Who’s Who in Softwoods

Sept/Oct Issue

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Jacob Taylor
Jacob Taylor

Jacob Taylor has recently joined the team at Dakeryn Industries as the newest member of the sales team, focusing on specialty product distribution in both Canada and the U.S. 

Dakeryn Industries, headquartered in North Vancouver, BC, is a remanufacturer and distributor of SPF dimension lumber and specialties servicing North America and select export markets. The company owns and operates Mountain View Specialties in Abbotsford, BC, producing superior quality primed fascia, trim boards, decking and PET products. Dakeryn also owns and operates Westmark Products in Spruce Grove, AB. Westmark provides mixed loads of lumber for prompt shipment through Canada and the U.S. 

Previously, Taylor worked as the franchise owner of Student Works Painting in Ontario. More recently, he has spent time in Dakeryn’s transportation and administration departments. His current responsibilities include invoice processing, data input, dispatch coordination, and marketing material production.

Dakeryn Industries is a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, BC Wholesale Lumber Association, Independent Wood Processors Association of British Columbia, Northwestern Lumber Association and the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association.

In 2020, Taylor graduated from Nipissing University (North Bay, ON) with a Bachelor of Business Administration, specializing in marketing. In his spare time, Taylor enjoys hiking, golfing, snowboarding, and meeting new people. 

For more information, visit www.dakeryn.com

John Ritz
John Ritz

John Ritz is outside sales representative for Robbins Lumber Co. located in Searsmont, ME.

Robbins Lumber is a family-run operation that produces upwards of 50 million board feet per year of Eastern White Pine products, with the recent aquisition of Limington Lumber in East Baldwin, offering NELMA grades, 4/4 and 5/4, Surfaced, Pattern and Rough. All lumber is dried to 8-12 percent moisture content. 

Robbins Lumber offers the ability to service wholesale distributor customers with truck load quantities, as well as service many in-state retail lumberyards with their own stocking levels, in addition to small, specialty job lot size orders, often times with a short turnaround. The company’s paint facility produces a variety of pre-finished Eastern White Pine products.

Ritz is a graduate of Lawrence Academy, located in Groton, MA, and Kenyon College, located in Gambier, OH. His first position in the forest products industry was at Wilson Lumber, located in Concord, MA. Ritz has been selling lumber in Maine for 25 years.

Certified by International Organization for Standardization, Robbins Lumber Co. is a member of the Northeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association and the North American Wholesale Lumber Association.

He and his wife of 29 years, Kara, have 12-year-old twin daughters. In his spare time, Ritz enjoys spending time with his family, camping, fishing and working on his home.

For more information visit www.rlco.com

Lucas Rodakowski
Lucas Rodakowski

Lucas Rodakowski is a sales representative and the Marketing Director of Prime Forest Products in Beaverton, OR. Prime Forest is a remanufacturer of western Softwood lumber. The company sells its products worldwide, with about 35 percent of their business going to export. 

Prime Forest manufactures 20 million board feet of lumber annually in Douglas Fir, Hemlock, Western Redwood Cedar and Ponderosa Pine in grades Shop through clears, No. 1 and Better FOHC and No. 2 and Better FOHC. Thicknesses include 1×2 to 1×12, 2×2 to 2×12, 3×3 and wider, 4×4 and wider and up to 12×12 and wider. Prime Forest sells its lumber green-rough and kiln dried to 12 percent or less moisture content – rough, surfaced and patterned. 

Prime Forest produces beveled siding, tongue and groove for decking, flooring and paneling, pattern stock, moulding, timbers, ship lap siding and cut stock with custom grades per customer specifications, fractional sizes and pattern.

Prime Forest is a member of the North American Wholesale Lumber Association, Forest Stewardship Council and Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification.

Rodakowski has worked as a sales representative for four years and as marketing director for 1-1/2 years for Prime Forest. He grew up going on mill trips and spending time at Oregon Canadian’s office, because his father, Brad Rodakowski, worked for Oregon Canadian and Lucas’ grandfather Sy Rodakowski was one of the founders. Lucas Rodakowski has worked in the forest products industry for nine years, starting at International Wood Products (IWP).

From IWP, Rodakowski moved to Oregon Canadian, pulling on the chain for a couple of months before driving a forklift for different machine centers. 

After Oregon Canadian, Rodakowski spent six months working in the office for Prime Forest before attending college in Canada for two years. While living in Canada, Rodakowski visited sawmills to inspect the wood before it was shipped to Prime Forest.

He carried out a practicum with Trans-Pacific Trading Ltd. (TRAPA) for four months, learning about a sawmill’s operations: from grading to buying logs to documentation and processes for shipping overseas. He has attended the Global Buyers Mission, NAWLA’s Trader’s Market, The Lumberman’s Ski and Snowboard Race at Whistler, and was a member of the 2019 NAWLA YELP Group.

A graduate of Hillsboro High School, Rodakowski went on to graduate from British Columbia Institute of Technology with a degree in Marketing Management Entrepreneurship. In his free time, Rodakowski loves snowboarding in the winter, and camping and floating in the Deschutes River in the summer. Rodakowski is married to his high school sweetheart.

For more information about Prime Forest, go to www.primeforest.com.

Quinn Chamberlain
Quinn Chamberlain

Quinn Chamberlain handles lumber purchasing and sales at Bitterroot Valley Forest Products in Missoula, MT.

Bitterroot Valley markets 1×4-1×12 and 2×6-2×12, pattern stock, log and timber siding, Ghostwood, textured siding in hewn, scallop, raised grain, re-sawn and circular sawn. Lumber species offered include Douglas Fir, PPLP, ESLP, SPF, Western Red Cedar, Inland Red Cedar and Hemlock Fir.

Chamberlain joined Bitterroot Valley four years ago interning in his present position.

He graduated from Helena Capital High School and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Health and Human Performance from the University of Montana-Western. 

When he is not at work, Chamberlain serves as offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach at Florence Carlton High School, and in his spare time enjoys fishing, playing golf, running and reading.

Learn more about Bitterroot Valley at www.bvfpmontana.com

By Miller Wood Trade Publications

The premier online information source for the forest products industry since 1927.

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