Page 10 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Third Quarter 2022

Q: Tell me about yourself. Our records show you’ve been an NCFA member since 2015 and Troy
Lumber has been a member since 1999 — more than 20 years.
A: Troy Lumber Sales Corporation was opened in 1945 by Frederick
Leslie Taylor Sr. along with his wife Alliene Taylor and his children Leslie Whitesell, Frederick Harrison Taylor, and Anthea Tate. In 1948, the company incorporated and the name changed to Troy Lumber Company. My grandfather worked with a planer mill at the time and took lumber from ground mills to be air-dried. They had a boiler and dressed and sold Southern yellow pine. My father worked at Troy Lumber in 1954, and mom worked there shortly thereafter as secretary and treasurer. In 1958, Troy Lumber Company also had a division manufacturing mobile homes. In fact, it manufactured the very first mobile home here in North Carolina.
I came to work at Troy in 1988 after working at Uwharrie Lumber Company. Today, we manufacture 3.3 million board feet finished per week; we sell 75% of our lumber to treaters, and 25% to truss plants. I became Vice President at Troy in 2007.
Q: What was your original reason for joining the NCFA?
A: I want to promote the mission of the NCFA: to ensure healthy,
productive, and sustainable forests.
Q: What is the biggest issue facing your organization today?
A: Labor is our biggest issue right now. Finding skilled labor is challenging.
Q: What steps does your organization take to
ensure healthy, productive, and sustainable forests?
A: Our timberlands are managed for multiple uses such as wildlife,
recreation, and most importantly, timber production. We negotiate our forest operations with operators who we trust and know will do a good job. We limit our yearly allowable harvest to sustain a healthy rotation into perpetuity. We also use genetically
8 ncforestry.org / THIRD QUARTER 2022