Bob Uglow
Wood Products Business & Marketing, 1995

"My name is Bob Uglow and I graduated in 1995 with a Wood Products,Business and Marketing degree. I am currently working as a hardwood lumber trader for Baillie Lumber Company, in Hamburg, New York.

Baillie Lumber Company is a hardwood lumber manufacturer and wholesaler with facilities throughout the eastern United States. We sell high-quality hardwood lumber to furniture manufacturers all over the world. My job, simply put, is to buy and sell hardwood lumber. When I'm buying, I travel through western Ontario, purchasing lumber from sawmills. When I'm selling, I travel the western United States and Canada, working with furniture manufacturers and distribution yards.

Hardwood lumber markets are volatile and lumber prices change rapidly in response to supply and demand pressures. I enjoy working in an environment that is never the same from day to day. The work is challenging, fast-paced, and demanding. I take pleasure in being a resource for my mills and customers, and believe Baillie Lumber is a quality company."

Tom McClure
Wood Products Processing and Manufacturing, 1997

"My name is Tom McClure, and I am a Spring 1997 Wood Products Processing and Manufacturing graduate. I am currently employed at Hyma Devore Lumber Mill, Inc. located in northwestern Pennsylvania in Youngsville.

Hyma Devore is a hardwood lumber manufacturer, and my main responsibility is sales and marketing. Although sales is my official title, I wear many other hats for the company.

To be brief, I have worked with the company foresters (yes, dendrology is important!) in the field and in the log yard. I've assisted the dry kiln operator in scheduling, and managed the inventory in our warehouse. I truly enjoy sales, but it is extremely important to have an understanding of the processes that produce the product you sell.

I highly recommend the Wood Products major because the timber industry is unique by way of the people involved and the products we create."

Kevin Eill
Wood Products Business and Marketing, 1996

"My name is Kevin Eill and I earned a Wood Products Business and Marketing degree in 1996. I am currently employed as a lumber buyer for Lumbermens Merchandise Corporation (LMC) located in Wayne, Pennsylvania. LMC is a purchasing cooperative for more than 40 independent lumberyards. LMC purchases all building materials in large quantities at a discount price that is passed on to LMC members. This is my fourth year in the Forest Products Division of LMC, buying western commodity framing lumber for LMC dealers.

Depending on the region of the United States, there are up to five major species of framing lumber used in construction, all trading at different price levels. Prices fluctuate weekly and even daily depending on certain variables such as seasonal weather, interest rates, housing starts, mill production quantities, backorders or lead times, Canadian quota, pulp prices, lumber futures, rumors, etc. My job as a buyer is to get specifications from my dealers and to call sawmills and even wholesalers in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and British Columbia, Canada and find which sawmill can accommodate my inquiry. The three main factors needed to put an order together between the sawmill and the lumberyard are tally, price, and delivery time. Most purchases are delivered via rail car while others are delivered by flatbed trucks. Trading lumber requires product and species evaluation as well as accurate market evaluations and close attention to detailed transactions. Salary ranges are $40,000 to $100,000+."

Robert Maze
Wood Products Processing and Manufacturing, 1996

"My name is Robert Maze and I am a 1996 graduate of the School of Forest Resources with a degree in Wood Products Processing and Manufacturing. Upon graduation in August 1996, I accepted a position with Jeld-Wen's composite division at our fiber plant in North Carolina (manufacturing MDF doorskins) as a group manager trainee. Currently, I am the senior-most group manager at our newest fiber plant in West Virginia. I am responsible for the efficient management of processes, personnel, safety, equipment, and training on a shiftly basis. The Wood Products curriculum helped me attain my current successes."