RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Thomasville Lumber honored by Gov. Six years after a devastating fire and five years after rebuilding, Thomasville Lumber was named one of Alabama's top exporters last week. Gov. Bob Riley announced that Thomasville Lumber is one of eight Alabama companies to receive the Governor's Trade Excellence Award. James Dixon, president of Thomasville Lumber was quick to praise the company's employees and backers. "This award is for Thomasville Lumber, not James Dixon," he said. "When the fire struck in 2001, all our employees had to find other jobs, most of them came back after we restarted the plant, that was a leap of faith on their part, it's like a family here." Thomasville Lumber exports about 80 to 90 percent of its southern yellow pine lumber overseas. The plant produces about 20 million feet of lumber each year and employs about 70 people. The lumber makes its way to many European nations, including Spain, Italy, Belgium and Greece. "Our biggest market is Spain, they have a big appetite for southern yellow pine," Dixon said. "They like the color, the grain and the quality of the wood." The plant's closeness to the port in Mobile makes reaching overseas markets easier. When the plant was part of the Coastal Lumber Company, the lumber it produced had already gained a high quality reputation with its European customers asking for "Thomasville Coastal Lumber." But a fire devastated the plant in 2001 when Dixon was the plant manager, and Coastal decided to close it rather than rebuild. Dixon and a group of investors including First United Security Bank and the advice of Alabama International Trade Center battled to get the mill rebuilt and reopened in the midst of a depressed lumber market. "A lot of people took a chance on a start-up company for this to succeed," Dixon said. Driven by a belief in the southern yellow pine and the quality of the products the mill could produce, Dixon guided the company back to its position today. "Southern Yellow Pine is one of the most durable soft lumber products in the world," he said. "We had to do something to set ourselves apart and we've been successful at doing that." A recent industry report said that as large box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's continue to consolidate their supplier lists, it will become harder and harder for small mills to supply those large stores and will have to find new markets. For Thomasville Lumber, those new markets will likely continue to be overseas as the demand for high quality lumber worldwide continues. Dixon said he was surprised to learn of the award. "This is a reward for all our employees," he said.
Alabama was ranked as the fourth fastest growing exporter of goods in the U.S. for 2006. Alabama companies exported $13.8 billion in goods to other countries last year.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
