The Softwood Forest Products Buyer - May/June 2022

GREEN & KD LUMBER
GREEN TIMBERS
ROUGH OR DRESSED
Lita Abele Turns Challenges Into Triumphs At
U.S. Lumber Inc.
By Daniel Connolly
Members of the U.S. Lumber Inc. team, located in Woodbury Heights, NJ, pose for a
portrait. Pictured from left: Boyet Marcelo, Dan Pineda, John Hasler, CEO Isabelita
“Lita” Marcelo Abele, Office Manager Romilett M. Yulo and Operations Manager Marvin
Yulo.
QUALITY PEOPLE CREATING QUALITY WOOD PRODUCTS
ATLANTIC WHITE CEDAR
POPLAR
OAK
OVER 100 FINISHED
PROFILES
DISTRIBUTION
NATIONWIDE &
INTERNATIONALLY
252.357.0116 681 NC HWY 37 S. GATESVILLE, NC 27938 WWW.GATESMILLING.COM
Woodbury Heights, NJ– If you drive by a construction site in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware or Maryland you might see wooden frameworks set up
around a concrete structure.
There’s a good chance that this wood was supplied by U.S. Lumber Inc.,
located here, a company whose CEO, Isabelita “Lita” Marcelo Abele, once had
to flee from an abusive, controlling employer when she was a recently arrived
immigrant working as a companion to an elderly couple.
Her transformation from this disadvantaged position to CEO is one of determination,
fortunate meetings with helpful people and her own hard work. She’s now
one of the rare women CEOs in the lumber business.
U.S. Lumber Inc. buys and sells about
4 million board feet of lumber per year.
The company markets lumber in various
species, including mixed hardwoods (including
the oaks), as well as Softwoods
in Spruce, Hemlock-Fir, and Yellow
Pine, all in grades No. 2 and Better. U.S.
"To succeed, a person
must be hard-working,
not a complainer, and
persistent."
—Lita Abele,
CEO, U.S. Lumber Inc.
Lumber Inc. sells lumber in a variety
of thicknesses, including 2x6 widths
and lengths.
It also sells a wide range of plywood
products and pressure-treated
wood.
U.S. Lumber purchases from various
lumber suppliers, and imports
some high-density plywood from
Finland and Russia.
The company has provided
supplies of lumber for high rise
buildings, hotels, casinos, schools,
universities and hospitals. U.S.
Lumber also supplied lumber for
two major stadium projects: Lincoln
Mixed hardwoods from U.S. Lumber
Inc. are used in diverse projects, such
as this excavation site.
Photo courtesy D’Angelo Bros Inc.
Financial Field, the home of the
Philadelphia Eagles NFL team, and
for Citizens Bank Park, home of the
Philadelphia Phillies Major League
Baseball team. Additionally, the
company’s lumber helped support
the concrete work on the Freedom
Tower, the skyscraper that replaced
Continued on page 46
SCMA Gathers for Annual Meeting
Doug Brock, Semi-Retired, Panacea, FL; and Ryan Collins and John Stevenson, Beasley
Forest Products Inc., Hazlehurst, GA
Miramar Beach, FL– The Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association
(SCMA) held its 2022 Annual Meeting recently at the Sandestin Golf and Beach
Resort, located here, in conjunction with the Hardwood Manufacturers Association’s
National Conference and Expo.
Thirty members, prospective
members, promotion sponsors, industry
stakeholders, and staff gathered
for a networking reception and
dinner to open the two-day event.
The next morning, the attendees met
to review the past year’s activities,
preview 2022 promotion initiatives,
discuss association business, and
elect officers.
Cassie Lewis, Turn Bull Lumber
Company, Elizabethtown, NC, was
elected SCMA president. Lewis
joined Turn Bull Lumber Company
in 2011, working her way through
the accounting and logistics departments,
before joining the sales team
in 2015. She now serves as the
company’s account manager, and is
responsible for all sales, as well as
managing the green and kiln-dried
inventories.
Truss Beasley, Beasley Forest
Products (BFP), Hazlehurst, GA,
was elected SCMA vice president.
He joined BFP in 2014 and is currently
serving as vice president of
business development for the Beasley
Group sawmills and flooring
plants. Beasley earned a Bachelor
of Finance and a Master of Business
Administration from Georgia
Southern University.
The SCMA is a non-profit organization
dedicated to the promotion
of Cypress building products to
design professionals and consumers.
For more information, visit
www.CypressInfo.org. Follow the
SCMA on Instagram and Twitter at
@cypress_info, and on Facebook at
@southerncypress.
If your company is engaged in the
manufacture, processing, or distribution
of cypress building products,
and is interested in joining, email
member-services@cypressinfo.org
to learn about membership. n
Zack Rickman, Atlanta Hardwood Corporation, Mableton, GA; Mark Tuck, Gates Milling
Inc., Gatesville, NC; Hal Mitchell, Atlanta Hardwood Corporation; and Lance Johnson,
ISK Biocides Inc., Memphis, TN
Additional Photos on page 49
Uncertainty Makes It Hard to Know When to Buy
But Idaho Timber’s Just-In-Time Service Makes it Easy:
• Get just what you want right when you want it, in highly mixed trucks of
dimension, studs and special trims. Delivered mill-direct in 24 to 48 hours,
you can profitably sell each load before a market move impacts its value.
• Your inventory turns 4 times faster with our just-in-time truck service than if
you buy railcars. Reload costs are eliminated and you can have a truckload
sold and on your A/R before payment is even due. All this does wonders for
cash flow. And fast, mixed trucks make it easy to keep stock in balance.
• Lumber metered in by truck takes 80% less space and capital than when
supplied by car. With all that space and cash freed up, your wood may all
fit under roof where it will yard better and sell better, and you’ll have room
and funds for higher margin products to further improve your bottom line.
Idaho Timber’s just-in-time service accelerates inventory turns
and shrinks carrying costs. When your lumber moves this quickly
and profitably, your risk from market moves is so minimal you can
confidently replenish stock at any time.
Maximum Performance. Minimum Risk.
800-654-8110
Page 6 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • May/June 2022 Softwood Forest Products Buyer • May/June 2022 Page 7