Legend has it that NAWLA was founded in 1893 as a result of a chance encounter between John Clark of J.S.H. Clark & Co., Newark, NJ and two unknown New York lumber wholesalers meeting on a Boston-bound train. These men discovered that they had a common errand – the collection of past due invoices from the same customer.

As a result of this chance meeting, Clark set out on a mission by contacting New York and New Jersey area wholesalers about the formation of an association. Clark’s quest was to form as association of wholesalers for the purpose of information sharing, and not just in the area of collections, but an exchange of ideas covering all aspects of the wholesale function.

After holding several preliminary planning sessions in April of 1893, 15 wholesalers approved John Clark’s proposal for a confederation of wholesalers as well as his proposed nomenclature of National Wholesaler Lumber Dealers Association. An invitation was then sent to all “legitimate lumber wholesalers” in the geographic area to attend a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in New York City. The group grew to 24 wholesaler companies who approved all that the original 15 had formulated. Having extended invitations to wholesalers in MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, PA and RI the first annual meeting of the National Wholesaler Lumber Dealers Association was held at the Imperial Hotel on May 15, 1893 with 50 members in attendance. This official meeting resulted in the adoption of the associations constitution and the election of John Clark as its first president.

John Clark and the two New York travelers, whose names are lost to us today, began a remarkable legacy of bringing together lumber and building product industry wholesalers, manufacturers and industry affiliated companies together for a common goal – forming and association that would eventually represent a global network of channel partners in the lumber and building materials industry.

NAWLA has continued to grow and learn, serving as an educator and counselor on issues within the industry. NAWLA strives to provide publications, learning tools, networking events, and industry information for its membership to help them remain informed and better understand current trends and opportunities.

NAWLA … Professionalism • Integrity • Honesty • Innovation

NAWLA
North American Wholesale Lumber Association
3601 Algonquin Road, Suite 400, Rolling Meadows, Illinois 60008
Telephone: 847-870-7470 Toll Free: 800-527-8258 Fax: 847-870-0201
E-mail: info@nawla.org