Wisconsin Connection Conference

All-Inclusive Pricing

*Pre-Registration is required for the membership lunch 

Registration deadline: February 12, 2027 

Exhibiting Sponsors deadline: February 9, 2027 

Registration Cancellation deadline: February 12, 2027  

Exhibitor/Sponsor Cancellation deadline: January 23, 2027 

Dealer Pricing

Associates must purchase an exhibiting sponsor package to attend.  This package includes a tabletop for displays plus four registrations.

$1100 per member / $1600 per non-member

Exhibiting Sponsors will be provided with a 6ft skirted table for literature, product samples, or tabletop display, two chairs and four FREE all-inclusive passes. 

Additional exhibitor tickets:  Member $100 per person; Non-Member $150 per person 

Free passes include full conference registration (roundtables, lunch, education sessions and evening networking sessions) Passes can be offered to BLD member-dealers to attend free of charge thanks to your sponsorship.  Attendees must pre-register for lunch.  

Build excitement, drive attendance, and strengthen the independent building materials community by promoting your involvement. Need some inspiration? Use the marketing toolkit that includes simple, ready-to-use materials. CONNECTION CONFERENCE MARKETING TOOLKIT 

A small block of rooms has been reserved at the Glacier Canyon Lodge for Monday, February 22nd and Tuesday, February 23rd.

Information for booking a room can be found below:

Booking Info (by Phone or Online)

• Call: 800-867-9453
• Use group ID “Leader#B69156” when making reservation

Welcome Address

Grab some coffee and muffin as we kick off our 2027 Wisconsin Conference.  BLD Connection President, Cody Nuernberg, will offer some opening words before we dive into a day filled with insights, fresh ideas, and opportunities to build a community of trusted advisors.

Owner Manager Roundtable

Step away from the office and connect with fellow owners and managers who understand the opportunities and challenges of running an LBM business today. Share experiences, compare approaches, and walk away with real ideas and fresh perspectives you can put to work in your business. To accommodate more attendees, we will offer two Owner/Manager Roundtable rooms.

Sales Roundtable

Sales professionals and managers face new challenges every day—from changing customer expectations to an evolving marketplace. Facilitated by Allan Langer, CEO of The 7 Secrets Sales Academy, this roundtable brings peers together to share experiences, discuss customer expectations, and strategies that are working. Walk away with fresh ideas for strengthening customer relationships and driving results.

Membership Lunch, Awards and Keynote

After a morning of sharing and learning, join us for a complimentary membership lunch (advance registration required). Following lunch, the BLD Connection – Wisconsin and WLDEF membership meetings will take place, featuring the election of new board members and a celebration of outgoing leaders, along with the presentation of member achievement awards.  

We’ll follow the awards with a Wisconsin housing market and economy update with Brad Boycks of the Wisconsin Builders Association. 

Keynote Speaker - Brad Boycks, Wisconsin Builders Association

Brad oversees WBA’s public policy efforts and manages the association’s operations. He is responsible for helping the association establish legislative priorities, working with legislators and regulators to get those priorities addressed.

Brad will provide an update on Wisconsin’s 2027 housing and construction outlook along with insights on market conditions, economic trends, and key legislative initiatives that may impact the building industry, lumber dealers, and small businesses across the state.

Allan Langer, The 7 Secrets Sales Academy

Title: How Modern Sales Conversations Build Trust, Eliminate Resistance and Close More Deals

Today’s customers don’t want to be “sold” with scripts, canned pitches, or high-pressure tactics.  They want authentic conversations, genuine connection and a sales professional who understands how to guide, not push, the buying process. 

In this highly engaging and actionable workshop, Allan Langer will teach the modern psychology of sales conversations: how to ask the right questions, build instant rapport, create trust quickly, and communicate in a way that lowers resistance and increases buying confidence. 

Attendees will learn how top-performing sales professionals guide customers naturally through the conversation while tapping into the emotional drivers behind every buying decision. 

Salespeople will leave this session energized, more confident and equipped with practical techniques they can immediately apply on their very next appointment to create better conversations -and close more sales 

Attendees will discover how to:  

• Stop selling too fast - and start uncovering what customers REALLY want. 

• The BEST Questions to ask that reveal the “WHY” behind every buying decision. 

• Reduce objections before they happen instead of fighting them at the end. 

• Become the differentiator when everyone else sells similar products, and stop selling on price 

Shane Soule, ProTec

Shane Soule is President of ProTec Panel and Truss, a multi-location manufacturer and distributor serving customers across Indiana and Michigan. Over 25 years in the LBM industry, he started on the truss shop floor and has worked across manufacturing, sales, operations, and market development. Shane approaches business through operational discipline, continuous improvement, and building better systems. His current focus is practical AI integration inside a live operating company. At ProTec, he has built AI infrastructure in-house, connecting live ERP data, automating estimating and purchasing workflows, and developing custom tools while running a business that still has orders to ship. He is a staff writer for LBM Journal and a speaker at the LBM Strategies Conference.

Title: Practical Uses of AI in the Building Materials Industry 

Most of us have heard AI can write an email. This session is about everything after that. Shane Soule, President of ProTec, built the company's AI systems himself while keeping orders shipping. He will show the actual tools ProTec uses every day for customer follow-up, reading sales data, building training material, documenting procedures, and doing marketing work without a marketing person on staff. Every example names the tool, shows the workflow step by step, gives the result in hours or dollars, and includes what did not work. Attendees leave with a short list of things they can set up on Monday morning, plus an answer to the question every owner is asking: where do I add people, and where do I add software. 

Learning Points 

• Identify several AI tools a dealer can put to work within a week, matched to the specific jobs of an owner, a manager, and an outside salesperson. 
• Apply a repeatable workflow for turning existing company information (sales reports, meeting notes, procedures) into usable output without a technical person on staff.
• Decide where AI support belongs versus where inside staff belongs, using a simple test that protects the customer’s experience and keeps salespeople selling. 

Monday, February 22

Networking Happy Hour from 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Connection Conference Cancellation & Refund Policy 

Dealer and Guest cancellations must be received in the BLD Connection office no later than 10 days prior to the first day of the conference in order to receive a refund.  Cancellations after this date or no-shows will not receive a refund. 

Exhibitor cancellations must be received in writing at the BLD Connection office no later than 30 days prior to the conference. Cancellations at least 30 days prior are subject to a $250 cancellation fee, and the remainder will be refunded. Cancellations less than 30 days prior to the event will forfeit 100% of the sponsorship. This applies to exhibitor fees paid in full or yet to be paid.