Trust. Relationships. Dependability. These are all principles upon which Jamie Emmer has based his business since it first opened in May of 1990. As owner of Lumber Marketing Services, Emmer is a wood specialty wholesale and retail international distributor. He works closely with builders, contractors and retail lumberyards offering mill-direct lumber sales, wholesale lumber sales, smaller specialty custom orders and custom millwork and framing packages.
Emmer moved here in 1982 and was attracted by the beauty, the opportunity for outdoor recreation and the friendliness of the people. He and his wife have been blessed to raise their four daughters in North Idaho and are grateful for the opportunity to also work in such a beautiful place. “God has provided me with this opportunity and the gifts to pursue it,” he said of his business success.
Emmer shares that one of the things he enjoys most about his work at Lumber Marketing Services are the relationships he builds with his customers. “(Those relationships) bring great satisfaction and meaning to my daily responsibilities as a business owner,” he said gratefully. “Helping people achieve their dream home is a privilege and an honor I don’t take lightly.”
At Lumber Marketing Services, Emmer provides a full line of specialty lumber products including siding, decking, paneling, flooring and timbers in a variety of natural species that include cedar, pine and Douglas fir. Lumber Marketing Services also provides imported hardwoods such as Brazilian hardwoods, exotic hardwoods and softwoods.
Lumber Marketing Services has established a reputation for providing not only high-quality product but also competitive pricing. They have vendors throughout the world including Central America, South America, Indonesia, Europe and British Columbia.
Being environmentally conscious is nothing new to Emmer; it is something that has always been at the forefront of all he does.
“As an environmental physics major in college in the ‘70s, before environment was a household word, I have been able to bring a better sense of stewardship and sustainability into an industry that at times has lost touch with how we are all connected by the responsible use and development of renewable resources locally and around the world,” shared Emmer. “Our largest customer five years ago was located in Beirut, Lebanon.”
Since 1910, Emmer’s family has worked in the wholesale lumber service, and he has personal experience in lumber remanufacturing, mill sales, office lumber brokering, ownership of a tree farm, ownership of a retail yard and wholesale distribution. He got his start in 1972 unloading railcars by hand in St. Paul. This wide range of experience is one reason he has been able to provide exceptional knowledge, service, product and pricing throughout the years. In 1990 he went out on his own with $200 in checking, no savings and four little girls. He and his wife were building a home but living in a 400-square-foot cabin without indoor plumbing. A gravity feed spring to an outdoor tub and outhouses was how they lived for many of their formative years. “My girls are the toughest, pretty girls you will ever meet!” boasts Emmer.
Sought after for his extensive knowledge and experience, one of his current projects is a three-year, multi-million-dollar clear cedar rebuild of a seaside resort in Hawaii that was struck by the last tsunami. Also on the table is a past president’s exterior cedar remodel on the Islands.
With a generous heart and an appreciation of his community, Emmer has given much of his time
and talent back to the place he calls home. For over 15 years he has been involved in Cedar Hills Church as a trustee, elder and care pastor. He also began a volunteer project 14 years ago at a school for at-risk teenage girls near Heron, Montana.
Emmer has served on the board at the Hope Christian Counseling Center for 15 years and has served on the Schweitzer Chapel board and the Filling Station board in Clark Fork. And his generosity does not stop there. A percentage of the profits from Lumber Marketing Services also go toward relief organizations both locally and internationally.
And if you think Emmer has any intention of slowing down, think again. At 63, he was recently featured in an interview in the Wall Street Journal for his unusual level of fitness, with several WSJ photo shoot pictures of him riding his studded snow bike at Schweitzer Mountain Resort. A few months later, he won the four-week Starlight Ski Race Series for the fastest adjusted male Alpine skier, leaving 100-plus 21 and older male Alpine racers in the dust.
For more information on Lumber Marketing Services, be sure to visit their website or give them a call!
Lumber Marketing Services
PO Box 322
Hope, Idaho 83836
Cell: 208.661.0782
Office: 208.264.5813