By Heather Clower
The Parsons Advocate
Hinchcliff Lumber Company celebrated 50 years in Hendricks, last week. Current owner Jay Phillips provided an overview of the history of this local entity as well as gave a short presentation prior to lunch, which was catered by the Tuscan Grill Catering.
The site broke ground in 1965 and the plant was originally built for a company called Parsons Forest Industries (PFI). A private equity firm named J. H. Whitney & Company provided a major portion of the financing for the project. J. H. Whitney is still around today and is based out of New Canaan, Connecticut. PFI produced predominately truck bed flooring.
PFI struggled early on and the J. H. Whitney wanted out of the investment. They contacted the owners of Hinchcliff Lumber Company and asked them if they were interested in purchasing the business. David Phillips, the owner of Hinchcliff at that time, wasn’t interested in the truck bed flooring business but thought the plant would be an excellent site for a sawmill and pallet manufacturing plant. In July 1968, Hinchcliff struck a deal with the J. H. Whitney company to purchase the business. The plant was then transformed from a truck bed flooring operation to a sawmill and pallet plant.
Since Hinchcliff purchased the business in 1968, the plant has gone through several transformations. In the late 1970’s the sawmill was shut down and the plant became strictly a pallet manufacturing facility. In 1993 with the help of the WV Economic Development Authority (WVEDA), Jake Phillips, then president of Hinchcliff Lumber Company, secured a loan to build a scraggmill which converted small diameter, low grade logs into pallet lumber. The scragg mill ran for 15 years until it shut down during the Great Recession.
The plant also survived the flood in November 1985. The business lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the flood and almost closed. In 2003, Jay Phillips, grandson of David Phillips, purchased the business from his father Jake and uncles Don and Ned Phillips. Jay remains the president and owner today.
The business has kept its focus on producing wooden pallets and shipping containers and services a wide variety of industries. The wooden pallet business is very competitive especially in this region with the large population of Amish in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The plant currently employs about forty to forty five people, works one shift and typically operates Monday – Friday.
Present at the luncheon were the workers (past and present), the owner Jay and his wife and daughter, Jason Myers from the City of Parsons, Commission President Diane Hinkle, and Parsons Mayor Dorothy Judy. At the conclusion of his welcome, Phillips stated, “The key ingredient to Hinchcliff’s success is the people. Hinchcliff has always been blessed with an outstanding staff and a good workforce. Everyone who has worked at Hinchcliff over the past 50 years has contributed in some way. It’s not easy work and this area of West Virginia is blessed with a workforce that is better than many other parts of the country”.
Hinkle also took a moment to shake the employees’ hands and congratulate them on being a part of Hinchcliff. “Congratulations to you all on your success in Tucker County and we appreciate all you do.”, Hinkle said.
After the meal, workers had a chance to mingle and catch up with others before returning to work. A few of the workers at the company were happy to share their pleasure in being employed by Hinchcliff. Among those are Roger Pennington, hired in June of 1973 and Marvin Nestor, hired in December of 1985. Retiree Mike Eye Sr. was hired in October of 1968. He retired in 2011 after forty three years, however he still contracts to Hinchcliff sharpening saws, and has been around for fifty years and counting. Rose Davis, the office manager for the company, has also been with them for twenty one years.
As the crowd began to dwindle, Ron Hovatter, a recently retired employee, shared a little of his story. Hovatter was hired in April of 1974 and in February of 2018, just shy of being an employee with Hinchcliff for forty four years, he retired. “I miss the people”, Hovatter said. All of the employees seem to have a close niche family feel amongst them that can only be obtained in a company who truly values their workers, which shows in their work.
To have a company that has lasted fifty years is a rare occurrence in this day and age. Hopefully more companies and businesses can learn from what has allowed Hinchcliff Lumber to withstand the tests of time and apply it to their business as well. It is an honor for Tucker County to be the home of such a valuable entity and the community is thankful for all that Hinchcliff has done for our area.
