EcoTimber Sold to Hayward

EcoTimber, of Berkeley, California, one of the nation’s oldest and most respected distributors of FSC-certified wood products, was sold in October to Hayward Lumber, headquartered in Monterey. Actually, at the time of closing, EcoTimber represented only the flooring and decking division of the original company; the company’s hardwood lumber division was sold a year earlier to Plywood and Lumber Sales of Emeryville.

Jason Grant, who cofounded EcoTimber in 1992 and is now with the Certified Forest Products Council in Oregon (www.certifiedwood.org), feels that the Hayward acquisition is a big step forward. “I think it’s a great match,” he told

EBN. Grant believes that EcoTimber was an important early model for the distribution of certified wood, but as the certified wood industry has grown, the need for that type of business has faded away. “To me, it was a natural evolution,” he said, suggesting that certified wood products need to enter the mainstream of building products distribution—which is what Hayward can provide.