Northland Lumber Expands to Better Serve Customer Needs

Northland Lumber & Supply (“NLS”) is entering the next phase of expansion, building a 50’x75’ storage building to the west of the property, located on Highway 19, just east of Fairfax.

The added storage space will provide more room to stage project materials, unload vendor deliveries, and store equipment and materials. Overall, this will provide more efficiency in the yard and more opportunity for NLS to adapt to the ever-changing economy. “Often times when lumber or steel prices drop, we find ourselves saying, we should buy a pallet of this or truckload of that, but with limited space, we have nowhere to go with it,” said Jed Lutgen, CEO of NLS. “We are excited about the opportunity to buy products at a lower price, so in turn we can save our customers money.”

The 10’x20’ digital billboard was installed in May and the flashing lights as you enter Fairfax from the east, have not gone unnoticed. “We were looking for a new, modern way to advertise our business,” said Kelly Lutgen, Marketing Director at NLS. “This was a great solution, not only to promote our business, but other area businesses as well.” The digital billboard currently has 6 other businesses who advertise, with one additional space dedicated to short-term advertising needs. “When the GFW football team made it to state, we were able to recognize them on the billboard, which was exciting,” Kelly stated. The seven businesses are on a rotation which play 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

With all the changes happening, security was also a focus in the project. NLS recently installed over 1,100 feet of fence around the property, with locked gates and a surveillance system. “A lot of work has gone into the development of this yard and we want to protect it,” said Jesse Borth, NLS Yard Manager.

“We couldn’t do this project without the support from our customers, dedicated employees, and area businesses. They are the number one reason we are here,” expressed Lutgen. “Our subcontractors involved with the building are: Farm Merchantile, Firle Backhoe, Lakeside Plumbing & Heating, Cottonwood Valley Concrete, Rico’s Roofing, Duininck Concrete, Advance Fence, Excel Overhead, Quicksigns, and Daktronics, just to name a few. A special thank you to Frandsen Bank, they have been a great partner, as well.”

Starting out as a small 5 acre, 100-year-old farm place, NLS has grown over the past 5 years in business. Jed Lutgen, CEO and founder of NLS, along with Joe Vos, Vice President, started selling designs and materials out of a 10 square foot office space. That office space now fills the entire showhouse on the property, employing 15 people. In addition, it has been 2-1/2 years since NLS opened a design center in Redwood Falls. “We saw potential in the Redwood area and decided to open an office there,” said Vos. Northland Lumber and Supply handles projects as small as a bathroom remodel, up to commercial projects such as hotels or apartments. Vos stated, “We are currently working on an apartment complex in Redwood Falls, following a fire.” The NLS team designs, builds and provides material delivery to both homeowners and contractors. “Quality products and experience in the field is our specialty,” affirmed Lutgen, “but our number one focus is customer service.”

Construction is targeted to be completed in the spring of 2020 and all will be invited to the open house.

Source: J & K Enterprises, LLC