Page 11 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Third Quarter 2021

Chris Charest, Procurement Forester, H.W. Culp Lumber Company
BY AMANDA MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
There is something indescribably wonderful about driving down a country road in rural North Carolina. I was fortunate the weather cooperated for me in April and I had a sunny 75-degree day for my road trip to Culp Lumber Company. Chris Charest, a ProLogger who sits on the NCFA’s Board of
Directors and is also the association’s Piedmont Vice President, met me at the company headquarters in New London.
Charest joined the NCFA through the ProLogger safety-training program in 2006. Ed Listerman, Procurement Manager at Culp, informed him that both loggers and foresters were required to take the training, so Charest started his journey with our organization 15 years ago.
When I asked Charest what benefits are most important to him as a member of the NCFA, he answered, “Getting the entire picture of forestry in the state. You can get really regionalized in your own operations, but NCFA gives you perspective on landowners, industry, and other forestry- related organizations.”
Charest majored in Agriculture Business Management and Economics at North Carolina State University, and originally wanted to work in grain procurement. He had an opportunity for an internship with Culp in 2004, and jumped at the chance to work with the organization. Charest ended up attending Montgomery Community College for an associate’s degree in Forest Management Technology after he began working full- time for Culp. His responsibilities as a procurement forester include:
• buying100tractortrailerloadsofpinelogsperdayto “feed the mill;”
• managingastaffofthreeforestersandtwoforesttechnicians, as well as seven logging crews;
• managingpurchase/harvestanddeliveryofloads;and
• responsibilityforpaymentstologgers,weeklysettlements, and all procurement software.
Q:I know Culp was an early supporter of the ProLogger program in the
1990s. Tell me more about that.
A:In the ‘90s, many loggers were dying, somewhere near 12/13 per year.
With Ed Listerman’s leadership, Culp started working with Forestry Mutual Insurance Company (FMIC) around
that time to push logging safety in the industry. When the NCFA ProLogger program came together, Culp was one of the first organizations through corporate commitment to push the ProLogger training. We hold in-person OSHA and ProLogger training courses here, and we are active with both NCFA and FMIC to promote safety in the logging industry. Today, the number of logger deaths is significantly lower.
Q:Tell me about your organization, Culp Lumber Company, specifically
the trucking, wood procurement, sawmill, dry kilns, and planer mill.
A:Culp is family-owned with third- generation leadership and has been
located on the same spot for 100 years. The operations started out as a planer mill and moved up to an in-woods sawmill. We sold pine and hardwood until the mid-1970s, when we switched to pine only. Around 1983, Culp invested from a carriage mill to a sharp chain with double band saws. In 2007, we invested in a curve gang saw. The Culp family has always believed in investing in technology. They have been active
in keeping up with automation and scanning, improving recovery, and in 2009 invested in an optimized grading
ncforestry.org / THIRD QUARTER 2021 9