David Stordahl of Triple S Building Center, Inc. of Butte, Mont., was elected president of Western Building Material Association, and Carl’s Building Supply was honored at the 117th Annual Convention and Building Products Showcase held Nov. 12-14, 2019 in Portland, Ore. Western Building Material Association is a regional trade association serving the building material industry in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.
Stordahl is co-owner of Triple S Building Center, a family business that has serviced the Butte and Southwest Montana community for over 30 years. Triple S Building Center was formed by Milo, Phyllis, David and Douglas Stordahl in February 1988. After a complete remodel of their location, the company celebrated a grand opening in September 1988. With lots of hard work and dedication, the business grew. They purchased more property and in 2013, remodeled the main store exterior and added a large storage building. The business that began with 10 employees has grown to provide 36 full time jobs plus two part-time positions.
Others newly elected to office in the Western Building Material Association include:
Vice President: Rick Jensen, Bayview Building Materials, Elma, Wash.
Vice President: Jeff Newenhof, City Lumber Company, Astoria, Ore.
Executive Committee: Dana Cowart, TAL Holdings, LLC, Hood River, Ore.
WBMA Board Member: Shawn Fernandez, Paint Sundries Solutions, Kirkland, Wash.
Brent Lenssen, Vander Griend Lumber Co., Lynden, Wash.
Special Awards and recognition were also presented, including the President’s Award, to
Carl’s Building Supply of Chimacum, Wash., for outstanding and distinguished service to the building material industry.
Carl’s Building Supply was established on Marrowstone Island in 1947 by Carl Johnson after he returned home from 4 years of war in the Pacific. But the Johnson family’s roots in Jefferson County go back much further than that. Carl’s father Harry was born in Port Ludlow in 1889 and shortly thereafter the family moved to Nordland on Marrowstone Island, where Harry’s father Karl went into business digging clams and rowing them across the bay to Port Townsend. Harry established the Nordland Trading Co. in 1923 and built a store on the banks of Mystery Bay directly in front of his house.
Since there were no dependable trucking companies which would deliver freight to the island, Harry began making weekly trips to Seattle by boat. A warehouse was built next to the store in 1925 to hold the sacks of feed and crates of goods he bought from Seattle wholesalers.
When Carl Johnson, Harry’s son, was discharged from the Navy in 1946, he returned to Nordland and his father turned the clam and trucking business over to him.
Local contractors sometimes asked Carl to haul in lumber and other building materials on his return trips from Seattle. Eventually, in 1947, he began to stockpile some of these supplies. After the bridge was built over the Portage Canal, the materials were moved to the present location of Carl’s Building Supply in Port Hadlock-Chimacum, on the site of a blacksmith shop, where the store building was built in 1962.
Since then, many improvements have been made to the property which now covers eight acres and includes more than 50,000 square feet of covered storage.
Carl turned over the reins of his lumberyard to his son Lawrence Johnson in 1992, who continues the focus on serving the area’s contractors and owner/builders. Much like WBMA, Carl’s has continually evolved over the years to meet the changes in the industry. Through the efforts of an outstanding and dedicated crew, they are industry leaders in operational efficiencies and strive to be experts at fulfilling their customer’s needs.
