our roots
The seeds of East Coast Lumber were planted fifty years ago — in 1973 — by Lee Ashburn. At our conception, we operated as a brokerage business purchasing lumber from small, local sawmills scattered across the state of North Carolina and matching that product with our customers. During the 60s and 70s, the furniture business was booming in central North Carolina and many of our customers were in need of crates and pallets to safely ship their sofas, chairs and other products. Being that we lived in the heart of Southern Yellow Pine forests, we knew we had the proper lumber. So when it rained at the local sawmills, we were able to request some time on the resaw to take those 2x4s and turn them into two 1x4s to meet the needs of our industrial-based customers.
By 1979, Ashburn decided to purchase his own resaw to meet the growing demands on the remanufacturing end without a need for a cloud in the sky. Ashburn bought a couple of acres at an old railroad depot in Welcome, NC and hired Johnny Hall who would become the first employee of Industrial Wood Products — our sister company. Hall dug a hole in the ground, poured concrete, placed the resaw where it needed to go, put a tin roof over the top of it and started resawing.
From the Ground Up
Able to keep up with the demand, both East Coast Lumber and Industrial Wood Products grew alongside each other eventually outgrowing the railroad depot. In the early 80s, both relocated to Climax, NC where our headquarters remain today. We currently operate out of five facilities — in Climax, NC, Maxton, NC, Ramseur, NC, Keysville, VA and Vicksburg, MS. We have offices with traders in three cities — Climax, NC, Wilmington, NC and Kingsbury, TX. And, we warehouse and ship wood products in and out of Norfolk, VA, Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, Wilmington, NC and Savannah, GA. From lumber to service to transportation, financing, retail sales and any and everything between, it’s our mission to add value to your business. We operate with genuine care for the people we do business with on the customer side and on the mill side. And, we’ll always shoot you straight.
products
East Coast Lumber buys, sells, trades, remanufactures and imports wood products. We specialize in industrials requiring Southern Yellow Pine often used for construction, palettes and crating. However, we also source hardwoods, high-grade pine, truss, specialty trim, shiplap, tongue & groove and treated lumber. We also offer a wide variety of discount building products like shingles, vinyl & fiber cement siding, tile & laminate flooring and other overstock liquidation items. Working with our connections at sawmills across the Southeast, we are equipped to customize any order using resaw or manufacturing techniques to meet your specific needs.
mission
We strive to create value for our customers and suppliers, as well as the communities we are a part of, by providing the highest level of service and the most ethical practices, while building strong and lasting relationships.
sustain-ability
The wood products industry is the greenest industry in the world. It’s the most sustainable natural resource here. As an industry, every tree we cut down we plant seven back. Around 97% of the lumber we trade and remanufacture is Southern Yellow Pine which grows from east Texas across the entire Southeast, into Florida and up into the middle portion of Virigina. It’s the largest wood basket in the world and the largest producing region in volume of timber in Southeastern United States.
East Coast Lumber and its sister companies employ about 275 people. As a family-owned and operated business, our biggest source of pride is our people and the fact that 275 families are supported 365 days of the year from the good work we do. At the end of the day, there isn’t anybody here, we wouldn’t get into a foxhole with. After 50 years in the business, we’ve never lost that family-feel. And, we consider you — our customers — family too.