Oak Creek Wood Products in Slinger, Wisconsin, suffered a large fire on Sunday, May 21. The company has made strides toward recovery.

BEAUMONT, Miss. – Hood Industries broke ground for constructing a laminated plywood manufacturing plant to replace a facility crippled by a tornado in April 2022. ​​​​​​​

Aegis Financial Corp., an institutional investor, has acquired a new position in shares of Bassett Furniture Industries Incorporated. With this purchase, Aegis Financial Corp now holds about 2.90% stake in the company.

HF Custom, a line from Hooker Furnishings, has developed Bespoke Seating Sooner, a quick ship upholstery program with a four-week lead time. The program includes select upholstery options from the company’s Loft Living collection, offering expedited, fashion-forward styles with semi-custom design options for customers who need an even quicker turnaround.

United Grinding North America has launched a four-year apprenticeship program. The initiative aims to provide aspiring individuals with an opportunity to earn a full scholarship for an Associate's Degree in Automation & Control Technology with Robotics AMCT.S.AAS (Mechatronics) from Sinclair College in Ohio while gaining invaluable hands-on experience.

HIALEAH, Fla. — Fabelli, an Italian case goods supplier based in Hialeah, Florida, sued Edgar’s Furniture Manufacturing, also of Hialeah, for allegedly copying one of its bedroom sets and in the suit stated that Edgar's version is of such inferior quality that it hurt Fabelli's brand recognition and led a retailer to drop the Fabelli product from its offerings.

APA – The Engineered Wood Association Board of Trustees welcomes John Beers III as its newest member.

A group of leaders from the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association met with the secretary of compliance and enforcement at the Department of Commerce. In May, the leadership group representing the KCMA met with Lisa Wang Assistant Secretary of the compliance office and explained their issues and concerns with recent DOC decisions and the impact they have on their businesses and communities.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) redesigned its Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) in the first quarter of 2023 to make it easier to interpret and more similar to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for single-family housing. The MMS produces two separate indices. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) had a reading of 50 for the first quarter while the Multifamily Occupancy Index (MOI) reading was 82. Readings above 50 are considered good.

On May 21, at approximately 7:23 p.m., calls to 911 reported smoke and flame coming from Oak Creek Wood Products in the Town of Polk, near to Slinger, Wisconsin. Before the fire was extinguished fire departments from 20 communities arrived to douse the fire at the pallet company.