June 2022 Message From Our CEO

Who’s Underpinning Our Industry?

It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through 2022!  Between the incredible pace of our markets and the constant adjustments we’re making throughout our operations, the past two years have been a real blur.

I take time, as often as I need, to stop and take stock of things.  Where are we at Columbia Forest Products, and where’s the overall domestic hardwood plywood industry?  What’s happening out there, and what are we doing about it?

A few weeks ago, at the annual Decorative Hardwood Association’s conference, I was able to have a number of “where are we?” conversations with the leaders of other manufacturers in our market, and our experiences were very consistent.

Yes, we are all way busier than we could have ever guessed or hoped, and yes, we’re all facing a lot of challenges in meeting the needs of our customers.  We’re a very open and transparent group (a big source of our strength, in my estimation), and we shared plenty of ideas about how we’re coping with our collective supply chain constraints.

We’ve got answers to the tough questions, plans and backup plans.  But in this climate, our executional decisions are shifting by the day, as we encounter untold changes in material supply situations, logistics pricing and scheduling and everything else — yes, still including COVID.

We’re a relatively small and mature industry.  Our mills, teams and materials are long-established.  And one of our other real strengths is the outstanding network of suppliers we all rely on.

We can’t thank them enough — from everyone who makes and services our equipment to the logging crews who deliver our essential timber day in and day out (despite formidable challenges of their own).

One of the great things we do at Columbia is to advance the relationships we have with our suppliers, big and small. We look for those who share our values and who work with us like they’re an extension of our own team.  We learn from them, and we try to emulate their best practices with customers of our own.

To this end, I hope you enjoy the Loggers Appreciation story in this issue. It’s a tradition at Columbia that reminds us of the best things about what makes us who we really are — a large “family” business.

Thank you for your time, your attention and your business.  And please have a great, safe and enjoyable summer!

Greg Pray

President and CEO

Columbia Forest Products

Our Core Values

Customer Service

Absolute Integrity

We are Family

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