Ken Dunham is retiring as the executive director of the West Coast Lumber & Building Material Association (WCLBMA), effective June 30. Dunham has served in the role for the association since June 2006.
“It has been a long and productive relationship and I leave with profound good feelings for this organization and especially the lumber and building materials industry,” Dunham said in an email to members. “I’ve been here in the good times and in the tough times, and now the challenges of the COVID virus makes business even more difficult. But being part of efforts to ensure that the LBM industry was designated ‘essential’ in most parts of the country helped this industry survive.”
The outgoing executive director managed the WCLBMA when it went through a name change from the Lumber Association of California & Nevada and was involved in the association’s move into a new building in 2009.
“I think one of the successes of the association I’ve been involved in is assisting this industry through a wide variety of regulatory challenges over the years,” Dunham said. “Early it was lumber mold and how to respond to lawsuits and questions. Later, it was paint disposal and lumber lengths and dimensions that both had California state regulatory agencies to contend with.”
According to the email release, Dunham said the industry manual, designed to help LBM dealers, suppliers, and manufacturers contend with California’s Proposition 65 rules is one of the projects he is most proud of. Dunham wrote “The Legacy of Lumber,” a history of the lumber industry in the west in 2017 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the WCLBMA and its prior associations.
“I especially want to thank and acknowledge Jean Henning and Charlene Valine who were here when I came and are still doing their valuable services for this organization,” Dunham said. “This organization would not be where it has been without them.”
Prior to the WCLBMA, Dunham owned a regional advertising agency/public relations firm, was involved in political consulting and management, and served as a television news director and on-air personality.
