BMHC streamlining to bring jobs to Boise

Building Materials Holding Corp., a San Francisco-based company that has most of its administrative operations in Boise, said it plans to “unify and streamline” its BMC West and SelectBuild operations. The company will add employees at its Boise Administrative Service Center, 720 Park Blvd., said Chris Reiten, vice president of marketing and purchasing for BMC West and SelectBuild.

Back-office operations that SelectBuild now houses in other states will be consolidated in Boise, he said. He did not give details.

Reiten said Building Materials Holding employs about 300 in the Boise area including 150 at the Boise Administrative Service Center. The service center houses most of the company’s administrative operations, as only a handful of people are based in the San Francisco corporate office, he said.

BMC West building products distribution, truss manufacturing and millwork manufacturing operations employ about 150 in the Boise area, he said.

The holding company’s plans include reducing the number of operating regions from 13 to seven, closing and consolidating under-performing business units, and consolidating administrative functions, the company said in a release May 12.

The seven remaining operating regions will include Intermountain – consisting of Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Utah.

"We are conducting a comprehensive analysis of our business and developing an initial plan for improved profitability and cash flow to right-size the organization to reflect today's homebuilding market," Chairman and CEO Robert Mellor said in the release. “While there are considerable external pressures on the markets we serve, our board and management team are committed to making internal changes designed to minimize the impact of the downturn while positioning our company for growth as the market improves.”

Also May 12, Building Materials Holding Corp. announced financial results for the first quarter. A net loss of $33.9 million, or $1.17 per share, compared to a $5 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. Sales totaled $355 million, down from $559 million a year earlier. Mellor said in a release that difficult conditions in the homebuilding market dragged results, although the distribution side of the BMHC’s business added market share. The company reduced its employee county by 20 percent in the recent quarter, he said.