Joseph A. Hardy, III
Founder
Joseph A. Hardy III is a true American success story, rising from a college student selling home-grown vegetables door-to-door to becoming the Founder & CEO of what today is the largest privately-owned building materials supplier to professional contractors - 84 Lumber Company.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with an Engineering degree, Joe quickly became the top-producing salesman for the family's Hardy & Hayes jewelry company. Yet at the age of 31, and with the burning desire to build his own business his own way, Joe left Hardy & Hayes. At the suggestion of a friend, Joe looked into the building materials supply business and opened Green Hills Lumber. A few years later, Joe pooled his resources with his two younger brothers and a friend to purchase a tract of land in the rural town of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. There, in 1956, he opened a 'cash and carry' lumber yard focused on professional home builders in the tristate region of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Joe liked the sound of the name of the small Washington County town and decided to name his new business, 84 Lumber Company.
Today, the company maintains its corporate headquarters in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, where the original store continues to operate and grow. The company hit the $1 billion sales mark in 1994, the $2 billion in 2002 and the $3 billion sales mark was shattered in 2004. With more than 500 stores and component manufacturing plants and 8,000 associates nationwide, 84 Lumber sets the standard for service to the professional contractor market.
In addition to 84 Lumber Company, Joe founded Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, one of North America's premier resort destinations. Owned and operated by his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, the lavish AAA Four-Diamond resort features six distinct lodging options, including the AAA Five-Diamond Falling Rock boutique hotel and clubhouse, the internationally acclaimed Woodlands Spa, 36 holes of golf including the Pete Dye designed Mystic Rock, a PGA Tour-tested course and former host to the 84 Lumber Classic, a sporting clay Shooting Academy, Wildlife Academy, Off-Road Driving Academy and 15 on-site Restaurants and lounges among a multitude of amenities.
Joe also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where he lives and where Nemacolin is located. Joe has employed the same leadership, vision and drive that created 84 Lumber and Nemacolin Woodlands to lead a multi-million dollar renovation of Uniontown, the largest city in the county, donating millions of dollars to support street and building improvements and construction of green spaces. He has led the charge to create an urban mall, featuring some of the best known retailers in the country that will stimulate tourism in a business corridor that for decades was ignored.
Milestones
1952 - Joe opened Green Hills Lumber with his brothers and a friend
1956 - 84 Lumber Company was founded in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania
1971 - 84 Lumber recorded $84 million in sales
1973 - 84 Lumber opened the 84th store in Denver, CO
1982 - 84 Components, 84 Lumber's manufacturing division, opened
1987 - Joe purchased Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, a former hunting lodge, at a bankruptcy sale
1992 - Joe promoted his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, to President of 84 Lumber Company
1994 - Yearly sales at 84 Lumber topped the $1 billion dollar mark for the first time
1998 - For the second consecutive year, 84 Lumber was selected as Largest Pro Dealer by National Home Channel News
2002 - 84 Lumber topped $2 billion dollars in sales
2003 - Joe brought the PGA Tour to Nemacolin for the first annual 84 Lumber Classic
2004 - 84 Lumber topped over $3 billion dollars in sales
2004 - Joe Hardy begins four-year term as Vice Chairman, Fayette County Board of Commissioners