Building a strong wooden foundation

Karen S. Kim

BURBANK -- It was nearly 37 years ago that Keith Swaner borrowed

$10,000 from his brother-in-law to start a business buying and selling

lumber out of a Glendale office the “size of a good-sized bathroom.”

Today, Swaner’s business, Burbank-based Swaner Hardwood Co. Inc.,

makes $80 million a year and employs about 500 workers. In addition,

Swaner is one of 24 finalists for Los Angeles’ 2002 Entrepreneur of the

Year awards.

“I was fortunate to have good health and the ability to be a

self-starter and the good Lord to help me,” Swaner said from behind a

large wooden desk and surrounded by wood-paneled walls and floors of his

office.

The 74-year-old chief executive officer moved to Glendale from Salt

Lake City when he was 13. He dropped out of Hoover High School in

Glendale two months before his 17th birthday to join the military during

World War II.

He came back to Glendale two years later and began working for his

father-in-law’s hardwood flooring business. After 11 years, Swaner began

a business for himself.

But Swaner said he never expected his business to grow as much as it

has.

“I just wanted to make a living for my family, which I have done,” he

said.

Swaner does more than that.

Swaner Hardwood uses trees from Swaner’s own 4,500 acres of forestry

in Washington to manufacture and distribute a number of wooden

commodities, including lumber for stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s,

furniture, flooring, moldings and even sawdust.

“Anything in wood, we can do,” Swaner said.

Swaner Hardwood provided the flooring for the J. Paul Getty Museum in

Los Angeles and for business tycoon Bill Gates’ house in Washington,

Swaner said. The company also manufactured the moldings used in the

Bellagio, Mirage and Golden Nugget hotels in Las Vegas.

Outside of his business, Swaner said he spends much of his time

involved in community organizations and charities, donating wood and

supplies to causes like Toys for Tots, Porter Ranch YMCA, Boy Scouts of

America and Encino Food Bank.

Swaner owns a 17-acre plywood plant in Washington with 250 employees.

In Burbank, his two-acre property manufactures and ships products to nine

Western states.

And though Swaner’s son, Gary, 52, and son-in-law, Steve Haag, 51, now

help run the business, Swaner said he’s not planning on retiring any time

soon.

“What for?” he said. “If you like doing something and you can come and

go as you please, why quit? They don’t pay me any money, but it’s fun.”

THE SWANER FILE

WHO: Keith Swaner

WHAT: CEO of Swaner Hardwood Co. Inc. that manufactures and

distributes lumber, furniture, sawdust, flooring and moldings.

WHERE: 5 W. Magnolia Blvd.

PHONE: 953-5350.