Pineville, NC— With multiple locations in North and South Carolina, The Building Center, Inc. is among the nation’s largest privately-held lumber dealers. The company purchases more than 50 million board feet annually in Softwoods.
“We’ve built our business on providing excellent and consistent service to our builder customers,” said CEO and founder, Ed Norris. The Building Center leverages its sizable regional presence to purchase and sell branded and commodity products at competitive market prices. Inventories are maintained and managed to meet the needs of individual markets, regional building practices, and metro architectural trends.
“Our mission is to be our customer’s most valued building partner,” said Skip Norris, President. “That means we have products he or she needs on hand, trucks to deliver, and manufacturing support throughout every inch of the Carolinas.”
This level of ready product availability includes two truss plants, two door shops, and millwork fabrication of mouldings and custom components for both interior and exterior applications. Additionally the Pineville location sources and distributes exotic products like reclaimed and rustic wood in addition to many hardwood species.
Established in 1977 by Ed Norris as a family-owned and managed business, The Building Center Inc. originated in the Charlotte metro area. Among the company’s extensive product offerings are framing lumber, roofing, interior and exterior finish products, EWP, doors, windows, and custom floor and roof trusses.
Framing materials include Spruce, Yellow Pine, treated lumber, OSB, finish grade plywood and CDX. Specialty woods offered are Douglas Fir, Knotty Alder, some hardwood species, Shiplap, and reclaimed wood and timbers. Mouldings and boards are available in Spruce, Pine, poplar and finger joint primed Radiata.
The Building Center has facilities in North and South Carolina including a truss plant in Mebane, NC; a lumberyard and millwork shop in Greensboro, NC; a lumberyard and truss plant in Gastonia, NC; a lumberyard and millwork shop in Pineville, NC; and lumberyards in Rock Hill, SC; Columbia, SC; and Holly Hill, SC.
The Turnkey Service division in The Building Center’s Pineville office offers a wide range of installation options in Cabarrus, Catawba, Mecklenburg, Gaston, York and Union Counties. The company can provide and install: entry door systems (pre-hung) of all types and sizes; pre-hung interior doors with stock or custom trim; framing; siding; and roofing (re-roof or new construction).
The Building Center maintains a fleet of over 100 trucks to service the Carolinas, serving single family home builders, multifamily and commercial markets. Said President Skip Norris, “At the end of the day, construction is a people business. We’re here to provide assistance and solutions to the hard-working customers we serve.”
The company has 380 employees. Key personnel include CEO Ed Norris; President Skip Norris; CFO Grant Philip; Director of Purchasing Mike Duke; and Director of Sales Brian Poovey.
On-the-job mentorship, online training and in-person classes are all a part of the extensive training process at The Building Center. “Entry level employees work through a succession of positions with multiple career paths available,” said Skip Norris. “We practice and promote safety and cyber safety procedures. These are both imperative to properly serve our employees and customers.
He continued, “Our Brand promise is to be a ‘Big/Little’ company. We provide the product choices, services, and pricing offered by large consolidators, but at the same time can provide flexibility in service due to a streamlined structure. Our bureaucracy is two people – and both can make a decision.”
He said what sets the operation apart from its competitors is a focus on partnership and service. “Our special services and features flow from our tagline ‘Service you can build on’ as well as our corporate mission statement: “Our mission is to be your most valued building partner, building the homes we live in today.”
He continued, “We take pride in our ability to provide broad product selection, competitive pricing, and flexibility in service. We have fleet superiority (in quantity and type of vehicle): boom trucks, forklift trucks, box trucks, curtain trucks; volume efficiency. For example, we bring Spruce by rail into Pineville and can unload 5 cars at a time.”
As for what’s ahead for this multi-state operation, Norris explained, “We have growth initiatives in place at virtually every location. A new showroom and office expansion in Pineville; high-tech equipment in both truss plants and Greensboro; yard improvements in Columbia, and renovations are underway at newly acquired Holly Hill.
For more information visit www.TheBuildingCenter.com.
