Meet our dedicated yard personnel

At this time I would like to mention the various segments of Wightman Lumber that combine to make our business run efficiently. Today we’ll talk about the yard crew. They are overseen by one of the partners of the business; David Wightman. David works in the yard with the crew, and in the office co-coordinating wholesale sales.

Foreman: Dan Hunter, with his 25 yrs. of service, is responsible for assigning employee coverage to the various tasks. Dan has the ability to cover just about anything that needs doing in the yard, however his specific task is prepping wholesale loads for shipment, maintain safe operating conditions with safety inspections, help maintain inventory and production as needed. As if that wasn't enough, he also helps cover the retail yard when necessary. No moss grows under Dan's feet.

Loader operator: Jeff VanDewerker, who also has 25 yrs. with Wightmans, is on the go loading tractor trailer customers, relocates logs and lumber between the sawmill, grading department, drying kilns and planer department. Jeff also keeps track of what is stored where in our many storage facilities of kiln dried product. As if that wasn't enough, he also loads shavings &
sawdust as needed for retail customers. No one knows a Volvo loader better than Jeff.

Ed Cotton: With 15 years at Wightman's, Ed also knows his way around. Ed's job is to maintain the low moisture content of the kiln dried lumber. With that comes constant overseeing of the kilns so they run at peak efficiency, as well as moving lumber in the various facilities to keep it at the correct moisture content, very critical.

Larry Kessler: Now semi-retired, Larry has been with us for 13 years, still working 3 days a week he maintains the boilers as well as prepping loads for export, and also still delivers to customer sites.

John Ashe: Although he's only been full time for 6 months, he is busy running forklift moving inventory as well as delivering.

Eric Waddell: The newest member of the yard team, has been with us for 3 months, is training to handle loading & unloading the kilns, and is able to work in the production facility as well as maintenance of equipment.

As you can see, many jobs and areas overlap, so teamwork is vital to the expanding growth and fulfilling customer needs. Over the past year we have introduced employees with a total of 497 years of dedication to the industry.  Our experienced employees allow Wightman Specialty Woods to insure high standards of excellence in our manufacture process.  We take great pride in the many fine products we produce and invite you to stop by our retail location in Portlandville, New York.