The Virginian-Pilot
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The Norfolk construction supplier that imported 150,000 sheets of Chinese-made drywall has shut its doors and laid off its 68 workers.
Venture Supply Inc. and its installation affiliate Porter-Blaine Corp. were named recently in three lawsuits over the use and distribution of the drywall, which homeowners blame for corroding household electrical systems and possibly causing respiratory illness.
Sam Porter, president of the local firms, said business all but dried up for his companies after the controversy over the wallboard erupted earlier this year. He closed up shop on June 30.
"I am finished," Porter said. "I was hoping that people would understand that I was trying to work with everybody, and keep the business afloat so I could continue on and deal with this stuff."
Near the height of the local building boom in 2006 amid shortages for construction supplies, Porter imported the drywall to keep up with demand. The firm said it distributed the material between March 2006 and December 2008.
Venture Supply is among a growing group of developers and other companies that have been sued in connection with use of the Chinese-made drywall. In Florida, homeowners have sued giant homebuilder Lennar Corp.
Among the allegations levied against Venture in lawsuits is that it was negligent for selling the drywall and not warning homeowners and customers that it was defective.
Porter said he had no reason to believe the drywall wasn't safe. The company has denied all the allegations in a court filing.
The local homeowners also recently named in the lawsuit Tobin Trading Inc., a firm run by Phillip W. Perry that brokered the $1.8 million deal between Venture Supply and Chinese drywall manufacturer Shandong Taihe Dongxin Co. Ltd., a company that appears to be owned by the Chinese government.
In recent months, Porter began the process of destroying nearly 50,000 sheets of Chinese-made wallboard after local cities banned its use in construction projects.
He had hoped to lease out space in his Norfolk warehouse to help keep his businesses alive while resolving the legal disputes over the drywall. But as operating expenses and legal fees mounted, Porter said his bank decided to foreclose on his property and auction off his remaining assets.
"I don't believe in filing for bankruptcy," Porter said. "I'm going to pay off everything I owe. It's going to wipe me out."
Porter, 44, got into the drywall business when he was just 14, sanding and hanging sheets of wallboard himself while still attending Green Run High School in Virginia Beach.
Not long after graduating, he started his installation business out of a mini-storage unit where he stored small supplies of drywall and installation tools. Over the course of two decades, Porter poured his profits back into the business. In 2002 he moved to a $3 million, 80,000-square-foot warehouse on Azalea Garden Road.
At the height of the local building boom, his company's fleet of delivery trucks had grown to 20, his payroll grew to more than 200 employees, and annual sales eclipsed $35 million.
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
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USA suppliers can cause ficticious supply problems
The imported drywall problem should turn an investigative eye to why we needed to import drywall in the first place. I remember the drywall shortage and yet a large local wholesaler here had so much of this stuff hoarded (maybe intentionally off the market) they had it stored outside. One rainstorm and outside storage would go the trash. The same ficticious shortages go on with plywood, concrete and gasoline.
Sam Porter was ripped off
Sam Porter was ripped off by a Chinese company selling bad goods. Here in the U.S. he could sue the company for producing and selling a defective product. With it being a company in China, a 'most favored nation' by the way, he has little or no recourse. Again and again Chinese companies have gotten away with doing this. It is past due time our government took serious action against foreign companies that do this. Handling such situations is what our government is SUPPOSED to be doing for the American public.
What goes around comes around
Companies are always looking to make a better profit and we have seen too many defective and harmful products come out of the Chinese manufacturing sector. This company purchased drywall from China to save money rather than sell quality products which should have been the hallmark of the business. Now they are faced with lawsuits and bad publicity from the sale of this defective products. They had no choice but to close their doors. Buy American made products from reputable companies and you will be much better off in the long run.
Hello-this happened a month ago.
how long is the Pilot going to beat this dead horse? The company shut down a month ago and the Pilot keeps rehashing the same old news.
What is the response from
What is the response from the Chinese govt / Chinese manufacturer? Is it possible to sue them?
Did Venture contact the customers they sold the product to, to warn them once they found out there could be issues?
This chinese drywall news isn't new. It hit the Florida news 8 months or more before it hit our news.
Like it or not
the onus of product safety is the responsibility of the seller, the distributor, the manufacturer and essentially anyone who makes a profit from goods on the market.
It certainly is sad that, if such is the case, Mr. Porter was totally unaware of any issues with the Chinese drywall. And there may not have been any easy or timely way to test this product. But the moment he sold these boards for commercial gain, the buyer had every reason to expect safe goods.
If that turned out not to be the case, then the homeowner has to turn to the builder, who will turn to the supplier, who then has to turn to the manufacturers.
In an ideal situation, all would be compensated by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, the cost of litigation is so high, that companies may never recover and can go out of business. And the homeowner is still stuck with a huge loss of value and very expensive repairs.
Business ownership is a risky venture. When successful, a lot of money can be made, but with the risk of catastrophe always looming.
After the fact
To have built a business from scratch to a large supplier who believes in his craft and then have those who find it easy to sue and destroy it all, sad. He was good enought to buy from through 30 years, being honest and supplying the demands of the public and then destroy him seems to be the American way of life. Even a home inspector clearly says he is not responsible for things he cannot see behind walls. Venture believed in his products, always did. So wouldn't it seem obvious to go after the Chinese who actually made the product. He was only the middle man doing his job. In a yr will anyone care where his family income comes from??
drywall
Last I heard drywall had not even been tested has it now. I imported insulation and concrete from mexico during builing boom of 1979-1980 in california when concrete factories were on strike and insulation was just being required in home there.
I met stiff opposition from inspectors and local government, insulation was from a mexican owens corning factory and mexican supplier of concrete that is very much now approved. I was helping homeowners and builders get necessary materials to complete their projects. The materials were very reliant and did their jobs I saved consumers perhaps hundreds of thousand getting their projects completed.
Do you really think this gentleman knew he was importing a bad procuct (if that has been proved) No he was just trying to help.
Dan
Maybe this will serve as a
Maybe this will serve as a lesson to all American companies to think twice before having business dealings with foreign companies, especially China. I want to know do the Chinese have Chinese drywall and are they getting sick or is it just the Chinese drywall in the US.
NOBODY WINS
Sad situation -- where no one wins -- except maybe the lawyers involved.