Summary
¦ Bob studied forestry after leaving school in Akron, Ohio.
¦ He started working for the NHLA in Memphis in the 70s.
¦ His timber career has been worldwide.
¦ He is now the international grading consultant for the NHLA and AHEC, based in Shanghai.

After a 35-year career, which has taken him across America and the world, Bob Sabistina’s passion for working with wood and creating a better understanding of the US National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA) grading rules is stronger than ever. And it all began with advice from a high school teacher.

Growing up in Akron, Ohio – “The Rubber Capital of the World” – a career in the rubber industry might have beckoned. But Bob’s high school careers adviser suggested a two-year technical course in forestry instead.

Bob describes this as very “hands on”. “This was the practical end of forestry and I literally got my hands dirty, working in the woods. It was a great two years for a young guy, working outdoors and getting an understanding of the biodiversity of the forest, the species, the wildlife and the basics of forest management.”

Out of school and looking for a job, he started working for the NHLA in Memphis and then as an assistant inspector in New England. A pivotal moment came in October 1977 when he was appointed as a full-time national inspector, based in Athens, Ohio. “So the young hippie with an uncertain future who left Ohio came home, via Memphis and New England, with a great job. This was really a case of jumping in at the deep end because I was still relatively inexperienced, but I did that job for around six years and it taught me a great deal.”

On the move

It is true to say that Bob’s career has been a bit of a roller coaster. Just as he settled in one post something new came along and off he went to pursue his career in another part of the US. He moved back to Memphis, Tennessee and became the director of the NHLA Inspection School for three years.

Then his long-time mentor, former chief inspector Gordon Bullard, asked him to take the role of chief inspector. Only in his late 20s, he found himself running a team of inspectors, many of them older and more experienced than him. “I knew it was going to be a challenge when I was offered the job but I really wanted it and I was pretty sure I could do it.”

In the 80s and 90s there was plenty of overseas travel – probably too much for someone with a young family back home – to Japan, throughout South-east Asia, Russia, Europe, and even Fiji, in co-operation with The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), conducting grading seminars and working at trade shows.

“There was a strong bond between the NHLA and AHEC and this 12 years was the foundation for getting the grading rules out to the rest of the world. For instance, I conducted a seminar in Peru for the ITTO to teach the Andean pact countries, encouraging them to use species other than the over-harvested ones.”

Then in 1998, everything changed. Bob quit the NHLA, opting for stints in hardwood sales and then flooring, based back in Ohio. “I just felt that I wanted to do something else for a while. Travelling is great but my family was still young, and working at the sharp end, in lumber sales, certainly taught me a lot!”

Promotion and sustainability

But by 2005 Bob was back in the NHLA/AHEC fold, working at first from his BS Consultancy company and now as an international grading consultant based in Shanghai, China. He sees his job as fundamental to the promotion of American hardwoods throughout the world and he has warm praise for the marketing work AHEC is doing globally. And he regards grading as an important element of the sustainability story for American hardwoods.

“Grading is all about using wood cost-effectively. It encourages informed specifications; improves purchasing practices; reduces waste; and creates an understanding of our timber species and what they can and can’t do. All of that is about sustainability. It is back to basics and I can sense the dawn of realisation with some of the people I talk to and teach.“

The fact that the NHLA Grading Rules have been translated into more than 20 languages is a matter of pride for Bob. For him this is the phrasebook of the language of grading. “Wherever you go, No. 1 Common means exactly the same thing. For me, the grading seminars that AHEC/NHLA run all over the world have been a huge success story over the last 20 years because they promote the standards and quality of American hardwoods in a very practical way.”

Bob has recently done a three-week stint in the UK, running grading seminars, meeting importers and making a film on hardwood lumber grading for worldwide distribution through the AHEC and NHLA networks.

Entertaining approach

Anyone who attends one of Bob’s grading workshops expecting it to be a bit dull is in for a surprise. His approach, full of humour and off-the-cuff quips, has earned him a reputation around the world for communicating the principles of lumber grading in a way that leaves his audiences wanting more. Well travelled and very much at ease with his audiences, wherever he finds himself, he communicates his knowledge and understanding of US hardwoods in his own inimitable style.

For the moment, Bob is settled in his life in Shanghai. Two grown-up daughters in the US are following careers in fashion and pharmacy but he has no US address of his own.

Asked where home is he replies, after a moment’s thought, “Shanghai. I love my life there despite the city traffic and the heat. And I am trying to learn more of the language – I can just about order a meal or a taxi.” But for Bob, it’s the universal language of grading that breaks down most language barriers.