Gutchess Lumber Co., Inc.’s “Learning in the Lumber Industry” series consists of a monthly article focused on career paths and opportunities in the lumber industry and written by our Executive Vice President Brian Conklin. This is the first article in the series.

I suppose the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” might sound a little silly to some of you. If you are like me, you haven’t been asked this question in a very long time. But for some of you, I hope, you have recently been asked this question and you don’t know the answer.

I have many memories of growing up. I can remember teachers, my parents and other family members along the way asking me, “what do you want to be when you grow up”? For many years I thought that I was going to be a major league baseball player. I can’t tell you how many times I visualized in my mind, while lying in bed at night, me hitting the game winning grand slam with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth in game 7 of the World Series. At least in my mind, and for many years, that seemed like such an achievable task. While I played many years of baseball and have many fand memories of the game, I soon realized that the game winning hit in the World Series was…, well it was just a dream.

I graduated high school in June of 1994. Unfortunately, I still could not answer the question that was asked so many times of me up to that point in my life. I had graduated high school and really had no idea what I was going to do with my life. The one thing I do remember upon graduation was wondering where the last 18 years went. Those years just flew by. I did not possess any special skills. I really didn’t know how to build or fix anything (if anything my attempts at fixing things only made it worse ). I really wasn’t disciplined enough at that point in my life to go to college. Even if I was, what would I major in? I had no idea. However, I was smart enough to know that I needed a job. So, I applied at a local sawmill. Keep in mind that at this point in my life I did not know a single thing about the lumber industry. I literally could not have properly identified a Cherry board from a Red Oak board. I had never seen a sawmill in operation, so all the various equipment and lingo was all new to me.

I will never forget that first day on the job and how intimidating it was. I really did not know anyone, had never seen any of the equipment nor did I know how any of this equipment worked. However, I have always had a good attitude by nature, I was dependable (I never missed work and was always on time), I liked learning new things and generally speaking I was the type of person who took pride in their work. I was very fortunate to have mentors along the way that saw the potential in me and help direct my career. If you would have told me in June 1994 that I would be where I am today, I likely would have laughed at you.

In this series I will talk about my career path and the career opportunities that exist not only in on our industry but here at Gutchess Lumber. If you are at a point in your life and you are not sure what your career path might be or if you are looking for a career change and not sure what that might be, do not worry. With some dedication and hard work, there are so many exciting opportunities today, much more than when I got into the industry 25 years ago. This industry has taken me all over the world and has given me the ability to make a very good living and provide for my family, all the while learning new things almost on a weekly basis.

Ho Nai, Vietnam- Dang Nguyen and his furniture shop can list the cases for the existing orders: White Oak cabinets for young Vietnamese couples who just moved from the U.S back to No Nai, Walnut tables for the roof top bars of the Marriott hotels, Hard Maple flooring for the local Japanese temples; so on and so forth, for each order made.

All these orders are signed by Dang, the owner of the workshop. His father opened the shop back in the 1990’s, with only wood sourced from local species like Acacia and Rubberwood. Dang’s father knew that there was one job in the lumber industry he didn’t know how to conquer-finding quality hardwood to bring in from the United States. Dang set out to conquer this challenge.

“It is supper frustrating,” said Dang’s brother, Mr. Nguyen, on the phone. “We thought we were the master of White Oak furniture pieces, but cracks appear after 3 months because the lumber wasn’t dried well. We just wish people will respect our products, not complain and claim us.” Dang added, “Customers in Northern Vietnam will call you at 3:00 AM during the night, because he can’t close the Red Oak door in the living room, and that door comes out of our factory….” Dang paused for few seconds and said, “Wish you were on the phone with him.”

“I won’t understand Vietnamese, but I can guarantee our quality White Oak will ensure your sleep during the night,” Gutchess Lumber salesman Aman Huang replied.

Then, Dang asked, “Where is the region you harvest your White Oak logs? And what’s the color like?”

I told him, “Mostly in New York and Pennsylvania, and all in wheat color…. I mean very consistent color.”

“What’s the MC%?”

“Around 8-10%, but I recommend you set aside the stocks for 2 weeks after you receive the lumber. Lumber needs some time to adapt to local relative humidity.”

After several more conservations, the deal was made. It is the first load Gutchess Lumber ever sold to Northern Vietnam, and it is the first load of lumber Mr. Dang Nguyen bought directly from the U.S. 2-months after Dang received his hardwood from Gutchess Lumber, Dang and I met at a wood convention in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His words to me solidified my promise that he would no longer receive calls late into the night.

Dang simply said, “Now my masterpiece found the final piece, the quality hardwood from Gutchess lumber.”

I started with Gutchess Lumber as an intern. At the time, I was pursuing a master’s degree in Wood Science at SUNY ESF, while also taking supply chain management classes at Syracuse University. When I first started in 2015, I was in the log yard and did not foresee myself working in the lumber industry in the beginning. After more exposure to the mill production, studies of product yields, learning NHLA grades and stack lumber, plus free business trips to China as an interpreter for Gutchess Lumber President and Vice President, Matthew Gutchess and Brian Conklin, my interest was secured. Not only did it align with my education in wood and lumber techniques, but whole industry supply chain management as well.

Upon graduation from college, I was offered a position in the sales department and where I have been through the last 5 years. I am the Asia sales representative, which has continued those free business trips 4 times a year (pre-Covid). Whether I am abroad in Asia or at the Gutchess Lumber Cortland Headquarters, I can assure my customers that the premium quality lumber we provide will guarantee a peaceful nights sleep.

One of the few women in the lumber industry, Trudy Burdge, shares her journey on how she became a leading saleswoman at Gutchess Lumber Co., Inc. This is her story:

My journey in the hardwood lumber industry started early: I was born into it.  My father owned and operated a small sawmill. A few of my uncles owned and operated sawmills as well. Several of my cousins worked in one of the family sawmills or were loggers cutting trees for them. Some drove truck, either hauling logs or delivering lumber. Almost every single one of my relatives was involved in one aspect or another in the lumber business. It was more than just their livelihood, it was their life. As I grew up watching them work and listening to their stories, I knew I wanted to be a part of it myself. I wanted it to be my life as well as my living.

After high school graduation, I got a job with a local hardwood concentration yard. I started out working in the plant, first stacking lumber and a few months later, driving a forklift. I spent a year in the plant before moving into the office. Over the next several years, I went from being an office worker to becoming the office manager. That role eventually led to a position working with the company IT department to develop software for the entire organization. My time in these different areas gave me a broader understanding of the business. Those opportunities provided a great learning experience that made it possible for me to ultimately move into sales, which was one of my career goals. To that end I’ve been fortunate. A lot of people took an interest and guided me along the way.  Every step I’ve taken, someone – a co-worker, a manager – has taken with me. So many have shared their knowledge. They gave their time and effort to help and teach me. For that, I am and always will a be grateful to them.

While there are still fewer women than men in the hardwood industry, we women are gaining in number. My path to sales may differ compared to other women selling lumber, but we all have a common goal of doing the best we can for our company and our customers. I am proud to represent Gutchess Lumber and to sell Gutchess Lumber products.  I am proud to be a part of an industry where a man – or woman – does business “on a handshake”. That’s how my father said it was done in his day and I’m glad it’s still done that way in mine. I was born into this; I have sawdust in my blood.  And I want to encourage and assist other young people, especially women, into joining this great industry.

At Gutchess Lumber, we pride ourselves on producing the best Northern hardwoods on the market. We’re fifth generation led, we’re employee owned, and we’re so much more than just the best Northern hardwoods producer. Take a minute to learn about who we are and some of the things we do:

We support local communities

We started as a sawmill on a small farm in upstate New York in 1904 and we appreciate the impact of local communities. We gladly support and share in the growth of the local communities that we operate within across all seven of our locations in New York and Pennsylvania.

We support sustainability

Did you know we own over 30,000 acres of our own forestland? Our team of professionally trained foresters ensure each forest that we work with is responsibly managed and harvested on 15 and 30 year cycles. This promotes forest regeneration and carbon sequestration, which provides environmental, social, and economic benefits (we have the FSC certification to prove it).

We support education

As one example of our commitment to education, the Gutchess family created an endowed scholarship at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to assist students in their higher education and learning journeys. Gutchess is also proud to offer some of the best internships

We support our employee owners

Gutchess Lumber is an ESOP company, which makes our employees our owners. Each employee owner has a unique opportunity to learn and grow to their full potential. Vice President Brian Conklin started at Gutchess Lumber in stackdown, Director of Financial Planning and Analysis Patrick Viscome started as a financial analyst intern, and Director of IT Justin St. John started as an information technology associate.