National Hardwood Magazine - April 2024

INDUSTRY NEWS Continued
Today, he works as an Air Traffic Controller and cohosts
a podcast called Veterans’ Radio Hour. “We’re
honored to partner with WD Flooring and Totallywood
Flooring to provide beautiful wood floors for his new
home,” said NWFA President and CEO, Michael Martin.
In addition to the 75 homes already completed, NWFA
currently is working with its members to source wood
flooring for 11 additional R.I.S.E. homes in various stages
of planning and construction. Currently, 155 NWFA
member companies have donated product, logistics and
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installation services in locations throughout the United
States, with a total value of more than $6.9 million. A
list of all NWFA R.I.S.E. participating companies can be
found at www.nwfa.org/giving-back.aspx.
To learn more about the program, and how you and/
or your company can get involved, contact the NWFA at
800.422.4556, or e-mail them at anita.howard@nwfa.
org.
The National Wood Flooring Association is a not-forprofit
trade organization, with more than 3,000 member
companies world-wide, dedicated to educating consumers,
architects, designers, specifiers,
and builders in the uses and benefits
of wood flooring. The NWFA is
located at 14 Research Park Drive,
St. Charles, MO 63304, and can be
contacted at 800.422.4556 (USA &
Canada), 636.519.9663 (local and
international), or at www.nwfa.org.
5M Group Completes
Acquisition of $70M Cox
Hardwood Manufacturing
Companies
Recently, 5M Group, led a joint
venture as the managing partner
and completed the acquisition of
three Hardwood manufacturing
companies: Cox Interior, Cox Shavings
and Cox Dimensions. Brothers
Mark Reiter and Marty Reiter are
co-founders and principals of 5M
Ventures, a private equity division
of their parent company, 5M Group,
a commercial real estate development
and private equity firm based
in Chicago, IL. The Reiters oversee
real estate development, construction
and brokerage teams as they
expand 5M Group and the private
equity investments of 5M Ventures.
Cox Interior, Inc., headquartered
in Campbellsville, KY, the core
business comprising 90 percent of
the acquisition, manufactures and
distributes milled building products
using Hardwoods such as Poplar,
Red and White Oak, Alder, Cherry,
Maple and Walnut and pine. Products
include mouldings, interior and
exterior Hardwood doors, mantels,
stair parts and systems, custom trim
and custom millwork used in new
construction, repair and remodeling.
Cox Shavings offers wood shaving byproducts used
for animal bedding, and Cox Dimensions is a wood kiln
drying and wholesaling company.
The acquisition of the Cox companies is a major step
in fulfilling the mission of 5M Ventures to execute mergers
and acquisitions within the real estate construction
supplies industry across the country. The Cox companies
produced $70 million of revenue in 2023 at 11 locations
in the Southeast while utilizing a 937,000-squarefoot
facility on a 144-acre manufacturing campus south
of Louisville, KY. Notable Cox Interior clients for custom
millwork, wood doors and trim packages
include Cracker Barrel, Churchill
Downs and Maker’s Mark Distillery.
The strategic acquisition of the
Cox companies is foundational to
5M’s long-range growth plan. 5M
has announced 2024 expansion
plans that include the opening of
three additional Cox Interior locations
in the key regional cities of Chicago,
Charlotte and Miami.
For more information, visit
www.5mgroup.com.
Allegheny Wood
Products Ceasing
Operations
According to MetroNews, The
Voice of West Virginia, Allegheny
Wood Products (AWP), a 50-yearold
West Virginia-based internationally
known Hardwood producer,
closed its doors recently and eliminated
hundreds of jobs held by state
residents.
State Economic Development
Secretary Mitch Carmichael called
the news “very sudden and unfortunate.”
He spoke with company officials
shortly after the company shuttered
their doors.
AWP met with workers and told
them about the decision to cease
operations. The owners have been
trying to sell the company but that
recently fell through along with financing.
It was reported last fall that AWP
had started discussions with several
potential investors to avoid closing
the company’s operations.
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AWP is based in Grant County but has a number of locations
and various operations around the state of West
Virginia, including in Kingwood, where its largest mill
is located. The company has an operation including its
headquarters in an industrial park near Petersburg and a
fumigation facility in Moorefield. The company employs
about 600 people but also a few hundred contractors.
It’s the second major economic blow in the state in recent
weeks following a string of significant positive announcements
in 2023. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced
• Shipping Dry Lumber
• Kiln Dried Lumber
• Clear Strips
• Surfacing-2-Sides (S2S)
• Gang Ripping / Parallel Sawing
• Straight Line Ripping
• Optimized Cross Cut
• Molding Millwork
• Edged & Face Glued Products
• End Matching (Cabinet Parts & Flooring)
Please turn the page 86
Wheeland Lumber Company, Inc.
3558 Williamson Trail • Liberty, PA 16930-0965 USA
P: 570-324-6042 • F: 570-324-2127
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