Page 9 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Third Quarter 2020

BY AMY JULIANA
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Lumber Company and of Tram Lumber LLC in Seagrove. That consistency is evident by the steady line of log trucks driving into
the mill and the hum of the saw on a June morning when the North Carolina Forestry Association (NCFA) sat down with Allen to learn more about operating a hardwoods mill in the Piedmont.
Piedmont Proud
Growing up in Biscoe, just a few miles from the mill, Allen had his hands in
the dirt from an early age. He gained an appreciation for the land by gardening with his grandfather as a child and working with his father on construction projects.
At East Montgomery High, Allen participated with the Future Farmers
of America on the Horticulture Team. Learning the science behind the plants and gaining confidence in his skills, Allen
and his team won the state title and were invited to Nationals.
After high school, he went on to graduate from Wake Forest University with a business degree and returned to the county in 1981 to manage a janitorial cleaning service with his family. “I always loved Montgomery County,” he said. “Not until I did some traveling outside of the county, saw some of the national parks, did I realize just how cool this area is.”
Growing a Business
Two years after Allen’s graduation, Uwharrie Lumber Company was formed.
“An opportunity came up to open up
a hardwood lumber business,” Allen said. “That was generated by Troy Lumber Company needing a market for their hardwood. The Piedmont is unique because we have a lot of mixed stands that grow together, and so if you are going to harvest the stands, you need a market to be competitive buying the tract of timber.”
Therefore, in 1983, Ray’s father J.F. “Jeff” Allen, Fred Taylor and Bobby Myrick purchased a bankrupt mill in southern Virginia and relocated the equipment further south in the nation’s wood basket. Situated on 14 acres, the rough, green
sawmill initially produced four-quarter boards for the booming furniture industry of the 1980s.
“When we started, a tremendous percentage of furniture that was made
in the world and definitely in the U.S. was made within 200 miles of our mill,” Ray Allen said. “And so the furniture industry was extremely important to our manufacturing. Almost all those furniture factories had their own kiln systems.”
Business kept booming until the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994, which drastically altered manufacturing and labor in the States. The furniture factories in North Carolina began to close their doors, which in turn affected the hardwood lumber business. This forced the Allen family to reconsider end markets and diversify products.
Building a Community
Since Uwharrie Lumber Company opened its doors in 1983, Ray Allen has been on site.
“They offered me a job in sales and I was able to sell, but I had to grade every stick of lumber while I was doing it,” he said. “Hard work won’t hurt you. I haven’t run every job in the mill, but over the years, I have run most of them.” When asked
e cut good lumber and we cut consistent lumber,” said Allen, President of Uwharrie
Uwharrie foresters Adrian Blue (L) and Eddie Swan (R).
ncforestry.org / THIRD QUARTER
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