News & information about the company and employees of Banks Hardwoods, Inc.
Volume 9 • Number 1 • Winter 2014
White Pigeon Facility Expands to Meet Demand
With increasing demands for our hardwood lumber from customers the past
few years, we broke ground on a major
expansion of our production capabilities this past fall.
We moved Air Shed A to make
room for new kilns, and built two
new air sheds to accommodate more
air-drying capacity. There are also
two footprints prepared for two new
air sheds whenever demand warrants
further expansion.
In addition to the air-drying sheds,
we built a shed for staging green lumber. We also expanded the green chain
building to accommodate pulling off
both sides of the chain, which will
allow more sort options on the green
side.
Lastly, we built seven new 30,000
board feet dry kilns manufactured by
Kiln Drying Component Systems (KDS),
bringing our total kiln capacity to 2.8
million board feet. We added a new
kiln office to go with them, and have
an additional footprint to build eight
more kilns when needed. These new,
smaller kilns will be used primarily for
thick stock as we ramp up production
of those items. We look forward to the
new kilns adding depth and breadth to
our product offerings as our customer
needs expand in the coming months.
Vern Neff checks on the excavation work for the seven new kilns.
The foundation for the kilns nearly complete at our White Pigeon, Michigan facility.
UPCOMING
SHOWS
Indiana Hardwood
Lumberman’s Assoc.
FEB
4th
Several of our staff will be attending the
IHLA conference at the Marriott Downtown
in Indianapolis, IN Feb. 4–6.
Buckeye Expo
Scott Dickerson will be in our booth
at the Buckeye Expo Feb. 14–15.
Framework for our new kilns under construction.
FEB
14th
Cut & Dried
Winter 2014
Darren Hubartt
A note from Steve Banks
Darren’s link to the Banks Family began 30 years
ago when he was just 13 years old. He met my father while caddying for him at Elcona Country Club
in Bristol, Indiana. Before the day was out, my dad
hired Darren to help him that summer. The two
became great friends and
were virtually inseparable
until Darren graduated
from college. And when
he wasn’t helping my dad,
he found extra work on
the farm helping Holli
and me.
As you might imagine,
it was very entertaining
to watch this skinny, scrawny, rail of a kid, who
had an insatiable desire to earn and save money,
grow up before our eyes. Over the years he became
an extension of the family.
Darren saved enough to put himself through
college. After graduating he came in for a very
Chad Klatt
short job interview. I could not have been happier to have him on board. Soon he was off to
Memphis to learn the grades and upon his return
I quickly delegated the green lumber purchasing
to him. This was a very busy time as we had just
opened the Wisconsin yard. The job suited him
perfectly.
Over the years he has mastered the art of
opening doors and building strong relationships
with sawmills. We now have the best base of
loyal suppliers you could possibly hope for and
a fantastic team of guys on our purchasing team
following in his footsteps.
Darren now lives a mile from that same golf
course where he met my dad with his wife Lisa
and young son Brayden. When not buying lumber,
Darren likes to build houses and lose money
playing golf with Jim Clarke.
Thanks for 20 years at Banks and 30 years
with the Banks Family Darren, not to mention a
thousand laughs!
Chad Klatt joined the Banks Hardwoods Menomonie
Division in 1993 when the plant was in the final phases
of construction. He laid sticks for a short period of
time and then became the stacker operator for many
years. Along the way he quickly learned to operate
all machinery, and completed a grader’s short course
before joining the Maintenance Department.
Chad continues to
serve as our back-up
truck driver and go-to
guy for showing new employees the ropes. Singer,
joke teller, and occasional
prankster – Chad keeps
every one of us on our
toes and our spirits up on a daily basis. He likes to
hunt, farm and spend time with his family – wife,
Jenn, and son, Reyse. “He’s done everything here, and
has shared many stories along the way!” recalls plant
manager and friend, Greg Carroll. Thank you for
your 20 years of service to Banks Hardwoods, Chad!
We appreciate everything you do.
Joe Paquin
Joe started his career at Banks like
many others – piling lumber and
working his tail off at whatever he
was asked to do! With his strong
work ethic, he was soon given the
opportunity to operate machines
and grade. Increased production demands at the
time required 2nd shift growth and Joe jumped at
the chance to take a hands-on supervisor position.
Outside of work, Joe is a talented musician, an
avid hunter and fisherman (he makes some of the
best smoked whitefish), and recently has learned
the art of chain saw carving. He is a family man,
a company man and a dear friend to all of us that
have worked with him over the years! Joe we thank
you for your years of service and congratulate you
on your accomplishments!
Grading, operating machines, training new
employees and maintenance – Joe wore about
every hat that we had and he did it all while keeping quality up! As the years went by, Joe remained
loyal to 2nd shift, helping us build a group of guys
that could handle things without him someday.
Randy Parker
That someday came when Banks acquired the
Newberry division in 2006. Joe was from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and it was a great opportunity for him to move closer to his family. Through
our ups and downs he has been instrumental
in helping us build the Newberry division and
ensure quality standards are met. Joe has been a
pillar for our company for many years! Currently,
he is our Green Lumber Manager in our Newberry division along with many other hats!
Randy came to us in January of 1999
with moulder tooling knowledge that
had been developed for ten years at
Nickell Moulding. When he was hired,
our moulding department had three
moulders requiring a full time tooling
person. In the years following we removed two of
the moulders, eliminating the need for a full time
tooling and necessitating a shift in Randy’s duties.
Randy has always brought his eye for quality
to the area in which he is working, and has always
been willing to help out wherever needed. As
our company grew, we needed additional planer
sharpening and upkeep to maintain our customers’ high expectations. Randy’s tooling expertise
6 99 37 M - 1 0 3 • White Pi ge on, Michi gan 4 9 0 9 9
was a great starting point for the job.
Randy went through a few grinding courses on
sight with Newman’s George Sapp and many hours
beyond that working with Kent Growcock to perfect
the planer sharpening which is similar to, but different in many ways from sharpening tooling for the
moulder. Randy took to it like riding a bike, altering
his schedule to accommodate the production schedule as well as the moulding schedule in order to take
care of the high-end needs of our customers.
For those of you that don’t know Randy as well,
when you talk to him you might notice his hands
shake like a leaf in the breeze. How could he do
such a great job grinding our planers and moulder
tooling? After 25 years of experience he could pretty
much do the job blindfolded and is steady as a rock
when sharpening anything!
On a personal note, Randy regularly brings in
suckers and various treats to share with everyone
out of the goodness of his heart. He’s been a great
addition to the Banks team for the past fifteen years
and we look forward to many more. When you see
him say “Thanks Candy Man for the years of work
and special skills”.
Phone: 800-221-7776 Fax: 269-483-2483
w w w.b an kshardwo o ds.com