A brief history
Starke Millwork Inc. is a family-owned and operated business that has been operating since 1978. We do all of our own manufacturing from raw material to finished product, right here in our Nazareth, PA facility. We are partnered with a lumber company in Ghana, West Africa for our tropical lumber and we operate a sawmill here in Nazareth for our domestic species. By controlling our input quality we can produce the highest quality, competitively-priced custom millwork around and supply great lumber for the millwork and woodworking market place. The Starke Family is committed to providing great service and the highest-quality products at very competitive prices and that’s the way we stay ahead of the rest.
Our shop in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania was established in 1978 by John and Marianne Starke. This is where they started cementing relationships with customers and employees and began to build upon them to navigate a path towards what has become a strong and well known company that can stand proud of their accomplishments in the custom millwork industry for over 35 years.
John and Marianne moved their business to a new facility located in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1992. It was a bold move to make as it was more than 10 times the space of their old shop. They needed to maintain old business relations at the same time as they gained new relations and markets, all whilst making sure not to sacrifice on the quality of their products and services. Gradually it would be seen that they accomplished just that.
All through the years since the company has been in Nazareth there were additions being made to the property. These additions were now being overshadowed by a state of the art finishing building that would allow a lot more space for manufacturing in the original building and provide a controlled environment for finishing and painting of our products. Sanding and spray booths were installed along with an overhead drying line where freshly finished products would take a loop around the building on a conveyor for a full cure.
We strive for better products all the time and in 2001 we decided to take a huge step across the ocean into Ghana, West Africa where we established what was to become the fourth largest sawmill in Ghana and we named it Starke Lumber Company Ltd. We needed better control over the quality and cost of our raw materials to stay ahead of any competition. We import on a regular basis and have direct access to so many more tropical African species than any lumber company around.
With all of our years of experience, highly skilled employees, quality machinery and equipment, solid business relationships and a great reputation of quality and service we are excited for the projects in the future. We are always striving to move ahead and that means overcoming all of the challenges of manufacturing and service in the custom millwork industry!
