Joint AHMI/ALC Meeting
Joint AHMI/ALC Meeting And Tour Spotlights Furniture Manufacturer PHOTOS BY GARY MILLER Blacksburg, Va.– Two Appalachian Hardwood groups combined resources recently for a meeting and tour in Virginia. The 2010 Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. (AHMI) Fall Meeting and Tour, and the recent meeting of the Appalachian Lumbermen’s Club, were merged at the Inn at Virginia Tech, located here. The formal program began with a reception attended by dozens of lumber manufacturers, distributors and buyers from the central Appalachian region. The keynote speaker was Curt Hassler of Balkentier Consulting in Morgantown, W.Va., a contractor for the Appalachian Hardwood Center at West Virginia University. He reported the results of the 2009 Appalachian Production Cost Survey conducted by AHMI earlier this year. “More than half of AHMI sawmill members completed the survey to determine how their costs compare to other mills in the region,” said Tom Inman, AHMI president. “AHMI provided this as a member service and each company who participated received an individual report with their data and averages for the Northern and Southern Appalachian regions.” Hassler provided a summary of the results and more information is available from Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. The fall tour was held at Vaughan-Bassett Furniture in Galax, Va., which employs more than 700 people and is one of the largest U.S. producers of case goods. Tour participants viewed the state-of-the-art rough mill and Vaughan-Bassett’s new line of Appalachian Hardwood furniture produced in Oak and Cherry. Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Vice President Doug Bassett said the company had more than million in sales in 2009. The company expects greater results in 2010 with the new solid wood offerings. The firm’s Elkin, N.C., plant has a 600,000 board foot per charge dry kiln capacity. The next meeting of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. is March 3-6, 2011 at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla. More information is available at www.appalachianhardwood.org. The next meeting of the Appalachian Lumberman’s Club is Jan. 11, 2011, at the Crown Plaza in Hickory, N.C.. More information is available at www.lumberclub.org. • 1 2 28 Hardwoods Have Workability
4 3 5 6 01. Joe Pryor, Oaks Unlimited Inc., Waynesville, N.C.; Jim Burris, Corley Manufacturing Co., Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Mark Vollinger, W.M. Cramer Lumber Co., Hickory, N.C. 02. Robert Conner, Denton Hardwoods Inc., Denton, N.C.; David Bailey and Bennett Dwyer, New River Hardwood Inc., Mountain City, Tenn.; and Brian Ballard, AHC Huntersville, Huntersville, N.C. 03. Todd Gazzoli, J & J Log and Lumber Corp., Dover Plains, N.Y.; David Turner, Eastern Lumber Co., Orangeburg, S.C.; Jay Reese, Penn- Sylvan International Inc., Spartansburg, Pa.; and Gerald Cox, Turman Hardwood Flooring, Galax, Va. 04. Stuart Deacon, W.R. Deacon & Sons Timber Inc., Lexington, Va.; Philip West, Coastal Lumber Co., Weldon, N.C.; C.S. Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Lumber & Log Co. Inc., Buena Vista, Va.; and Emery Grimes, W.M. Cramer Lumber Co., Marlinton, W.Va. 7 05. Cliff McKittrick, J.W. McKittrick Lumber Co., Camden, S.C.; Tom Inman, AHMI, High Point, N.C.; Kim Vollinger, W.M. Cramer Lumber Co., Hickory, N.C.; and Tom Sheets, Blue Ridge Lumber Co. LLC, Fishersville, Va. 06. Robert Coleman, Robert S. Coleman Lumber Co., Culpeper, Va.; Tony Honeycutt, Mullican Flooring, Johnson City, Tenn.; and Robert Conner, Denton Hardwoods Inc., Denton, N.C. 07. Dan and Tim Brownlee, Brownlee Lumber Co. Inc., Brookville, Pa.; Bob Cafiero and Todd Gazzoli, J&J Log and Lumber Co. Inc., Dover Plains, N.Y.; and Bobby Bernard, Kuehne + Nagel, Charlotte, N.C. 08. Jason Null, Liberty Lumber Co. Inc., Liberty, N.C.; Ken Matthews, SII Dry Kilns, Lexington, N.C.; and Jack Hatfield, Jim C. Hamer Co., Kenova, W.Va. Additional photos on page 42 8 JANUARY/2011 29
