LBM Journal’s Dealer of the Year awards recognize LBM companies of different sizes that epitomize the entrepreneurial spirit. By our definition, a Dealer of the Year describes a company in which leadership excels at identifying underserved—or emerging—markets, satisfying customers, and constantly working to grow and improve business. While these companies represent vastly different operations, the common thread is their fierce commitment to finding ever-better ways to serve their customers and their communities.
After more than 84 years of business, Star Lumber is showing no signs of slowing down as the family-owned company invests in expansion and future generations. Founded in 1939 by Earl Goebel, Star Lumber can trace its roots to a chicken coop in Wichita, Kansas, where the company found unlikely success in a time of economic turmoil and war. “In 1939, we had [World War II] going on, so my grandpa became very good at acquiring sources for used lumber, and so people started asking him where he was getting his lumber,” Star Lumber President Patrick Goebel said.
“So the story in our book kind of goes that he just started selling lumber out of a chicken coop.” Since that time, Star Lumber has grown to offer lumber and building materials, flooring, and trusses across Kansas and Oklahoma, with locations in Wichita, Hutchinson, Salina, Manhattan, Oklahoma City, and El Reno. The company also carries a wide selection of siding, custom millwork, windows, doors, countertops, carpeting, tile, decking, and more.
Star has seen tremendous growth over the years as the company expanded and now offers a wide array of products, including Anderson Windows & Doors, James Hardie Siding, and LP Building Solutions’ LP SmartSide.
“We aim to be the preferred distributor of our products and we want to make sure that we have the best brands,” Goebel said.
Goebel said the company has evolved to cater primarily to professionals, which makes up approximately 98% of their business. This, he said, has allowed the company to be strategic in choosing its locations for ease of transportation, rather than relying on foot traffic.
“We just do what we’ve got to do to serve that type of customer. I’m really not focusing on somebody needing to come in and pick stuff up, and that becomes a strategic advantage. We are either going to deliver or install 95% to 97% of what we sell.”
Today, third, fourth, and now fifth generations of the Goebel family are working at Star Lumber as part of its 410-person team, making the company one of the largest locally-owned building materials company in Kansas.
Star Lumber is also led by a board of directors that includes six family members and three industry-related members from outside the company. Goebel said while there are about 25 family members working in the company, outside advising and a commitment to treating all employees equitably has made a difference in being able to grow.
“We’ve done a really good job of developing good leaders, both non family and family. We’ve got 410 employees, and most of those are not family members and they all want to make a good career here as well, and we’ve got to make it a great place for them to be,” Goebel said.
Innovation and growth
In 2023, Star Lumber estimates the company will bring in $215 million in revenue. While that figure is down from 2022, it’s an overall increase from a few years prior, when revenue was half of that.
“We had been half of that for five years—I call it the stagnant years,” he said. “We decided that we were tired of being stagnant, and so we did some new initiatives.”
From 2018-20, Goebel said the company has doubled in size through a number of new initiatives as part of the company’s 2020 Vision Plan. Out of those investments came Star’s truss and wall panel manufacturing facility in El Reno, Oklahoma, and a solid surface countertop plant. Star also invested in various facility remodels, replacing equipment fleets, adding warehouses and even a new mechanics shop, allowing Star to bring more maintenance in-house while doubling its mechanic team.
That attitude toward growth is only expected to continue, Goebel said, as the company makes use of the success from the post COVID-19 pandemic building boom. The company is currently investing in a new corporate office to support this growth, featuring key culture emphasis elements, including a tree wall with leaves honoring longtime employees to celebrate their contributions.
“We’ve been trying to reinvest the success from that wave into growth in the future. And so that’s been a huge focus for our team. We don’t want to revert back to the stagnant years.”
Another focus in the past several years has been the company’s investment in technology.
Goebel said a key aspect to introducing the software has been working to gain buy-in from employees in order to help the software work for them. Star uses Epicor’s BisTrack including warehouse management system (WMS), which has helped guide their whole approach to improving efficiency companywide.
“I actually can’t name a role at Star that it doesn’t guide their day,” Goebel said. “From sales to a guy on a forklift. We became obsessed with what I call the ‘Two Second Lean’ think ing. You’re just going to get two seconds better every day, and over time, if everybody’s doing that, that adds up. I love where we’re at today versus where we were at 10 years ago on that whole subject of efficiency.”
Investing in people
Goebel said another area Star Lumber has made investments in is hiring. With a tight labor market in the industry, the company is continually looking to improve how it attracts and retains talent. Recently, the company surveyed employees during the company’s open enrollment period, asking people for candid feedback on what benefits they’d like to see added. Responses ranged from pet insurance and wellness options to continuing education and retirement planning.
“Last year, we changed our 401K match to 50% on 8%, which was a pretty significant increase in our investment there, but that sets us apart from some of our competitors, [showing] that we’re going to invest in their retirement feature. We look really hard at our benefits outside of that, making sure we have the basics covered.”
In addition, the company recently launched the University of Star, in which the company selected 12 employees for leadership training throughout a year of bi-monthly meetings. Goebel said feedback thus far has been positive and he hopes it will play a part in training the next generation of leaders.
“After five years, we’ll have had 60 people go through that program,” he said. “What we’re hoping is that it’s building this bench of new leaders. We’ve got a lot of really important people that are going to be retiring over the next five to seven years. So I’m trying to make sure I’ve got experienced, qualified people prepared to step up to the plate and take on that next challenge.”
In addition to their business, the Goebel family and Star Lumber have also committed to improving and supporting the community.
The company gives 8% of pre-tax profits back to the community through the Goebel Family Star Lumber Charitable Foundation. This foundation is led by a mix of family owners and employees and supports a wide range of organizations, from the Wichita Children’s Home and the Kansas Food Bank, to Habitat for Humanity, and the YMCA. The family also contributes to the Star Family Cares Fund in which employees can apply for hardship grants during a qualified time of need.
“We encourage people to serve on boards, and give back to the community,” Goebel said. “I like my leadership team to be involved. I think it’s just good for them for their development, as well as it’s great for our community.”
Goebel said going forward, the company will continue its mission of steadily growing while maintaining the humility which has brought the company success.
“Our team has been pretty passionate, especially in the last five years. We feel like we’ve quietly been just working on a lot of things, and we’ve had a lot of fun doing it. We don’t think we’re that special, but we’re pretty proud of the progress we have made. We know we still got a long ways to go.”
GET TO KNOW STAR LUMBER
Founded: 1939
Ownership: Family
Locations: 7
Employees: 410
ERP Software: Epicor BisTrack
Top Three Brands Sold
Based on Revenue: Andersen Windows & Doors James Hardie Siding
LP Building Solutions
