SOth crn;niuerso;rg Lumber vet reflect on the

TrO CELEBRATE The Merchant Magazine's 80th anniversary, we asked our readers what makes the lumber business so special. Here's a brief tribute to some of the people and companies that separate this great industry from all others.

Mark Spargo, Snavely Forest Products, Phoenix, Az.

I have been in this industry almost 15 years and I feel very fortunate to work for a family-owned company that truly cares about the people they employ. Since joining the company I have had the privilege to travel to many parts of the country and do some incredible things that I may not have otherwise been able to do in another industry.

Along the way, I have spent quality time, both inside and outside of the office, and in so doing I have forged many great relationships with customers as well as suppliers. Friendships that I will always cherish. In my mind, the lumber industry is special because the people who make their livelihood in this industry are special.

Gary Malfatti, Morgan Creek Forest Products, Inc., Windsor, Ca.

Born over half a century ago on the "green-chain" of a redwood mill in the lumber town of Scotia, I can say that the industry has been in my blood since my birth. My father, an immigrant from Italy, worked for the Pacific Lumber Co. From my early teens to today, I have worked exclusively in the lumber industry. From doors to decking, I have sold it all. I have swept the floors of the storage sheds and sat behind the corporate ownership desk of several successful lumber businesses.

I, along with many of you, have been around a long time and have been an eyewitness to all the changes that have occurred throughout our industry. Through all these changes, both good and bad, a cohesive thread is woven within: our integrity, loyalty, and commitment to one another. To me, it is the fabric of our industry. Tf-

Matt Hogland, Pacific Building Materials, Kailua, Hi.

We are the most isolated land mass on earth, being separated by 3,000 miles of water in all directions. We can buy Douglas fir lumber and plywood with a phone call and a gentlemen's agreement (in place of a handshake, because we are so far away). It is this trustworthy relationship that spans all of our',industry that sets it apart

We play this game with only a small grade rule,,foook as our guide and yet we rarely get into claim situations, even with millions of dollars changing hands. It is this integrity that sets our industry apart.

Mahalo. We love your magazine.

C hristop he r G rov e r, C alifu rnia Re dw o od As s o c iat io n, Novato, Ca.

In 1980, I was hired as a copywriter at California Redwood Association, and my major responsibility was to write newspaper press releases promoting redwood decks, fences and siding. We send several stories and pictures to over 500 daily newspapers each year. The editors, of course, can use the story and pictures however they want. It's not advertising. It's just free information provided by the association. I wasn't too pleased when I received a press clipping from the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, where they'd run my release verbatim, but given it the headline: "Rare Trees Make Great Decks."

Ah, the lumber business! Is there any other business where you can sustainably provide a renewable, recyclable, bio-degradable building material, that requires hardly any energy to produce and the public attacks you relentlessly on environmentalissues?

Dwight Curran, DMK-Pacific Corp., Fresno, Ca.

It was 1948 or 1949. I was about l0 years old. While walking through the lumberyard one morning, I encountered my grand-dad. He was almost 80 at the time and quite skinny. Yet he was busy putting lxl2" pine boards into a bin. Suddenly, he turned around to look at me. Out of the blue, he said, "You know, Dwight, in this business, your word is your bond."

To this day, I don't know why he told me that, but he might just as well put an indelible stamp on my forehead.

I have never forgotten that and that is one of the reasons I like this business. There is a high degree of integrity amongst lumber people, and they are some of the finest people in this country.

Ken Tennefoss, Crow Publications, Portland, Or.

I looked back through some copies of Crow's from the early '20s to get a renewed feeling of what the industry was like back then. As much as the industry has changed over the years, it has also remained the same.

Nowadays, we conduct business by phone, fax and email instead of the buyer getting on a train and making a buying trip to the mills. Regardless of the method in which business in conducted, it is still the same basic process as it was back then. Buyer and seller agree on a price, a tally, and a ship time. The one thing that stands out is how we conduct our business. Each day transactions are made between people who may or may not have ever met face to face. With no more than a verbal commitment to buy maybe a hundred thousand dollars in products, the seller will ship that product based on the word of the person on the other end of the phone. Conversely, the buyer will trust that the seller will ship what was agreed upon on time and at the price agreed to. In any other industry I can think of, there would be a team of lawyers and a stack of documents to put a similar transaction together.

Ours is a business of relationships. At any lumber function you will see men and women who have a not only a business relationship with each other, but a friendship as well, some that have lasted longer than half a century. Such is the relationship the industry has had with The Merchant Magazine. Here's to another 80 years.

Tom Stumpf, Western Wood Preserving Co., Sumner, Wa. Happy 80th birthday, Merchant Magazinet You're looking good for your age. We here at Western Wood Preserving Co. are still young, celebrating 3l years ofbusiness this year.

Wood is the most versatile and beautiful building product there is. Celebrating that with you is our pleasure.

Mike Petter and Michael Learned, Learned Lumber, Hermosa Beach, Ca.

We like the lumber business because it is a positive business. We get to supply products and services that solve real customer needs. And we like that our word is our bond. Even though we issue written contracts and purchase orders, most of our large selling and buying transactions are done over the phone, without even a handshake. This is increasingly unique in the world of commerce today.

Our business started in 1924 when my grandfather, George Vincent Learned, purchased our Hermosa Beach site from the Cook family. The Cook and Learned families are both in their third generation of family members who operate lumberyards in the South Bay. Ed Fountain once told me that he looked at the Hermosa Beach site before he purchased his Hooper Avenue yard in the early 1920s.

My dad, Richard H. Learned, purchased the lumberyard from his father in 1948.. In the early '50s, he opened a yard in Gardena and then sold that yard to Lloyd Olsen of Crenshaw Lumber in 1958.

We currently operate two yards in Southern California, the original Hermosa Beach site and, since 1913, a production yard in El Segundo.

Merchant has been a large help in my career. In its August 1980 issue, it published an article about our company that tells our story. Good luck on the next 80 years; it has earned a place in the lumber industry.

All of us at Waldron Forest Products are honored to be part of this industry.

Kevin Breen, Snavely Forest Products, San Francisco, Ca.

I remember telling Steve Snavely how I like the lumber business because the people are so down to earth. Humble, in a word. Steve replied that is because we get humbled about every four years.

Mike Cooley, Cooley Forest Products, Phoenix, Az.

Eighty years is a long time. Cooley Forest Products has only enjoyed 57 of those precious years. It's the last l8 years I would like to make special mention of as we close a very wonderful chapter of our history. This industry is a people industry. We at Cooley express the hurt and sorrow over the loss of our general manager and fellow co-worker, Samuel Reed Martin, a real honest people person. Sam passed away in his office May 13, 2002 of heart failure (see June, p.4l). Sam was a young 56 years old and was survived by his loving wife Shelly, two sons, three daughters, and eight beautiful grandchildren.

Words cannot express our love for Sam and our sincere appreciation we and his family have felt in the days following from friends and work associates. It has reminded us again how wonderful this industry is and made us even more so appreciate one another in the processes ofthe day.

Daisuke Hashimoto, R. Lynn Forsberg and James Salo, Fremont Forest Group Corp.-Marubeni, Whittier, Ca.

All of us would like to recognize the contribution and hard work of the founders of the company and the longtime employees, who continue to make Fremont a name in the forest industry of Southern California.

Fremont Forest Products was started in 1958 by Peter V. Speek, Art Millhaupt and Daryl Bond. The company became one of the largest privately owned wholesale lumber companies in the L.A. Basin. In 1973 Art retired and Daryl left to start All-Coast Forest Products. Peter continued to operate Fremont until his passing in October 1999.

In 1981, Fremont negotiated the current long-term lease with the Port of Long Beach at Berth T-122 (its current location) and the wholesaling business grew through the 1980s and 1990s. In 1994 the business was converted to a custom handling forest products terminal servicing many of the local distributors as the market changed with the introduction of the "Home Stores."

In 2001 FFP was sold by the Peter V. Speek Trust to Marubeni America Corp. and Marubeni Corp. (Japan).

Hap Person, Honolulu Wood Treating Co., Kapolei, Hi. Congratulations to The Merchant Magazine for 80 years of continuous service to the lumber and building industry. Honolulu Wood Treating is a youngster by comparison, with a 47-year history of pressure treating in Hawaii.

Honest, hard-working people who stand behind their commitments are the reason this industry is so unique.

Let's not forget about The Merchant Magazine. The

HWT would like to recognize one of our own for his dedication and total commitment to a company and the

(Please turn to page 60)