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Catawissa Focuses On Kitchen Cabinet Industry BY PAUL MILLER JR. Catawissa, Pa.— With the residential furniture market moving more overseas, Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. Inc., headquartered here, has renewed its focus on the kitchen cabinet industry. While U.S. furniture manufacturers have steadily moved to other countries, the kitchen cabinet market is largely domestic, particularly for low-labor content solid wood components. In 2007, approximately 40 percent of Catawissa’s sales were derived from the cabinet market, 30 percent from the institutional furniture market, three percent from residential furniture, 17 percent from lumber trading with the remaining sales obtained from miscellaneous markets. These percentages represent a dramatic shift for Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co., which historically had residential furniture comprising more than 50 percent of its sales. Catawissa planned the move into cabinet components over several years following the loss of major furniture customers such as Pennsylvania House and Broyhill, companies who moved their operations to China and Vietnam. William Gittler Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Catawissa Lumber, said his firm is currently finalizing approximately $2.8 million in equipment financing, which will be used to upgrade the company’s rip-first manufacturing line to an automated “rip first” process. Catawissa started the shift to a rip first line in 2005 as a means to develop the kitchen cabinet component market and will be adding additional automated equipment to complete the process. The automated rip-first line will dramatically increase the efficiency of Catawissa’s manufacturing operation, optimizing yields from raw lumber and further reducing the labor component of wood processing. William F. Gittler Sr. and his wife, Pauline, founded Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. in 1957, beginning as a three-person wood shop. Over time, the company has grown to over 300 employees, operating four plant facilities with a 350,000 board feet per week production capacity. Catawissa Lumber has 450,000 board feet of kiln-drying capacity and a 1.2 million board foot pre-dryer at its headquarters in Catawissa, Pa. The firm’s West Jefferson, N.C., facility has kiln-drying capacity totaling 450,000 board feet. Catawissa’s largest manufacturing plant is located in Paxinos, Pa. It has two other Pennsylvania facilities located nearby in Elysburg, Pa., and Shamokin, Pa. Catawissa has sales representatives in Sparta, Tenn.; Hancock, Mich.; London, England; Paris, France; Hamburg, Germany; and Shanghai, China. Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. is a manufacturer and trader of high-quality Hardwood lumber and machined Hardwood components for manufacturers of highend cabinetry, architectural mouldings and institutional furniture. The company sells its products through a division known as Catawissa Trading Co., and is organized as a Sub-S Corporation with independent members serving with Gittler family owners on Catawissa’s board of directors. Thanks to its location in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, Catawissa specializes in such Appalachian Hardwoods as Red and White Please turn to page 40 These are some of the cabinet and furniture components that Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. manufactures on a daily basis. 26 Hardwoods...A Renewable Resource
Bill Gittler stands with Ken Janette, president/chief operating officer of Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. Bill Gittler (right), chairman and chief executive officer of Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. Inc., headquartered in Catawissa, Pa., is pictured with his son, Justin Gittler, facility engineer. Key executives of Catawissa Lumber & Specialty Co. include Adam Cherwinski, sales manager; Ken O’Neill, production scheduler; Steve Gemberling, vice president of manufacturing/general manager of Catawissa Trading Co.; and Rick Vannatta, director of operations. Pictured are ripped cabinet stiles and rails coming through Catawissa’s rip first operation. This is a picture of Catawissa’s climate-controlled warehouse. Kiln-dried and surfaced Soft Maple lumber is shown packaged ready for shipment. AUGUST/2008 27
Page 1: August 2008 The only thing better t
Page 4 and 5: C o n t e n t s 901 Second Street,
Page 6 and 7: Premium Northern Hardwoods. Unparal
Page 8 and 9: Supplier news about sales, labor, p
Page 10: News from suppliers about prices, t
Page 13 and 14: Installation, Products and Services
Page 15 and 16: Boards InThe World Are Made Here Th
Page 17 and 18: AS SOLID AS OUR HARDWOODS. Everybod
Page 19 and 20: Worth the wait. A.R. Brenneman, fou
Page 21 and 22: Shawn, Brandon, Dan and Mike Ferman
Page 23 and 24: KENTUCKY GROWN Most of our employe
Page 25 and 26: 2 1 s 3 4 5 6 AUGUST/2008 23
Page 27: Jacob Baranski handles internationa
Page 31 and 32: Mark Bartoe, American Lumber Co., H
Page 33 and 34: Whit Whitmeyer, USNR, Waynesville,
Page 35 and 36: Serge Dubreuil, Les Bois J.M. Arbou
Page 37 and 38: Jack and Joe Kelly, PJ Lumber Co.,
Page 39 and 40: Dave Marshall, American Hardwood In
Page 41 and 42: EXPO PHOTOS - Continued Gary Moore,
Page 43 and 44: CATAWISSA - Continued ny obtained F
Page 45 and 46: TBM HARDWOODS - Continued from page
Page 47 and 48: CHERRY FOREST - Continued from page
Page 49 and 50: AHEC UPDATE - Continued elegant and
Page 51 and 52: SOUTHEAST TRENDS - Continued tratio
Page 53 and 54: LAKE STATES TRENDS - Continued whil
Page 55 and 56: WHEELAND LUMBER CO., INC. • FORES
Page 57 and 58: A brief sketch of the leading purch
Page 59 and 60: SEARCHING FOR NEW BUYERS FOR YOUR L
Page 61 and 62: An update covering the latest news
Page 63 and 64: TRADE TALK - Continued Products Inc
Page 65 and 66: TRADE TALK - Continued White House
Page 67 and 68: SW-COC-1627 The FSC trademark ident
Page 69 and 70: ONTARIO TRENDS - Continued contains
Page 71 and 72: EQUIPMENT EQUIPMENT FOR SALE NEW/US
Page 73 and 74: For seventy dollars you can keep up
Page 75 and 76: P.O. Box 471 | Chattanooga,Tennesse

The only thing better than our lumber is our service. - Miller ...

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