Joe Adams
Outside Sales Representative
North Augusta Lumber Yard
The STAR Principles are integral to Harbin Lumber Company’s values: Smile, Teach & Learn, All in and Royal Law.
We are proud to announce Joe Adams as the 2022 July STAR Employee. Joe’s character and work ethic are admirable. He contains all the STAR qualities, always working to excel customers’ needs. His dedication to the company and drive to serve his community is why Joe is a true STAR!
From the beginning, Joe has been in the Construction industry for over 50 years working in framing and building homes. In 1981, Joe and his brother opened their own building supply company, formally known as Adams Building Supply, located in North Augusta. In 2017, this company was bought by Harbin Lumber Company and is still operating in the exact location today. Joe made the transition from Adams Building Supply to HLC seamlessly, not only for existing employees but also in the community.
Randy Wells, the Sales Manager of Harbin Lumber Company, spoke highly of Joe having a close connection with his family.
“Joe and Don (his brother) are two of the hardest working men I’ve ever known, and they’ve spent their entire lives building up their businesses, providing for their families and giving opportunities to their employees, it would have been very easy in 2017 when we acquired Adams Building Supply for Joe to hang it up and ride off into the sunset. But he agreed to stay on and help us and I cannot thank him enough for doing that. He bridged the gap between Harbin and the local community in North Augusta. At the time, neither the employees or customers knew who Harbin was. But they knew Joe. By having Joe still with us, where customers could come in and still talk with him, that was a huge benefit to us and it provided stability for not only the customers but also the existing employees. I am so grateful for him doing that.
When Harbin purchased Adams, our intent originally was not to make many changes right away. Unfortunately, circumstances pushed us to have to make more changes than we would have liked, and it upset a lot of people. It was a very difficult time for everyone involved. If you look at it from Joe’s perspective, we were changing everything about the business that he personally built. That could not have been easy for him to sit back and watch, and I’m sure he disagreed with the some of the decisions. But not one single time did he speak negative about Harbin during that process. If he had concerns, he dealt with it in private. But to the public, he put on a strong and confident face, encouraging people to trust us, to be patient, to give us time to get our systems worked out. He handled that time with total class and professionalism, supported us and helped get us through that challenging time. Personally, I’m not sure we would have been able to get things going in the right direction if it were not for Joe and how he handled things during that time. I can never thank him enough for how gracious he was and for helping us get through that period.”
Currently, Joe works as our outside sales representative for North Augusta and is active in his community. When asked (what he likes most about this position?), he replied without hesitation, “I now have the freedom to go and do. I can be out and about with a change of scenery. I like not being stuck in an office all day.” Joe is married to his high school sweetheart, Debbie; they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in January. Together they have two sons, JP (General Manager of HLC North Augusta) & Frank. With their family growing, they now have 5 grandchildren (4 boys and 1 girl). When Joe is not working, he loves spending time with his family. Whether it may be going on vacations together as a family or playing by the pool, spending time with his family is what matters the most.
Overall, Joe and his family have a deep connection in the community and cherish the same values Harbin holds dear to heart, treat others with respect, dignity, encouragement, and love. He is a true STAR employee, and we are so blessed to have Joe as a part of our Harbin Lumber Company family!
Thank you, Joe, for all that you do for HLC! We look forward to the bright future ahead with you on our team!