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A third generation lumberman originally from Hillsboro, OR (yup, one of those Portland
Niedermeyers working in wood!). Jeff is the Founder and President of Valencia Lumber. Having sold lumber in Southern California for over 30 years, Jeff is still our primary lumber buyer and involved in selling to this day, as the corporation enters its 20th year.

Hardwoods, softwoods, reclaimed, slabs, mouldings, custom milling; that’s Jeff’s beat. Initially wearing every hat in the business, Jeff continues to share his extensive knowledge, learned over a lifetime in the lumber business, to the benefit of our customers and staff alike.

Jeff’s grandfather’s company sold logs and treated ‘telephone’ poles around the world, and his five sons all became involved in that company and the companies that it spawned. Jeff and his cousins all worked through high school and college in various capacities, learning the business of lumber in its many forms. After graduating college in Los Angeles and marrying a SoCal girl, he returned to Portland briefly. But the lure of sunshine was too great and he eventually launched a successful career in sales with Lane, Stanton-Vance Lumber, before striking out on his own with Valencia Lumber, which Jeff started with our former partner, Edmond Cho.

When he’s not at work, Jeff can be found dominating age-group tennis, as well as spending
time with his three over-achieving adult children, and attending baseball games with his wife, Patti, a die-hard LA Dodgers fan.

A partner since the beginning, Dan Seeman brings with him extensive hands-on experience in
cabinetry, carpentry and sales. Dating as far back as his high school wood shop days, Dan’s
exposure to the industry includes everything from building kitchens, to creating restaurant table
tops, to executing complex millwork and cabinetry projects.

At the age of 27, Dan was running remodeling jobs, doing all the purchasing, and the back-end work that went along with them. However, that wasn’t going to provide the income he needed with two children and another on the way. So, with no sales experience and a leap of faith, Dan took a huge risk and accepted a sales position at a well-known panel distributor, at half the income. Well, Dan became one of their top salespeople and never looked back! Then in 2000 came the opportunity to invest in both himself and Valencia Lumber.

With our focus being on the high-end residential market, our customers depend on us to provide materials and knowledge that you can’t easily find elsewhere. Dan can honestly say, “I’ve been in your shoes. I can help you find efficient and economical solutions, because I can intuitively ask the right questions of you and of the sources we buy from”.

In his free time, Dan enjoys being Big Papi to his seven grandchildren (plus Joey!), traveling the world, and taking on new challenges, like learning the guitar. With your eyes closed, you’d swear you were listening to Mark Knopfler (when Knoplfer was 5 years old).

Dusty spent six months in the warehouse when he joined Valencia Lumber in he summer of 2003
because he wanted to learn our products inside and out. Upon moving into the sales department,
Dusty quickly rose to the top of the heap, and he has remained a top producer for 16 years.

Dusty’s knowledge and expertise are broad as well as deep. Beyond knowing the features and
specifications of our products, Dusty is well versed in their application: how do our customers
use these materials? It is this expertise that makes Dusty a valuable and trusted resource to our
customers. Fiding the right product for the right purpose ensures not only that projects get done
properly, it also ensures they are done cost-effectively.

As our product selections have grown over the years, so too has Dusty’s knowledge, to
encompass cabinet hardware, decking and our broad selection of reclaimed materials.

Staying on top of the market takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but Dusty knows that his
clients rely on him to know, so he puts in the time and remains a trusted resource for our
longtime customers and for those who are meeting Valencia Lumber for the first time.

As the newest member of our sales team, Chris Moran comes to Valencia Lumber with years in
home improvement systems, including cutting-edge “Solar+Storage” solutions. In our industry,
too, customers seek the advantages of new technology and materials, and Chris’s experience
positions him perfectly to adapt to those changes.

Valencia Lumber’s own ideas about how to treat customers mesh well with Chris’s: be honest,
say you don’t know if you don’t know, work hard to find the solutions your customer needs, and
always always always follow up as promised. Coupled with his attention to detail and ability to
listen well, Chris is quickly becoming a trusted resource for his customers and we look forward
to serving our customers together.

If Chris hit the lottery tomorrow, he would travel with his girlfriend and his little French bulldog,
Pablo, to places he hasn’t seen yet, hitting EDM and Hip Hop music festivals in the US and
Europe. Running with the bulls in Pamplona is high on his list (as long as he doesn’t miss the
Lakers/Dodgers/Rams on TV).

It is not true that Chris looks like the lead presenter at a Time-Share seminar in Palm Springs.

Now, you might not think that a background in Improv Comedy would matter when trying to help lumber customers but building encyclopedic knowledge and recalling it quickly are essential to both endeavors. After graduating high school in Riverside, Ryan pushed shopping carts at Home Depot and was promoted up to a Building and Lumber Associate, gaining knowledge and experience that serves him well in his position here.

He also spent some years in film production, a thankless world from which he escaped with his soul intact, and Valencia Lumber was fortunate enough to scoop him up.

Ryan is gaining a following of happy customers whom he helps in his capacity as Inside Sales/Sales Assistant. When he’s not doing that, Ryan’s an avid gamer and continues to build on his strong acting and Improv Comedy skills, which he discovered in high school in the Theater Department and as head of the school’s Improv team.

Don’t be surprised if you see Ryan streaming on the ‘net as he hosts tabletop roleplaying game sessions. And if that’s not enough, Ryan also coaches high-schoolers in the craft of Improv Comedy. Giving something back, gotta love it.

2019 marks 30 years in the lumber and millworks industry !!

Martin Navarro serves as an Assistant Manager in Will Call and Warehouse operations, where
he’s responsible for supervising staff, training new employees, and taking good care of our
customers.

Our relationship with Martin goes all the way back to 2000, when the company began. We
shared our building with our sister company, California Millworks, where Martin was employed.
In 2011, we were fortunate to finally persuade Martin to come join Valencia Lumber and Panel,
who brought with him his vast experience in lumber, milling, and the manufacturing of doors
and windows. He quickly proved to be a huge asset when assisting our customers in our will Call
department, as well as in educating our newer team members.

Prior to joining Valencia Lumber, Martin worked his way up in the industry from assembly line
work to the building of stock doors and windows in 1989, and became a master of complex and
challenging radius work. Eventually, Martin found himself overseeing the building of custom
door and window projects from start to finish as well as managing a production department.
When he’s not working, Martin is a dedicated student of chemistry, continually evaluating the
process of combining malted barley with yeast and flavorings, like hops for example. Over
dominoes and cards, Martin shares the results of all of that experimentation with family and
friends.

Now entering his 23rd year in the world of wood, Juan joined Valencia Lumber in the Fall of
2006, where he currently serves as an Assistant Manager in both our Will Call and Warehouse
areas. Juan is “The Big Boss” on Saturdays, and his big smile and even bigger personality keep
the Saturday customers coming back!

Juan started out at our original Valencia location working in warehouse operations. Juan’s value
to the company rose as he learned the entire breadth of our product offerings. And to make
himself even more versatile, he obtained his commercial driver’s license, eventually allowing
him to become one of our drivers. A true “jack of all trades”, Juan is a master of many. His
journey through the company has included customer service in Will Call, inventory control,
purchasing, inside sales, dispatching, and driving.

Prior to joining the Valencia Lumber team, Juan’s early exposure to hardwoods included
working in the guitar business, and in the hardwood flooring industry for six years. Early on,
Juan took it upon himself to become familiar with the different types of wood, as well as
learning the responsibility of pulling flooring, tread and moulding orders. He moved up to
purchasing flooring, lumber and moulding, and then to inside sales.
All of this experience and knowledge is available to the customers of Valencia Lumber, at no
extra charge!

When not hard at work doing just about everything at Valencia Lumber, you can find Juan
honing his barbeque skills (do not get between me and the brisket!), knockin’ ‘em down at the
bowling alley, and cheering for his beloved Green Bay Packers along with his wife, Erin.
LOOKS LIKE: the mob’s doctor in the gangster movies who keeps saying, “Hey!, gimme a break!!
They never taught me how to take out bullets in vet school!”