Story By Manufacturer & Business Association’s Business Magazine
Additional contributors to this story: Paul Miller Jr. and Michelle Keller
Photos By Megan Ciafre/R. Frank Media with additional photos provided by Ron Jones Hardwood Sales
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc., a family owned third generation Hardwood lumber business, headquartered in Union City with a lumber yard in Franklin, PA, marks its 40th year. President Steve Jones, Founder Ron Jones, and Sales/ Procurement Nate Jones
The Northern Appalachians are known for their high quality of American lumber – a rich and diverse basket of Hardwood including Red and White Oak, Black Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Ash, Yellow Birch, Hickory and Poplar.
Here the experts say you’ll find some of the most beautiful Hardwoods with the best grain patterns and colors in the world.
And it’s here, among the rolling hills of Northwest Pennsylvania, that you will find Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc., a family owned and operated business that prides itself as being experts in the Hardwood lumber business for the past 40 years.
With headquarters and sales office located in a historic rail station in Union City, PA and a sprawling lumber yard, warehouse and dry kiln manufacturing facility in Franklin, PA, Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc. is an industry leader in the sales of premium grade Northern Appalachian kiln-dried Hardwood lumber. The company, which procures its lumber from a 150-mile radius of its Northwest Pennsylvania operations, produces up to 10 million board feet of Hardwoods annually. Key markets include customers that purchase wholesale lots including cabinet, furniture, millwork and flooring manufacturers, and distribution yards nationally and internationally.
Members of the Jones Hardwoods Inc. managerial team in Franklin include (from left): Operations Manager Ben Krieg; Office Manager Cheryl Xander; Quality Control Kevin Williams; and Inventory Manager Chad Moon.
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales’ reputation for high quality is a credit to the Joneses’ more than 100 years of expertise, as well as their strategic approach to investments in their operations, equipment, and team of 35 professionals, many of whom have been with the company for 20 years or more.
Steve Jones, President and Director of Domestic and Export Sales, credits his father, Ron Jones, for laying the framework that the company’s success is built upon. “We’re just taking it to the next level,” he said. “We’ve worked really hard and continually reinvent ourselves with our product mix, with the markets that we have, and how we do business.”
At Ron Jones Hardwood Sales, “We are always looking for future opportunities,” Steve Jones continued. “We’re never staying static. What we do today does not mean that is what we do tomorrow. Our employees know that, and they get it.”
Proud History
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc. is a true American success story, the road to entrepreneurship was a journey two decades in the making for founder Ron Jones.
Back in 1959, Ron had just graduated from Union City High School looking to start his career in the local lumber business — a thriving industry for the small Pennsylvania town. He set out by earning his technical and grading certification from the prestigious National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) School in Memphis, TN, and returned home the following year to take a job trading lumber for Union National Furniture Company in Jamestown, NY. Before long, he was back in Union City working for wholesaler Tri-State Hardwood turned American Lumber, the largest exporter of Hardwoods east of the Mississippi River.
Hired by owner and mentor Herb Ascherman, a Harvard University graduate, Ron worked his way up the ranks to become a vice president and eventually president of American Hardwood Industries, of which he became part owner. In 1976, the wholesale company was sold to then Hammermill Paper Company. It was a major milestone for Ron, who after 23 years as an executive for some of the industry’s best lumber corporations, decided to strike out on his own.
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc. has reinvested in the company, installing a new planer mill located in its new 27,500-square foot lumber storage/load building in Franklin.
“I started my own company at 43 years old in 1983,” he recalled. “I’d asked some people, ‘What should I call the company?’ And they said, ‘Use your name. You’ve got a good reputation. Just call it Ron Jones Hardwoods.’ So that’s what I did, and I worked that wholesale company for 10 years and did very well. Then, in 1991, I started a lumber yard in Franklin.”
Today, Ron Jones is considered an industry legend with more than 60 years of experience in buying and selling American Hardwoods, proud to have passed his knowledge on to both his son, Steve, and grandson, Nate Jones.
“I’m very blessed,” Ron said, “and I’m blessed to have my son and grandson in the business too.”
Next Generation
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc.’s expertise and professionalism have certainly positioned the company to successfully transition from one generation to the next.
Employees work on the high production green grading line in Franklin, PA.
Steve, who is now the sole owner, is a Penn State and NHLA grad (and former instructor) and has been with the company since 1989. Since that time, he has increased sales and better positioned the company, navigating China trade wars, COVID, and other challenges, as both a respected leader in his industry and community.
A former Union City Citizen of the Year, Steve has served on many local and national boards, including the National Hardwood Lumber Association, Hardwood Manufacturers Association, the Hardwood Manufacturers Association Board, the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturer’s Board, the Penn-York Lumbermen’s Club, and the American Hardwood Export Council. He also is a former chairman of the Manufacturer & Business Association Board of Governors and chairman of the Union City Community Foundation.
“Steve’s been a member and officer in every Hardwood association there is, and he is making great decisions,” explained Ron Jones. “He’s well known in the industry, not just in Pennsylvania, but all over the United States, Canada, and Internationally. He handles his people better than anybody I’ve ever seen.”
Steve recently recruited his son Nate to become an integral part of the company after earning a dual degree in international business and marketing from Penn State Behrend in the spring of 2020. At the height of the COVID pandemic, Nate attended the NHLA Inspector Training School for a seven-week intensive, lumber inspection program before joining the family business, immersing himself in all aspects of its operations — yarding lumber, quality control, lumber grading, and dry kilns. Nate quickly moved to the sales team, as home improvement projects, such as flooring, cabinets, and millwork drove skyrocketing demand for American Hardwood lumber in the COVID era.
Pictured is the front entrance to the new storage/planer building at Ron Jones Hardwoods.
“It was such a hyperexcited time, but we knew Nate could handle it,” Steve explained.
Now, each generation of the Jones family is leaving their mark on the business.
“I think Steve and Ron are great role models,” said Nate Jones. “We are very different people, and my leadership style will be different than theirs, and that’s OK. We’ll keep things going and keep innovating with slow, steady growth to keep things moving.”
Strategy for Success
Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc.’s strategy for success has been to continuously reinvent its product mix, markets, and culture, and by reinvesting in technology, equipment, and employees. Everyone is cross trained within the organization.
“We’re always staying forward thinking,” explained Steve Jones. “We must continually adapt, look at ways we can increase value, and have efficient production flow through the business of our products. We are investing in machinery, in technology and our people.”
He expanded on the recent developments: “We have made significant investments in our facility over the past six years. We now have 500,000-board-foot kiln capacity after constructing two new 50,000 board foot SII Dry Kilns. Most recently the company built a 27,500 square foot building for storage and load facility where we also installed a planer line running a Newman S382 planer.”
Current Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc. corporate staff (from left): Lumber Procurement Trevor Vaughan; Office Manager & Controller Diane Cooper; President & Director of Domestic and Export Sales Steve Jones; Sales and Purchasing Nate Jones; and Administrative Assistant Kaylynn Ostergard.
Steve said, “We had to take down older, well used buildings to be able to make way for the new building. All of this was a result of discovering where we could make gains and improve efficiencies. The investments we have made over the last six years have been to run lean and improve the flow of materials. The company also built a new green grading line that can grade five to six tractor-trailer loads of Hardwood lumber a day, improving productivity by 100 percent. In addition, the company invested capital on concrete and asphalt to get out of the mud and dirt, that is making a remarkable difference in the quality of lumber produced and reduce wear and tear on equipment.”
Domestic and export markets cover an equal amount of the operation’s sales, and he added, “Consistency in the product is key. We like to keep the product species we have – the Cherry, the Maples, the Poplar, the Hickory and the Oaks – consistent from the same region. This provides a reliable color for us, and our customers who range from large distribution yards to manufacturers to millwork houses. With the addition of the planer line, we look to build additional U.S. business opportunities. The planer line enables us to produce and guarantee consistent quality of well-packaged lumber with quick turnaround times.
“We are really encouraged with all the recent facility modifications and the direction our company is going, and we’re not done yet,” said Steve Jones. The Joneses recognize the importance of lasting quality. At Ron Jones Hardwood Sales Inc., it’s the driving force of their excellence in the Hardwood lumber industry for the past 40 years and for years to come.
You can also read this story online at www.mbabizmag.com, or www.millerwooodtradepub.com.
