March 18, 2008

John Hoge - Hoge Lumber

John Hoge, owner of New Knoxville based Hoge Lumber, shared about his experiences in China for providing materials and installation of bowling alleys and gymnasium floors.

After about 30 years of prosperity in that market for bowling alleys, they experienced a sudden drop in the market.  As a result, the emphasis shifted to installation of sports flooring for gymnasium use.  He utilizes three crews for the installations of the floors which are somewhat less complicated than bowling alleys.

In all, there are currently 25-40 arenas in China that were installed by Hoge and they depend on a 12 year employee who serves as the supervisor for the installations.  For the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics it is expected that the women's volleyball championship match will be played on a Hoge floor.

John also shared about various customs and practices in China that are different from those in our culture.  These include that the woman does not change her name when married, their envelopes are not pre-glued, they are extremely conscious about personal sanitation in restaurants and in restrooms where they do not have sit down toilets as we know them.  They do not grasp the concept of intellectual property as we know it and it is considered acceptable to copy DVDs and books for sale at discouont pricing.  Their one child per family practice has led to a gross imbalance of the male to female ratio where there are about 50M more males in the country.  As a result, it is not allowed to predetermine the gender of a child in the womb.  Also, citizens identified by CNN camera recordings in the Tiananman Square demonstrations are not allowed to work for the government even if they were not active participants.

For more information about Hoge Lumber, follow this link.

Hosting Rotarian:  Stan Kuenning