Who’s Who In Softwoods
Hancock Lumber: Eastern White Pine Around The World
Matt Duprey
Matt Duprey is Hancock Lumber’s chief sales officer-White Pine for the sawmill division, headquartered in Casco, ME. Duprey oversees the logistics and mill scheduling group, along with all sales and customer relations programs. He is also on the executive team at Hancock Lumber.
Hancock Lumber manufactures Eastern White Pine boards, producing 100 million board feet annually, with a focus on surfaced and pattern 4/4 boards. In addition to their U.S. sales in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West, the company also serves Canada and export markets.
Each board Hancock manufactures meets either NELMA’s Eastern White Pine grade standards or is graded to meet proprietary specifications for individual custom programs. After kiln drying, their boards average between 10 to 12 percent moisture content with a standard deviation of less than two percent. Hancock’s made-in-Maine Pine boards are offered in widths ranging from 2″ through 12″ and lengths ranging from 4′ to 16′, with 45 percent of production being pattern stock.
The company has three moulder operations for pattern product and manufactures a variety of textures and patterns on boards such as clean bandsawn, barn rougherhead, or resawn bevel products. At their Bethel and Casco facilities, they also shrink-wrap pattern products to meet the specific needs of their customers. Additionally, Hancock Lumber has two end match machines and a Hancock ProFinish department that primes and pre-stains their products.
Hancock Lumber is a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association, Wood Products Manufacturers Association and American Wood Council.
As a past three-year Maine International Trade Center board member and current Chairman for the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association, Duprey has worked for Hancock Lumber for 31 years. He has a BA in Forestry with Concentration in Wood Science and Technology.
Outside of work, he enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his wife and two sons.
For more information, visit hancocklumber.com.
Canadian Company Sells A Variety Of Softwoods
Stephen Gotch
Headquartered in Richmond, BC, softwood lumber supplier Skana Forest Products Ltd. employs Stephen Gotch as a lumber trader. Gotch sells quite a bit of product, especially Southern Yellow Pine, to the Southeast U.S.
The Canadian company sells the following species, in addition in Southern Yellow Pine, to North America: Cedar, Fir, Pine, Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Spruce and aspen. Skana offers a variety of grades and thicknesses such as 1×4 mill run rough to dimensional lumber and 1×8 kiln-dried S4S Clear Vertical Grain Western Red Cedar in addition to pallet stock, on-grade dimensional lumber, MSR and more.
Value-added processes include remanning, patterns and specialty products with, as noted by Gotch, “reliable and available lumber.”
In January of 2024, Gotch started his career at Skana in logistics before transitioning to lumber trading in September of 2024. His career at Skana was his first experience in the forest products industry but he has been in sales since he was 17.
Gotch, originally Calgary, AB, completed high school at Holy Trinity Academy in Okotoks, AB, before moving to Vancouver, BC, to attend The University of British Columbia.
He played professional volleyball for seven years overseas and spent five years as a member of Team Canada. He enjoys guitar and is an avid golfer.
Gotch has been married to Kristy for two years, has one three-year-old and has a two-month-old daughter.
Call 604-273-5441, email steve@skana.com or visit skana.com for more information.
Restoration Forest Products Advances Sustainable Building Materials Through Forest Restoration
Rick Mueller
Rick Mueller is the business development manager with Restoration Forest Products (RFOR) in Bellemont, AZ. He has been in his role with RFOR for two years and leverages deep industry expertise spanning wholesale distribution, specialty building products, and lumber manufacturing to strengthen the company’s market reach across the Southwestern United States and North America.
RFOR offers 1-inch S4S boards and 2 inch S4S lumber, along with specialized remanufactured products such as 1inch WP4 tongue-and-groove pattern stock available in V4E, V2E flatback, pattern 116 and edge & center bead configurations. RFOR also produces pallet cut stock and lumber, demonstrating their commitment to maximizing resource utilization. They also operate with a dual mission of environmental stewardship and quality lumber production. This restoration work yields premium Ponderosa Pine building materials through the company’s state-of-the-art sawmill operation, which produces 50 million board feet of lumber annually.
RFOR is a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association and the Western Pallet Association.
Mueller holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO, and in his personal time enjoys desert hiking, kayaking, coastal travel and building out AI automation marketing systems.
For more information on RFOR, please reach out to Mueller at 480-845-4407 or rick.mueller@rfor.com or at rfor.com.
Shelton Lam & Deck: Offering Products In Various Species
Paul Ericson
Paul Ericson is the president of Shelton Lam & Deck, located in Chehalis, WA.
Shelton Lam & Deck is a manufacturer of Lock-Deck laminated decking and other engineered wood products, such as glulam. They also offer manufacturing services such as surfacing timbers, milling to pattern, finger-jointing, face gluing and edge-gluing, end matching, ripping, re-saw, sanding, circle saw and wire brush texturing and pre-staining. Products are manufactured from various species, including Cedar, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, as well as domestic and imported softwoods and hardwoods.
Ericson first started working in the forest products industry at his father’s glulam beam facility, Shelton Structures.
After attending college, Ericson went on to work for Disdero Lumber (the exclusive distributor of Lock-Deck products) and then Tumac Lumber. After years away from the family business, Ericson returned to Chehalis in 2008 as co-owner of Shelton Lam & Deck.
Learn more at sheltonstructures.com.
