Patterson Lumber Is Family Business

Patterson Lumber near Anderson is a family business that has operated for more than 35 years.

Co-owners are President Jerry Patterson, Vice President Mark Alumbaugh and Secretary/Treasurer Scott Leonard. The three are brothers-in-law.

Alumbaugh said Patterson's father, Charles Patterson, started the sawmill many years ago, and he was in business with his son before Alumbaugh and Leonard joined in 1982. Then Charles Patterson died, and it has been just the three of them in the partnership.

"This has just been a family business. We've had different family members work for us over the years. Some employees have been here 25 years," Alumbaugh said. The sawmill has 11 employees, he said.

"There's been a lot of sawmills come and go in the 30-something years that we've been in business," Alumbaugh said. He gave a reason for their success.

"It's not because of our great business ability. It's because the Lord has blessed us," he said.

The sawmill sells railroad ties, lumber for flooring, lumber for furniture and lumber for pallets, Alumbaugh said. They also sell hardwood mulch. Most of the lumber is sold in Missouri and Kansas, although they have sold some in Arkansas and Oklahoma. They used to sell logs for log homes. At last count they had sold logs for 130 log homes.

"We got into too many things, and we decided we would just run the sawmill, and that's what we've been doing," Alumbaugh said.

Patterson said the company has its own log truck that goes out and picks up logs.

"We don't do any logging. We used to. Most of the logs we buy are here in McDonald County, but we buy a few in Arkansas, Oklahoma and other parts of Missouri," he said.

Patterson stressed that the logging companies they use "don't go out and strip places."

"It's a renewable resource," he said. "Our loggers can log a place every 15 years if you do it right."

Patterson said the partnership has seen some lean times, particularly when the economy was bad. He said he heard more than 100 sawmills closed their doors in 2008. The only thing that kept Patterson Lumber in business during that time was the railroad ties, he said.

Leonard commented, "We've seen a lot of hard times in the industry, and we've always made it through it."

Patterson added, "There's nothing glamorous about the sawmill industry. It's a lot of hard work. I've always liked what I do, even though it's hard work."