From left to right: Tart Lumber Company President Craig Fritsche, Vice President Virginia Fritsche, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, Jonathan Paine, NLBMDA President & CEO, and Tart Lumber CEO Libby Fritsche.
"Visiting local businesses gives me the opportunity to hear directly from constituents about how I can best help our local economy continue to thrive. Tart Lumber Company is a key lumber and building materials supplier for our entire region, helping our communities continue to grow while supporting jobs. I'm proud Virginia-10 is home to this valued local business and look forward to continue doing all I can to support businesses like Tart Lumber in Congress."
Tart Lumber Company has been supplying Northern Virginia homeowners, contractors, and architects with quality lumber, building materials, and hardware since 1951 when it was founded in Arlington, Virginia. The company expanded to Loudoun County in the early seventies and now has a full-service lumber and hardware store; a 9,000 sq ft design showroom featuring architectural millwork, doors, windows, cabinetry, and moulding; and, a custom millshop at one location in Sterling, Virginia. Today, Tart Lumber is owned and run by Elizabeth Tart Fritsche and her husband, Craig Fritsche, and prides itself on being a family business that cares about their employees as well as their clients and the community.
“From all of us here at Tart Lumber, it was a pleasure to host U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton for a tour of our facilities and an engaging discussion of the issues that impact our company and its employees,” said Elizabeth Tart Fritsche, CEO of Tart Lumber. “As a longtime family-owned business in Northern Virginia, we are proud of the products and services we provide to our customers, and we appreciate the Congresswoman for taking the time to see behind the scenes of our operations and seeing firsthand how we serve our community within her district.”
Congresswoman Wexton tours Tart Lumber Company in Sterling, Virginia.
First elected to the House of Representatives in 2018, Congresswoman Wexton serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, where she is responsible for securing funding for all of the government’s spending programs. Specifically, her subcommittee assignments give her jurisdiction over housing and transportation funding. Wexton is also a member of the House Budget Committee, which provides oversight of the legislative budget process. Before running for Congress, Wexton served the people of Northern Virginia for over two decades as a prosecutor, attorney, advocate for abused children, and state Senator.
Congresswoman Wexton speaks with Tart Lumber Company leadership.
NLBMDA, Tart Lumber Company leadership, and Congresswoman Wexton discussed several priority issues including the Credit Card Competition Act of 2023 (S.1557/H.R.3238), landmark legislation that will protect LBM dealers from increases in credit card swipe fees by allowing small businesses to access more credit card payment network options. Support on Capitol Hill for this bill is building towards a potential floor vote later this year, but the banking industry is intensely lobbying against it to protect their ability to price gouge small businesses.
NLBMDA also thanked Congresswoman Wexton for recently becoming a cosponsor of the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (H.R.3238), a bipartisan bill that strengthens the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and would help build over 2 million additional affordable homes over the next decade while supporting the creation of nearly 3 million jobs. The bill, which directly addresses America’s affordable housing crisis, currently has 154 House and 28 Senate cosponsors.
NLBMDA is the recognized voice and resource of the Lumber and Building Material industry to federal legislators and regulatory agencies in Washington, DC. NLBMDA exists to advance the legislative, code and regulatory interests of the lumber and building material industry.