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Parma Post & Pole was started in 1982 by Walt Sterling. He attended an auction and ended up coming home with a peeler, tenoner, driller and 1972 Pettibone loader. Our family was officially in the post and pole business! In the beginning it was difficult. My father and mother worked all day at the pole yard and on nights and weekends we built fence to make ends meet. Over the years the business grew and became more established in Southern Idaho.
In 1995 the call of the peeler was too much to ignore and my wife (Kristy) and I returned home to Parma to work at the pole yard. Things were pretty much the same as when I had left for college in 1986. We immediately began updating equipment and purchasing land for future use. Attending auctions and building equipment on our own saved a great deal of money. In 1999 we bought out my parents and the debt was officially ours.
In 2013 we finalized drawings of our new 20,000 sf office, showroom and furniture production plant. We hired a company to frame up the walls, put on the roof, pour the concrete floor and do the insulation. We then took over and did everything else ourselves and it turned out great…exceeding our expectations in every way! For 17 years we were crammed into a 24’x48′ double wide trailer and there is nothing like having some space in which to work! The double wide was sold as-is in November 2013, we moved into the new digs, and we can now focus on taking the furniture side of our business to the next level!
Then in 2014, an opportunity presented itself to purchase a sawmill in Castlegar, British Columbia. We were buying more timber sales ourselves and found no local market for the oversized wood, other than firewood. We determined that there was enough demand to justify the expense and have found this made a very solid long-term decision. We can now offer lumber either untreated or pressure treated, which has increased our usage of Idaho Wood Preserving.
It was a great opportunity to design and create many products; work with wonderful customers and travel to California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming.
In 2019 we are celebrating our 37th year in business. Our growth can be attributed to our great customers and we thank you for supporting us! Word of mouth advertising has enabled us to ship wood all over the Western US, including Alaska and Hawaii.