Richie LeBlanc is a little different than most in the forest products industry, having started in the insurance and underwriting world. That changed in 2000 when he joined the former Willamette Industries in Ruston, Louisiana.
Shortly after, Weyerhaeuser came calling and LeBlance found himself amid a merger, but Weyerhaeuser offered him an opportunity to buy and sell timberland. He worked his way through the organization before moving with the company to Federal Way, Seattle, in 2014.
A family emergency in 2015 helped him realize he needed to return home to Louisiana, so he resigned from Weyerhaeuser. At the same time, Trott Hunt called and said, “Hey, I need you to consider running this company.”
A decade later, LeBlanc, whose son is now in the industry as a plant superintendent at LaSalle Lumber Co., serves as president of Hunt Forest Products, is a board member of the Southern Forest Products Association, Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, and APA-The Engineered Wood Association. Timber Processing also recently named him its Person of the Year for 2025.
Since you didn’t come up through the industry like so many others, what has kept you around for the past 25 years?
The people in this industry are all really good people, and they’re willing to share their experiences. As large as the industry is, it’s very tight-knit. I saw some guys from West Fraser and Weyerhaeuser recently at one of the local restaurants, and we got to talking. There are just so many similarities with everybody who’s in the industry.
What do you want people to know about Southern Pine lumber? Why is it the preferred building species?
It’s the forest. We operate in a sustainability mode. We are landowners as well, and we are very aware of what we do; our environmental due diligence, and our environmental concern – leaving the forest the way we found it.
That is extremely important to us, but also the work and the focus that goes into producing quality lumber is very evident in the industry. As an SPIB board member, that stamp means something. It should give buyers confidence they’re getting grade lumber, and if it’s structural, then they can trust it to hold up a load.
Man, you hit all the high points. Sustainability. Quality. Relationships are a big part of this industry, too, and you have a unique one with Tolko Industries. What does that partnership with Tolko mean for Hunt?
Before we partnered with Tolko, we only had two mills: the plywood mill and a hardwood sawmill, so we jumped into the lumber side of the business with Tolko as our partner. Tolko is a privately held and family-owned company that is professionally run, and its culture and values align with ours almost perfectly. The first conference call we got on with Brad Thorlakson and Mike Harkes was a very smooth discussion, and that partnership has only gotten stronger.
We needed to mitigate some of the financial risks of building a greenfield facility (LaSalle Lumber). Tolko wanted to get to the U.S. Southeast, but they wanted somebody with some name recognition. So all of those things just worked.
They’re an extremely strong, cultured company from a safety perspective. We’ve learned from them, and I think they’ve learned from us. It shows the strength of the two combined companies.
LaSalle, specifically, has generated a lot of buzz in the past year or so. Talk about what having that facility as part of your operations means to you.
Well, it was a greenfield project, really, a brownfield, built on the old LP site in Urania. The great thing about LaSalle is we were able to use it once we got it up and running – what did we learn from the construction from the startup to the day-to-day operations, and if we ever do it again, what would we do differently.
A couple of years later we decided to build the Bienville Lumber Co. facility. We had LaSalle sitting there. It was a training ground for all of our new employees at Bienville, and it brought an excitement back to the Urania and Olla communities in an area that economically has been challenged for quite a bit.
Pollock is about 20 miles to the South, but 20 miles can be forever when it comes to economic growth and economic development. So having that facility where there traditionally has been wood products manufacturers was a very healthy thing for us and for the community.
Where do you see the forest products and the Southern Pine lumber industry in 10 years? What do you think that’s going to look like?
Southern Pine will continue to make inroads into areas of the country where traditionally we have not because of Doug Fir production continuing to diminish. When we go to trade shows, people ask, “What do you guys have?” and when we say Southern Pine lumber, they say, “Well, we don’t use Southern Yellow Pine.”
I think that statement is going to continue to change over the next several years.
I think you’re right, and SFPA is already doing some education on that, moving that lumber into markets that traditionally have not widely used Southern Pine.
Now, you and I both share a common love for Louisiana Tech University, which has a thriving forest products program with a Forest Products Innovation Center on the way. But it’s not just Tech. There’s Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, and others, many of which SFPA Members are involved with.
What do these schools and their programs mean for opportunities in this industry?
Take CLT for example. CLT was a product that didn’t exist 15 years ago. The research and development of new products is always interesting for us. We’re always looking for how can we tap into markets, and through the research and testing these programs, such as the Forest Products Innovation Lab, will do and are doing, we’ll discover those next products.
The Southern Forest Products Association’s A Cut Above series highlights and introduces to the Southern Pine lumber community and the greater world the amazing people who are part of our community and help keep Southern Pine among the premier wood species domestically and internationally!