Jack Opdyke, HJ Opdyke Lumber President and LMC Stockholder, and Dave Cheng, LMC Communications Specialist stop for a photo in front of the first Opdyke Lumber office building established in 1955.
[Milford, NJ] - On the surface, there’s nothing distinct about Jack Opdyke of HJ Opdyke Lumber. He looks like most men in their 60s with above average height and a medium build. Yet, one of the first things someone notices upon walking into his office in Milford, NJ, is his demeanor. Jack Opdyke, in the simplest terms, loves his job and it’s obvious that this passion radiates throughout his organization.
The second thing one will notice is a large portrait of his father painted, one can assume, decades ago. Howard Opdyke was the man who started HJ Opdyke Lumber in 1955, and it’s apparent to anyone who visits that the company still carries on his tradition of family values.
“It’s one of the most important things in the world to [continue his legacy]. I was very fortunate that my father was my best friend,” says Jack Opdyke. “He bought the lumber yard in 1955. I came back after college but, unfortunately, he died about three years after I came back in 1979 and I’ve been in charge ever since…In 2009, my son (John) came into the business.”
Walking around the three locations of Opdyke Lumber that sits on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Opdyke also has a location in NY but our day trip did not allow us time to get there), Jack is surrounded by an invisible aura - a glow of pride beams as he shows off the company his father built and he grew tremendously for more than four decades. He knows every employee by name and can tell you how long they’ve been with the company. As he greets each team member, it's apparent that Jack isn’t just the Owner and President, he’s a man who truly cares about the people who work for him.
“We’re very family oriented,” Jack says proudly as he tells me about company barbecues where employee families are encouraged to attend. “If someone needs maternity leave, or if the kids are having problems and you need time off, it’s family first. You’ve got to take care of your family,” says Jack when asked about his leadership philosophy.
Jack Opdyke undoubtedly loves his job and his employees, but there’s a time for everyone to step away. Long term transition plans in place for John to eventually become the third generation owner of HJ Opdyke – with emphasis on the eventually. When that time does come, however, Jack will still have an office onsite and plans to be present a few days a week. This is because his company and the title he holds is more than a job. If this were the middle ages, Opdyke Lumber would be comparable to a family crest - a family legacy to be proud of and protected for generations. A legacy that LMC has proudly supported since 1994.
The Opdyke Truss plant works like a well oiled machine
In the late ‘80s, The Home Depot surpassed Lowe’s as the largest home improvement store in the United States. As the big box stores competed for superiority in the following decade, it was vital for independently owned LBM stores to compete so HJ Opdyke Lumber joined the LMC family.
“It gives us buying power. I often say to customers, we have billions of dollars of buying power. It gives us buying status. LMC just has a wonderful reputation, both to vendors and dealers. I like to say that the best dealers are at LMC and I think the vendors, in many cases, feel the same way,” says Jack. “I look at LMC as all these people who work for me as buyers. It’s like having a staff of hundreds of buyers…it’s really helped because there were times during this pandemic when we didn’t have enough people. So it was nice to lean on them to say ‘we need this, go find it.’”
Today, Opdyke looks to grow beyond its locations in Frenchtown, Phillipsburg, and Hillsborough in New Jersey and its lone New York location in Boonville, but only with the right opportunity. Being an LMC Dealer means being recognized throughout the LBM industry as one of the best in the business regardless of size, and that Opdyke Lumber also holds a strong set of values that have guided them to set new standards of success. So when the right opportunity comes along, Opdyke is sure to be there.
In the coming years, Jack will look to slowly transition into retirement and allow John to take over Opdyke Lumber just as he did 42 years ago. For now, Jack looks to his team and to LMC to address the challenges everyone else is also facing in the industry – consolidation, supply, and labor shortages, to name a few. Backed by LMC with strong family values and a foundation of 66 years of success, Opdyke Lumber heads into the ’20s with more fuel than they’ve ever had and a full steam ahead.