The driving force behind our company's commitment to excellence, Parker grew up with a rich background in the hardwood industry. In his high school days, Parker spent his summers traveling with his father, a lumber inspector, who passed along his knowledge to his eager-to-learn son. After graduating from the National Hardwood and Lumber Association's Inspection School, Parker followed in his father's footsteps.

In 1979, the company for which Parker worked moved out of state. At the age of 23, Parker established Hermitage Hardwood Sales, which started as a lumber consulting business. Through the contacts he had made as an inspector, he saw the need in the marketplace for the services he offered. As Parker puts it, the goal of Hermitage Hardwood was to solve problems for both buyers and sellers.

Eventually, the success and growth of the business led into the need for processing and stocking its own product. In 1985, Hermitage purchased a lumber concentration yard in Nashville. However, as the company continued to gain strength, it quickly out-grew its Nashville yard. That's when Parker decided to return to the home of his youth, the Upper Cumberland area, and moved Hermitage Hardwood to its present 33-acre location in Cookeville, where it's been since 1990.

"One of our core advantages is the level of dedication and experience our team possesses. We've assembled a staff of experts in the hardwood lumber industry, whether it's through the purchasing side or the sales aspect. It's a level of knowledge that our customers can rely on and trust."

Wesley is a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in Marketing and a minor in Logistics. He is also a graduate of the National Hardwood Lumber Association's 161st Inspector Training School class.

Wesley has experience working with Hermitage Hardwood prior to joining the team in April of 2010. He has previously worked during the summers while in high school and college. He is currently in a supporting role, dealing with inspection, sales, and purchasing.

Steve brings his 30 plus years experience in the lumber industry to the team. From working in his family's sawmill, to running a planing and custom cut operation along with sales for a sawmill operation in Wisconsin. Steve also has 19 years experience in the wholesale hardwood lumber trade.

His responsibilities include hardwood sales, expansion of existing accounts and development of new accounts and product lines.

Junior is our "lumber shopper." Through his strong relationships with local sawmills, Junior ensures that our wood supply is diverse enough to satisfy our customers' needs, and plentiful enough to meet their quantity demands.

Junior's experience in the hardwood industry spans across five decades. He began working at a dimension plant in Kentucky when he was 18, and stayed there for more than 30 years. During that time, he played a number of roles, including floor manager, production manager and operations manager of the 200-employee plant.

The extensive knowledge Junior has gained over the years has meant an increase in value for our customers. Junior knows what to look for when purchasing wood for our plant, and his depth of understanding when it comes to hardwoods means our customers receive a high-quality product at an affordable price.

"Different customers require different hardwood materials. Because we work with so many different sawmills, we can diversify our product line to provide exactly what our customers need."

What doesn't Wilma do around here? Since joining our team in 1999, she's streamlined our inventory tracking system and updated many of our processes. The result? An increase in customer satisfaction, which is an added value to our growing customer base.

Although she hasn't spent much time in the hardwood industry, her experience as a former business owner is invaluable. She and her husband built their own business from the ground up, so she realizes all of the hard work and effort that goes into maintaining a successful enterprise.

"You know you are successful when a large portion of your business is from repeat customers. If a customer has a bad experience, they're not going to use that supplier again. So if the majority of your business is from current customers, you know you're doing something right."

Lawson is responsible for handling all foreign sales, overseeing quality control of our export products, and arranging transportation to our overseas customers. Since joining us in 2002, Lawson has helped expand our reach throughout Europe, and broken new ground in the Asian market as well.

Lawson brings invaluable experience as both an exporter and hardwood expert to Hermitage Hardwood. He's spent more than 30 years in the lumber industry as an exporter.

Originally from Memphis, Tenn., Lawson began working at lumberyards when he was 16, and continued to work in the industry with flooring and hardwood dimension businesses. A graduate of the University of Mississippi, Lawson also earned certification through the National Hardwood Lumber Association Lumber Inspection School in Memphis. From there, he apprenticed with the largest kitchen cabinet manufacturer in Europe where he learned European production and manufacturing processes. He spent the next several years working for different hardwood companies in Germany, Belgium and the United States before settling in with Hermitage Hardwood.

"Our customers need superior materials in order to add even more value to the products they sell. Hermitage Hardwood has extensive knowledge in this industry, and we share that experience with our customers by providing them with the highest quality products on the market at a fair price."