Lumber Products Inc history

In 1940, the association sponsored “The House in the Sun,” the first of many plywood demonstration houses.

In 1941 Gleason Lewis built the first sawmill to take timber off the family farm in Sullivan County, PA. The business quickly expanded to purchasing timber from neighbors and supplying local businesses with high quality lumber.

A significant development in the glulam industry was the introduction of fully water-resistant phenol-resorcinol adhesives in 1942.

In 1944, the industry’s 30 mills produced 1.4 billion square feet of plywood.

The first graph illustrates the number of employees in the state that work in the Wood Products industry since 1947.

Doug David and Herman Tenzler founded North Pacific Lumber Co. in November 1948 with an initial investment of $15,000 and 12 employees in three trading departments.

PFI’s first plywood plant, constructed in 1949 at Lewiston, ID helped fill the need for building materials.

In 1950, the Company started up its first pulp and paperboard mill.

In 1952, the R.F. Seeburger Company was founded by Bob Seeburger, a visionary who foresaw an evolution in the furniture industry.

By 1954, the industry had grown to 101 mills and production approached 4 billion square feet.

1955: The Universal Companies, Inc. is established as a lumber distributor to the manufactured housing market.

In 1958, SEEMAC, Inc. was established—the result of an alliance between Seeburger and Paul McCracken, CEO of Tumac Lumber Co., a Pacific Northwest lumber firm.

The Company also continued to grow in Idaho, purchasing a plywood plant in St Maries and building a new plywood mill at Pierce in the mid-1960’s.

In 1961, the company introduced telephone sales and WATS (wide area telephone service) lines.

That year, company Vice-President Peter F. Secchia, who had joined Universal upon graduation from Michigan State University in 1962, purchased a controlling share of the company.

The first US manufacturing standard for glulam was Commercial Standard CS253-63, which was published by the Department of Commerce in 1963.

Adhesive and technology improvements eventually led to the manufacture of structural plywood from Southern pine and other species, and in 1964 the Association changed its name to American Plywood Association (APA) to reflect the national scope of its growing membership.

NOR PAC's traders also began to focus by region with the debut of the Western Sales Division, which sold products only in 11 western states (and later Hawaii and Alaska). In 1966, NOR PAC also added its trucking department to facilitate the shipping of its products to all the western states.

In 1968, it moved into mill operations with the purchase of a mill in Waynesboro, Missouri.

The company went into lumber production in the West with the purchase of the San Poil Company in Republic, Washington, in 1969.

1970: Development of a component yard system begins with the purchase of a component yard in Thomasville, Georgia.

1971: Peter F. Secchia purchases control of the company.

Universal President Bill Currie, hired by Secchia in 1972, replaced Secchia during his tenure as United States Ambassador to Italy.

After the success of the first two component plants, others were opened in Florida and North Carolina, and Universal made its first direct business acquisition, Lumber Specialties of Granger, Indiana, in 1973.

He started as a salesman in 1974, and over the course of four decades has held all the highest management positions at SEEMAC—executive vice president, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board.

Continuing its tradition of complete wood utilization, Potlatch built a particleboard plant at Post Falls, ID in 1975, to use dry sawdust, chips and shavings from the region’s many sawmills and plywood plants.

In 1977, meantime, Secchia merged his private restaurant holdings into Universal Companies.

1978: Company first enters the treated lumber sector, producing pressure-treated wood at a plant in Auburndale, Florida.

Despite such bad press, in 1979, NOR PAC achieved its peak volume of business.

Recognizing the panel’s potential, Potlatch built mills in Bemidji and Cook in the early 1980’s.

In 1982 he founded Nickander Associates, a wholesale wood products company.

Described as a survivor, according to a 1983 Oregon Business article, David was "adept at steering an intuitive course through the wood products industry's many minefields." After World War II, the timber industry cut its way west, and full-scale logging began in the Pacific Northwest.

Lewis Lumber Products was born with the 1984 purchase of Reese Lumber Co. of Williamsport by Dwight Lewis Lumber Co., Inc.

Dehumidification kilns were built in 1985 and a wood fired boiler system was installed to supply steam to the kilns.

The company has been employee-owned since 1986 when its founder retired.

Construction of the Chenal Country Club and its golf courses begins in 1987, and Chenal Valley’s residential development and the associated infrastructure.

He had also been active in Republican politics in the Midwest, acting as vice-chairman of the Republican National Committee for the 13 states of the Midwest and campaigning for George Bush during the 1988 elections.

By 1989, Universal had become the nation's largest producer of CCA-preserved lumber.

The ultramodern Clarkston facility began running in the early 1990’s, and has a key location on the banks of the Snake River with good rail and water transportation available.

With $90 million in sales in 1991, Chesapeake Wood Treating Co. accounted for approximately 10 percent of Chesapeake Corp.'s consolidated net sales.

After President Bush was defeated in the 1992 election, Secchia's tenure as ambassador came to an end, and he returned as chairperson of Universal.

1993: Secchia rejoins the company as chairman; Chesapeake Wood Treating Co. is acquired; company goes public and begins trading on the NASDAQ; Universal Companies is renamed Universal Forest Products, Inc.

Soon thereafter, Secchia initiated a plan that would allow salaried employees to share in the equity of the corporation; by 1994, employees owned approximately 18 percent of Universal.

The company also moved into other markets, as, in 1996, when it acquired Moore Co., an electronics wholesaler.

Shoffner, based in Burlington, North Carolina, operated 14 truss factories in seven states in the Southeast and had 1997 sales of $90.2 million.

In March 1998 Shoffner Industries, Inc. was purchased for $90 million in cash and stock--the company's biggest acquisition yet.

During 1999 Universal and its subsidiaries concentrated more on organic growth than acquisitions.

On a volumetric basis, in the year 2000 worldwide annual consumption was between 3 and 4 billion cubic meters.

During early 2001 the company acquired D&R Framing Contractors, which was based in Englewood, Colorado, and provided framing services to Colorado home builders.

During 2002 Universal moved into the site-built truss market in northern California by buying certain assets of Modesta-based TopLine Building Products.

By late 2003, Universal Forest Products was on its way to another record year, boosted by a strong construction market.

The machine started up in early January 2004, making an ultra-towel that consumers consider equal to the major brands.

Potlatch converts from a “C” corporation to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) on January 1, 2006 to better position the Company for forestland acquisitions and to offer greater overall value to its shareholders.

While SEEMAC and Tumac Lumber Company ended their financial association years ago, Paul McCracken continued to serve on SEEMAC’s board of directors until 2011.

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Following his retirement in 2016, Tom continues to hold a seat on SEEMAC’s board of directors, and maintains an office at SEEMAC headquarters.

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