National Hardwood Magazine - January 2021

HILLSBORO Continued
The end user will cut the flooring to length, sand it and finish
the flooring with stain and seal or a topcoat product. Custom
orders may vary in thickness, as in floors for log cabin lofts
No. 1 Common Birch, such as pictured, is among the lumber species
purchased by HFH.
which double as ceilings, or to match a layered flooring level
in an older home. Custom plank options and micro-bevel
milling options are also available.
“We provide a quality product for a fair price,” said Ball.
“Our work is the proof in the pudding. Our customers know
that we are going to take care of the product and be consistent.
We make it the best we can every day.”
With some of their wholesale customers within 60-70
miles, the company’s goal is to grow the wholesale business,
not direct sales. Ball stated, “We want to continue to
service the customers we have and help them grow. Our
growth will mirror their growth. We want to have that small
business feel and personal relationship with our customers,
vendors and suppliers. It helps us stay grounded and we
know our customers and suppliers very well. Each has a
name, not just a number.”
HFH is a member of the National Wood Flooring Association.
n
To contact company co-owner Salena Ball, email her at
hardwoodfloorsnmore@mwt.net.
Bob Jones, purchasing agent
years. Key personnel at PWD include CEO Russell Rucker,
Purchasing Agent Bob Jones and Logistics Coordinator Rusty
Hartley. As for the future of PWD Inc., Rucker stated, “Over the
years our business has changed in many ways and we continue
to plan for the future with respect for the past.”
The average inventory at PWD is 100,000 to 200,000 board
feet of lumber.
PWD Inc. is a member of the Mid-America Lumbermens
Association (MLA), Architectural Woodwork Institute
(AWI) and the International Surface Fabricators
Association (ISFA). n
PWD Continued from page 21
bases; and bathroom partitions and wainscoting. Architectural
products such as chair rails; crown mouldings; casings;
and base mouldings are among other products offered
through Diamond Surfaces USA.
Rucker has been in the Hardwood lumber industry for
many years. “It is very interesting to look at where our business
started and the changes in technology that have made
our work lives very different,” he said. “If you are younger
and have older co-workers, ask them about giving prices
over the phone and following up with paper mail days later;
making calls on rotary phones; typing on unforgiving typewriters;
and keeping actual hand-written inventory books.”
When asked about the company’s strong points he noted,
“Local ownership creates quicker response time and action
to be able to adjust to customer needs. Many years of experience
in the ranks lets us draw on past business successes
and failures to arrive at better solutions.”
Rucker also said PWD Inc. is built around relationships.
“Long-term relationships with customers is what we strive
for and we do very well at it,” he explained. “We have some
relationships that span over 30 years. Above all, we are
people who care about doing the right thing.”
Rucker said recent changes include increased sales of
European Beech and that tariffs are affecting many businesses.
“Paying tariffs on Chinese products are hindering
sales of those products and lowering profits,” he said.
“Americans are paying for the tariffs and only prolonged tariffs
will affect Chinese companies. Many OEM companies
have transitioned away from import plywoods because of
the unpredictable market.”
He continued, “The changes in large truck regulations on
exhaust emissions have hurt every company who moves
freight. The large increase in breakdowns and truck life expectancy
is taking its toll. The new changes that will go into
effect requiring special schools to train CDL drivers is sure
to create a shortage of drivers and hurt many businesses
who depend on delivery of goods.
“I can see the pressure to deliver goods will add to the autonomous
truck race to bypass human drivers in the future.
Not a good thing in my opinion. Some of the hardest working
people ever have been truck drivers and they represent
the backbone of our country."
The company employs approximately 14 people, many
of which have been employed at the operation for many
Eric Michaud
Carbotech
Plessisville, QC
For more information visit www.pwdks.com.
OFFERING SOLUTIONS Continued from page 25
We provide innovative solutions to the sawmill industry (softwood and Hardwood) for log and lumber
handling or any other material handling. We can offer simple projects such as unique equipment supply
to complete turn-key solutions. For log handling, we can provide log decks, log conveyors, log feeders
(our well-known Sream Feeder) or a complete log merchandiser. For lumber handling, we have the
optimized trim line for sawmills and planer mills, stackers, grading lines for Hardwood, vertical and tray
sorters, lumber decks and conveyors and others. Mechanical and electrical installation can be offered
as well as the automation and the optimization of our processes.
Eric Michaud
We plan to expand our offerings in the log handling area by adding optimized log merchandising
systems to it.
The trend for equipment purchases will be positive and will continue to increase throughout 2021. The forest products
business has been good in 2020 for many sawmillers, I think they will spend some of their profits on the modernization of
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