Why Is Our Company A Member of NHLA?

The answer to this question is best explained by sharing how our company has benefited from our NHLA membership—both in the past and today.

In the photo below, you’ll see my father, Jim Pescaglia, on the right, and his brother, Jerry Pescaglia, on the left, standing in front of their office in Pekin, Illinois, in 1970. There were two things they were proud enough to display on the outside of their building: the name of their company and the fact that they were members of the National Hardwood Lumber Association.

Pekin Hardwood Lumber Co., Inc. was founded in 1960 by Jim and his father, Louis Pescaglia, just outside of Pekin. It was our family’s second sawmill but the first to dedicate most of its production to furniture-grade lumber. Our family chose to join NHLA because they wanted to bring credibility to their business and take advantage of the many benefits of membership.

Jim’s vision was to build the new mill with a focus on producing furniture-grade lumber—an idea his father initially didn’t support. To prove his potential, Jim attended an NHLA lumber grading short course, which gave him the knowledge and confidence to convince his father that grade lumber could be more profitable than cutting all logs into blocking and pallet material. That one short course had a major impact on our business. It led Jim to attend an NHLA-sponsored kiln drying course, which in turn helped him build our first kilns and offer kiln-dried lumber.

As the business grew, Jerry joined his brother and father in 1970. I graduated high school in 1979 and enrolled in the NHLA Inspector Training School class that started in January 1980. While I was away at school, our family decided to expand further by specializing in Walnut. By the time I graduated that April, our family had purchased a small mill in Missouri and renamed it Missouri-Pacific Lumber Co. Later that year, I attended a 4-day NHLA-sponsored Walnut grading course in Indiana, where I sharpened my skills in grading Walnut.

We’ve continued to take full advantage of our NHLA membership as our business has grown. In 2001, we joined the NHLA Grade Certification Program, which has helped us ensure that our products consistently meet or exceed grading standards. Twenty-four years later, we still participate in the program and benefit greatly from it.

When my three sons joined the business, each of them attended NHLA-sponsored programs. My youngest went through the Inspector Training School, while my other two sons took part in Hardwoods 101 courses held in Memphis. Most recently, we hired NHLA to conduct a Yield Analysis at our mill. The insight and data they provided helped us significantly improve productivity and yield—and it was offered at a major discount, thanks to NHLA securing federal grant funding to support the industry.

Over the decades, our company has attended dozens of NHLA National Conventions and formed long-standing personal and professional relationships with other mills and customers that we still value today. Since joining the NHLA Rules Committee in 2001 and the Board of Directors in 2013, I’ve continued to benefit from these connections. Where else can you network with the leaders of the most successful and innovative companies in our industry?

That’s why we’re members of NHLA. We’ve fully embraced the benefits of membership by actively participating in all that NHLA offers. The resources they provide are second to none, and I can say with confidence that our company’s success has been greatly influenced by our membership.

We continue to be proud NHLA members. We include the NHLA and NHLA Grade Certified logos on all of our emails and social media, and we proudly display our membership plaque in our office entryway.
I know many of our fellow members share similar stories of how NHLA has supported their growth—and many more will continue to benefit in the future. Thank you for your continued support of this great association, which provides unparalleled products and services for our industry.

Bucky Pescaglia
NHLA Chairman | Missouri-Pacific Lumber Co., Inc.