September 22nd.
Baker takes his 2-year term to heart and says his goal as President will be to continue the Board’s focus on workforce development in the building trades. He says he will help support VRLDA’s efforts to be a conduit between state legislators and technical career centers throughout the state, creating an environment that will attract young people to the industry and help keep them here in the state.
“It’s an honor to preside over this board,” Baker stated. “Collectively, we have the best interests of our membership and Vermont in mind. I will acknowledge the good work we have done and build on that in the next 2 years,” he added.
Baker has worked at rk MILES for more than 7 years, where he has been instrumental in creating and instituting employee safety and equipment operation protocols for the company’s 10 locations. In addition to his role as the new President of the Board of Directors for the VRLDA, Baker also serves as Chair of the VRLDA’s Legistlative Committee. He serves as a Director of the Board for the Lumber and Building Materials Foundation and as a Director of the Board for the Northeastern Retail Lumber Dealers Association (NRLA) where he is Chair of the NRLA’s Safety Committee.
About r.k. Miles, Inc.
r.k. Miles, Inc. is a third-generation family business founded in Manchester, VT in 1940. The company supplies lumber, building materials and home goods out of its 10 locations in Vermont and Western Massachusetts.
About VRLDA
Established in 1931, the Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Association was formed to fulfill a leadership role by identifying challenges, changes, and opportunities that will ensure its members’ business success and future. VRLDA is one of fourteen state and local associations across the Northeast associated with the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association (NRLA).
CHOOSING WOOD WINDOWS
We know there are all sorts of materials on the market for windows and doors today. Vinyl has long been a value option for replacement projects whose budgets don’t allow for custom wood windows, but there’s more to take into account these days when selecting windows that are worth considering- fiberglass, wood, aluminum clad, and mixes of the three are all great additional options for fenestration these days. But, what is it about wood that is SO good?
Marvin explores this topic in their most recent blog post titled YOUR EXTENSIVE GUIDE TO WOOD WINDOWS Learn the reasons why wood windows and doors could be a great choice when you’re looking to buy.
rk MILES DEDICATES NEWLY COMPLETED SHOWROOM TO NOEL CONIGLIO
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT – rk MILES dedicated its newly renovated Doors & Windows showroom in Manchester Center on Wednesday, June 8th to the company’s first Door & Window Showroom Manager Noel Coniglio who passed away in November of 2021.
Coniglio saw the potential to grow the business and created the millwork department in the late ‘80s which he managed until his retirement in 2008. Now the rk MILES Doors & Windows department companywide makes up 20% of the total sales for the company.
“Noel’s role in our business was significant,” said rk MILES Owner and President, Joe Miles as he presented a dedication plaque that now hangs in the showroom. “He identified an opportunity for growth and seized upon it in a very entrepreneurial way,” Miles continued.
“This small remembrance of Noel will keep him and his legacy of good service and pragmatic approach to sales on the forefront of our minds,” Miles added.
Close friends and family were present for the dedication. Noel’s wife Barbara Coniglio and daughter Kathleen Slade, Dave Hunter, a local builder and close family friend, reminisced with long-time rk MILES employees and vendors who worked and trained with him over the years.
“Through his leadership and coaching, Noel took the door and window business of rk MILES from just one person in an office with hardbound catalogs to a stand-alone Door & Window Department and Showroom,” said Pete Duffany, long-serving Doors & Windows lead salesperson at rk MILES. “He taught me everything I needed to know to get started in this business,” Duffany added.
ANATOMY OF A DOOR
We know that all the choices you have to make as a homeowner can be daunting. When renovating or building new, the challenges seem endless – especially when it comes to ordering doors and windows. There are so many pieces and parts to consider, and details mean everything when you are trying to reflect your style and taste in the products you choose for your home. That means orders can be challenging when you have so many options to consider.
Our friends at Marvin have created a Door Parts Glossary for their latest Inspired by Marvin Blog to help homeowners get a better understanding of the makeup of a door. We know this information can help homeowners who are looking to order a new door, but just don’t know all the terms that can help them in the ordering process.
Check out Marvin’s PARTS OF A DOOR: LEARN ABOUT THE ANATOMY OF A DOOR
VRLDA NAMES rk MILES’ SCOTT FLYNN AS LUMBER PERSON OF THE YEAR
VRLDA NAMES rk MILES’ SCOTT FLYNN AS LUMBER PERSON OF THE YEAR
rk MILES is pleased to announce that The Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Association (VRLDA) has named Scott Flynn, General Manager of rk MILES’ Middlebury location, as their 2021 Lumber Person of the Year. The VRLDA Lumber Person of the Year recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the lumber and building materials industry as well as to his or her local community. This year’s award was presented to Scott by Brian Wright, Territory Manager for Trus Joist.
Scott began his career in the lumber industry in the mid-eighties when Poulin Lumber opened a store in his hometown of Derby, VT. “I started running forklifts and shucking lumber in the yard, then moved to driving, dispatching and finally I moved into inside sales,” he says. With a short stint running his own custom wood products business, Scott returned to Poulin and rose the ranks as an outside salesperson, Assistant Manager, Manager, then ultimately as General Manager of that company’s location in Hardwick, VT.
Scott joined the rk MILES team in 2016 as General Manager of its Middlebury location. Since then, he has helped support the company with its expansions in 2017 and again in 2020 and has been instrumental in implementing a dispatch and delivery system at most of the rk MILES locations in Vermont and Western Massachusetts.
He spent a decade on the VRLDA board of directors, including a term as President from 2015-17 and has also served on the Northeaster Retail Lumber Association’s (NRLA) Board of Directors and Convention Committee.
“If you get a chance to participate or serve on a board in your industry, do so,” he advises. “The networking will only empower you and bring you to new levels,” he adds.
Scott is the fifth rk MILES employee to win this distinguished award.
Past rk MILES Lumberperson of the Year Award Recipients:
1992 Dick Miles
2012 Steve Churco
2016 Joe Miles
2019 Brenda Beanland
Latest news from Marvin
As we spend more and more time indoors, it is more important now than ever to allow natural light and fresh air into our spaces. By adding doors, windows, and even skylights to our space’s design we can offset the ill-effects of the amount of time we spend indoors. With the launching of several new products this year, our friends at Marvin took time to explore the benefits of natural light on our overall well-being in their recent Inspired by Marvin Blog.
Marvin’s new products address the demands of our times, like their Ultimate Swinging Door that has the thinner styles and rails for optimum views, their stylish and innovative Sky Cove – think glassed-in cube meets window seat with views of the sky above and the ground below, and their all-new Awaken – Marvin’s take on the skylight of the future.
Check out their blog here to learn more about their new products and how details can make a positive impact, not just on the design of your space, but also on your overall health.
Pressure Treated Wood: Choosing the right product
How to properly choose treated wood.
Click on Image to enlarge.
GROUND CONTACT
Ground Contact treated wood should be chosen for parts of your project that are:
• in ground or in contact with the ground
• in contact with debris, leaves or vegetation
• in fresh water
• exposed to daily wetting from sprinklers or other sources of moisture
• in contact with old wood that may be partially decayed
• posts supporting decks and fences (in ground or concrete)
• posts supporting fresh water docks
• all posts when secured by elevated post bases to concrete piers
• all joists and beams when critical and difficult to replace
• stair stringers that sit on the ground or on concrete on the ground
• low retaining walls, planter boxes, and understructure for walkways
• typical Above Ground uses in tropical climates
• material installed over water if it will be regularly wetted by waves and wakes
• less than 6” above ground and supported by permeable building materials
HEAVY DUTY GROUND CONTACT
Heavy Duty Ground Contact treated wood should be used for:
• posts supporting houses, garages, sunrooms, barns, or other permanent structures (in ground, concrete, or fresh water)
• saltwater splash
ABOVE GROUND
Wood treated for Above Ground is intended for parts of your project that meet all of the following criteria:
• is not on or in contact with the ground
AND
• is expected to readily dry out between times it gets wet
AND
• not located in tropical areas
Some components that are physically above ground still require Ground Contact.
See Ground Contact description to the left. In any of the situations listed there, wood treated for Ground Contact applications must be used even if the members are used in physically above-the-ground applications.
Above Ground applications include:
• deck boards, rails, spindles, lattice, benches, and step treads
• fence boards*
• outdoor furniture, such as Adirondack chairs and picnic tables used on a deck or other well-drained surface
*Fencing should not be in contact with the ground, debris, or vegetation. There should be adequate spacing under the fence boards to ensure airflow and drying.
NOTE: PLEASE SEE COUNTER SALES FOR REQUIRED END SEALING PRODUCTS.
The warranty requires surfaces that have been cut or trimmed and other holes or damage should be treated with a wood preservative end-cut solution in accordance with the label’s directions. Acceptable wood preservatives include Outlast® Q8 Log Oil or other products containing a minimum of 0.675% copper as oxine copper (copper-8 or copper-8-quinolinolate) or 1% copper as copper naphthalene.
REMEMBER, IF YOUR PROJECT IS IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND OR FRESH WATER OR BUILT IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT ALLOW THE WOOD TO EASILY DRY, GROUND CONTACT TREATED WOOD MUST BE USED.
› Please click HERE to download the flyer.
› Please click HERE for In-Stock Pressure Treated by Use Code.
*The International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) standards that require that pressure-treated wood used in many physically above-ground applications be treated to Ground Contact requirements.
r.k. MILES, INC. AWARDED UVM GROSSMAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS 2020 MULTI-GEN FAMILY BUSINESS AWARD
Left to right, Francis, Joe, Sophie, Christine and Henry.
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT – r.k. Miles, Inc., a third-generation, family-owned business with locations in Vermont and Massachusetts, was awarded the 2020 UVM Grossman School of Business Multi-Generation Family Business Award on Friday, October 2nd during a virtual ceremony.
The University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business recognizes and celebrates first and later generational family-owned businesses that have demonstrated a commitment to creating sustainable business through leadership and innovation.
Panelist Judge Evan Langfeldt, CEO of South Burlington-based O’Brien Brothers and last year’s recipient of the UVM Vermont Legacy Family Enterprise Awards, presented rk MILES with this year’s award on behalf of his fellow judges.
“2020 marks the 80th Anniversary of this iconic Vermont company representing a wonderful story of how each generation has contributed to its growing legacy of success,” Langfeldt explained.
“Our judging panel found [rk MILES] impressive on a variety of fronts – thoughtful governance, financial growth and success, depth of community contributions and proactive development of the next generation of leaders to name a few,” Langfeldt said. “While all of the nominated business had impressive track records and compelling stories, rk MILES stood out to me personally, not just for their sustained success over generations in a difficult industry, but because they have been an integral project partner and material supplier to our company, O’Brien Brothers, on our ongoing project Hillside at O’Brien Farm.
I know firsthand, the quality of customer service, materials and goods they provide, and the caliber of the people they employ. They are responsive, proactive and their employees seem to genuinely enjoy working for the company and take pride in it. That means something and it translates to the quality of service they provide,” he added.
rk Miles joins the ranks of just 33 other businesses to be presented with such a distinguished award over the past nine years by the School.
“We are incredibly honored to have been nominated and chosen as this year’s recipient of UVM’s Grossman School of Business Multi-Generation Family Business Award,” said Joe Miles, President and third-generation owner of rk MILES. “This recognition is due in no small part, to the team behind the name. As generations before me set the foundation for our business, we understand that success doesn’t always come from grand strategies, but rather from the small individual contributions by our staff that happen day in and day out – acknowledging our customers by name and going the extra mile to make sure they get what they came for – that’s what sets us apart and makes rk MILES what it is today,” he added.
……
About rk MILES
Celebrating its 80th year, r.k. Miles, Inc. is a third-generation family business founded in Manchester, VT. The company supplies lumber, building materials and home goods to communities in Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Fair business practices, customer loyalty and community involvement have been the cornerstone of the company’s success. With the acquisition of Allen Lumber in November of 2020. r.k. Miles, Inc. will have a total of 10 locations.
We are open for business. Stay healthy. Stay busy.
Need an activity to fill all of your downtime? Painting is a great way to relieve stress and refresh your living spaces all while helping to support your local independent businesses during this unprecedented time.
While all of our rk MILES stores are OPEN FOR BUSINESS we are offering Curbside pick up only (no entry into our stores) – but we have good news – many paint brands have great online resources so you can make informed decisions and pick the best products for your projects- all without leaving your house – well, that is until your order is ready for pick up.
The following are links to online tools for the brands that we carry:
BENJAMIN MOORE (Manchester Store only)
Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer: Save colors, share images with clients and colleagues, and more!”
Benjamin Moore Color Matching App & Device: Harness the power of Benjamin Moore color, wherever you are – for free!
CALIFORNIA PAINTS (West Hatfield, Williamstown, Morrisville and Stowe Stores)
California Digital Fan Deck: Find the perfect color for your project! Scroll down and choose a color. Scroll further for color details; pick a room to see color applied.
VALSPAR PAINT (Middlebury Store)
Valspar Explore Colors: Connect to the power in color to see how different colors can affect your space. Before putting brush to wall, take some time to explore the limitless color options Valspar offers.
Questions? We have paint pros on call from 7 am – 3 pm during our limited hours of operation to help you with the best product for your application.
Manchester Paint Store: 802-549-5648
Middlebury: 802-388-2721
Williamstown: 413-458-8121
West Hatfield: 413-247-8300
Morrisville: 802-888-4501
Stowe: 802-253-8516
r.k. MILES, Inc. to Expand Their Northern Vermont Presence With the Acquisition of Allen Lumber Company, Inc.
MANCHESTER CENTER, VT – r.k. Miles, Inc., a third-generation, family-owned business with locations in Vermont and Massachusetts, is pleased to announce that the company will be acquiring Allen Lumber, Inc. with locations in Barre, Montpelier, Waitsfield, and St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
Allen Lumber Company, a fifth-generation family-owned business since 1888, has a longstanding, proud tradition of providing quality service, hardware and building materials throughout northeastern Vermont.
“r.k. Miles has a solid reputation as a reliable and trustworthy building materials supplier in Vermont and Massachusetts. We are happy that they will continue our family’s legacy to provide the best products and services our customers have grown to expect,” said Steve Allen, fifth-generation Owner and President of Allen Lumber. “We are looking forward to working with Joe and his crew through a successful transition.”
“This acquisition will help us serve our current, North-Central Vermont customer base with improved logistics and convenient pick-up locations. Allen Lumber is very well known in the markets they serve and have a similar business philosophy so we feel this will be a good fit for both the customers and employees,” said Joe Miles, President of r.k. Miles, Inc.
“We are looking forward to working with the Allen Lumber staff and Allen Brothers, as well as getting to know their local customers,” said Brenda Beanland, Vice President of Operations for r.k. Miles.
Preparation for the transition is currently underway and the sale will take place on March 31, 2020.
About rk MILES
Celebrating its 80th year in March 2020, r.k. Miles, Inc. is a third-generation family business founded in Manchester, VT. The company supplies lumber, building materials and home goods to communities in Vermont and Western Massachusetts. Fair business practices, customer loyalty and community involvement have been the cornerstone of the company’s success. With the acquisition of Allen lumber, r.k. Miles, Inc. will now have a total of 10 locations.
