Fall 2018 Hardlines Strategies

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Looking at the Big Picture Certification Program Allows Home Lumber Manager to Gain More Insight

D ay-to-day

responsibilities can hinder anyone

Those daily challenges aren’t likely to end anytime soon, but sometimes there are opportunities for employees to step away from the day-to-day and focus on the big picture. For Hervey Wright, assistant general manager for Home Lumber and Supply Co. with 14 locations in Kansas, that opportunity has come in the form of the NRHA Retail Management a business and make greater progress over a longer timeline. Certification Program (RMCP). The program, run by the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA), is a joint program between NRHA and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Its intent is to provide advanced knowledge and techniques for members of the retail world and serve as a college-level education in management skills and techniques. For Wright, the program has allowed him to re-evaluate some practices at Home Lumber, relying mostly on the skills he’s picking up during class instruction, as well as by collaborating with other students. The camaraderie with other retailers has been one of the trying to make headway on larger projects at work. The immediate demands of the moment become the priority over long-term projects that could grow

JohnHumphreys, BrandonRohr, RoyHoffmanandHerveyWright of Home Lumber Supply. Wright received a scholarship fromBlish-Mize tohelp fund the cost of a college-level management course for retailers.

most welcome benefits of the program, he says, and it’s already building a network of connections and friendships he can rely on in the future. “One of the best parts is the diversity of our group. We have people in this class from Hawaii to Boston, so you’re learning from others that have so many different perspectives on our industry,” Wright says. Blish-Mize is in its third year of assisting customers in sending students to RMCP through a scholarship that covers half of the cost of the training program. The application process includes an essay that lays out what skills the applicant hopes to pick up and how they wish to use them in growing their business. “Each session offers programs to enhance a retailer’s skills, but the ability to grow a nationwide network of support is an asset to any business,” Blish-Mize CEO and president Jonathan Mize says. “Hervey is a great example of someone in our industry who is looking to grow and expand his abilities.”

Each student is tasked with developing a project or initiative in their business at the beginning of the program and presenting the finalized concept and goals. Wright’s project focuses on operational efficiencies and restructuring business operations, a topic he was already working on at Home Lumber and is able to add to now with the lessons he learned at RMCP. “We’re really looking to streamline our operations, which could be adding positions or moving responsibilities around. Some of my fellow classmates work with large, multistore operations that have gone through similar changes, and it’s been a great resource to help us make the most of this program,” Wright says. Any Blish-Mize retailers who are interested in attending the RMCP program can contact Scott Wright, executive director, at swright@nrha.org. To learn more about the Blish-Mize scholarship, contact Clay Uhrmacher, vice president of sales and marketing, at clay.uhrmacher@blishmize.com.

38 Fall 2018 • Hardlines Strategies