July 2026
around. For companies relying on Canadian lumber or operating across both sides of the border, the impact is not theoretical. It shows up in where they buy lumber and sell pallets and what they feel comfortable investing in long term.
I have also heard from a company in the South that is struggling to keep up with production as lumber prices have rapidly changed. Some customers are bidding out pallet supply aggressively, often down to mere cents, and end up walking away from long-standing supplier relationships chasing short-term savings.
The problem is what comes next. When those conditions reverse, those same customers often return expecting the same capacity and responsiveness. But the supplier may have already cut staffing or pulled back production in the meantime. Short-term pricing decisions ripple into long-term problems, and planning gets harder for everyone.
Labor comes up in almost every conversation. Companies are taking extreme measures such as adjusting shift structures in response to workforce uncertainty. Sometimes it is about availability. Other times it is about what is happening with immigration enforcement and the hesitation that creates in how
to describe it, the result is the same: in a labor market that is already stretched thin, that kind of uncertainty shows up in productivity and consistency.
What strikes me is not any single issue. It is how differently these pressures are hitting people. Some companies are investing and scaling. Others are hitting walls that make growth harder even when demand is there. Many are navigating both at once, depending on where they are and who their customers are.
As we move into the second half of 2026, I keep coming back to that feeling in Washington. We are part of something bigger than any single quarter or contract. This industry holds up a lot of what makes daily American life possible, and that is worth protecting. It is worth showing up for.
That means staying aware of what is happening in your local market, staying connected to your customers, and getting involved in policy where you can. Join your association. Attend the meetings. Talk to your legislators. The companies doing those things are not just better positioned to adapt. They are the ones helping shape what comes next for all of us.
The operating environment is not getting simpler. It is getting more uneven. In that kind of environment, staying connected is not optional. It is part of how we stay steady, together.
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Emily Clark with Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R) representing FL 3rd Congressional District.