National Hardwood Magazine - November 2016

Hugh D. Clark (shown on

Hugh D. Clark (shown on far right, alongside his son, Hugh W., and grandson Brandon) still comes to the mill at Clark Lumber Co. every day and is able to offer the wisdom he has gained from all the years he has spent in the industry. Clark Lumber Co.: Providing Consistent Quality Lumber Year After Year, Order After Order By Gary Miller Red Boiling Springs, TN–With a long family history in the Hardwood lumber industry, Clark Lumber Company has built its business on maintaining timber sustainability and providing customers with quality Appalachian Hardwood lumber that is produced from their five sawmills – some of which are located here, and some in Lafayette, TN. As their motto affirms, the company is able to bring the quality Hardwood lumber “From Our Forest To Your Facility.” Clark Lumber was started in 1982 by Hugh D. Clark. Hugh had been around a sawmill as a young man in the 1950’s. His grandfather J.J. Clark operated a sawmill in Jackson County, TN, near Macon County. Hugh D. Clark (now known as “Mr. Hugh”) grew up around his grandfather’s sawmill in Jackson County. Mr. Hugh married Madeline Jones in 1955, shortly after both of them graduated from high school in Red Boiling Springs. Madeline also had family in the Hardwood lumber business. Her grandfather and father (Lee and Genie Jones) were owners of a sawmill. Both Mr. Hugh and Madeline had grown up around a sawmill, so the business was instilled in both of them. In 1959, Mr. Hugh went to work for the Jones sawmill and worked there for 20 years buying logs, running the mills while maintaining a farming operation of his own. In the late 1970’s Hugh Wayne Clark, Mr. Hugh’s son, decided he wanted to start a mill of their own. Mr. Hugh made 18 NOVEMBER 2016 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE him a deal that if he would go to school and get a degree they would set up a mill. Both men held true to their end of the deal and after attending college and receiving a degree in agribusiness, they started the mill in the fall of 1982. The third generation joined the company in 2003, when Hugh Wayne’s son, Brandon Clark, finished school and started working in the mill. In 1955, the mills manufactured 6,000 board feet of lumber per day, or approximately 1.5 million board feet a year. Five generations later Clark Lumber, that is now co-owned by Brandon and Hugh Wayne Clark, currently produces 43 million board feet a year between their five sawmills and two locations in Red Boiling Springs and Lafayette. The two mill ” If a client needs a certain grade, species, color or texture of Hardwood lumber, we are consistently going to produce that same quality lumber for that person load after load. Whether it be Red or White Oak, Ash or Walnut, we are here to supply our customers with a consistent product. ” – Brandon Clark, vice president & chief operations officer, Clark Lumber Co.

Brandon Clark (left) is vice president and COO at Clark Lumber Co. and oversees production and sales. His father, Hugh W. Clark (right), serves as president and CEO and oversees log and timber procurement for the company. An aerial view of Clark Lumber’s Red Boiling Springs sawmill facility is shown here. Among the products offered by Clark Lumber are ties and cants, some of which are pictured here. Pictured here is lumber being loaded into a container for shipment to Nashville Rail. sites are situated on 50 acres and 25 acres respectively. Clark Lumber’s two sawmill operations combined employ about 115 people and both mills operate two 40-hour shifts. Today, the firm consistently maintains an inventory of 1.5 million board feet of kiln-dried Hardwood lumber and an additional two million board feet of air-dried lumber. The firm manufactures 4/4 through 8/4 thicknesses of lumber that is sold green, air-dried, steamed or kiln-dried, rough or surfaced, in species like Poplar, Red and White Oak, Ash, Hard and Soft Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Hickory and aromatic red cedar. Clark Lumber offers export preparations, container loading and loads of mixed species. Besides high grade Hardwood lumber, the company produces pallet and flooring lumber, cants, crossties, mat material, wood chips and veneer logs. Clark Lumber sources all its timber from within a 100-mile radius, with the majority being within 50 miles. This allows the company to provide clients with the most consistent lumber products possible. “If a client needs a certain grade, species, color or texture of Hardwood lumber, we are consistently going to produce that same quality lumber for that person load after load. Whether it be Red or White Oak, Ash or Walnut, we are here to supply our customers with a consistent product,” said Brandon Clark, vice president and chief operations officer that handles the production and The company’s Brewco B-1600 resaw is one of the pieces of equipment used to process the company’s 43 million board feet of annual lumber production. sales of the lumber. “If it works for you the first time, it will work for you again and again. We manufacture the same high quality Appalachian Hardwood lumber with consistent texture and color every time.” Because Clark Lumber’s sawmill production is greater than its dry kiln production, they have the ability to pull undesirable lumber from their mills and ship lumber green to either some of their other green customers, such as flooring plants, or Hardwood concentration lumber yards. At Clark Lumber, no part of the tree or lumber goes to waste. Please turn to page 41 NOVEMBER 2016 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 19