WOOLWINE, Va.—Griffith Lumber Company, a sawmill operation, is proud to announce it has been selected as a finalist in a University of Virginia competition that highlights and promotes the most resilient businesses in economically-challenged parts of the Commonwealth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Griffith Lumber Company a Finalist in University of Virginia’s Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards Competition WOOLWINE, Va.—Griffith Lumber Company, a sawmill operation, is proud to announce it has been selected as a finalist in a University of Virginia competition that highlights and promotes the most resilient businesses in economically-challenged parts of the Commonwealth. “For the Darden School of Business—one of the best business schools in the country—to nominate our business as a finalist is a true honor,” said President Bruce A. Griffith. The Griffith family has run its Patrick County sawmill operation, selling wholesale lumber and byproducts such as wood chips, sawdust, biomass fuel and bark mulch to customers around the world, for four generations. In 2009, Griffith Lumber Company and its neighbors faced difficult times. Furniture and forest product plants and textile mills had closed, shipping production and jobs overseas. And a major fire roared through the company’s sawmill, putting 40 people out of work and the Griffith family at a crossroads. Should they take the insurance money and retire, or rebuild? They chose the latter, leasing two nearby sawmills to keep their employees working while they rebuilt their own burned-down mill. More than 100 jobs were created or saved through this collaboration. Griffith Lumber Company is one of 11 finalists from among 21 semi-finalists and 59 total businesses statewide to enter the third annual Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards competition, which honors healthy entrepreneurial-based businesses in areas facing high unemployment, high poverty and low entrepreneurial activity. The company will now compete to be one of five winners. Winners will be Sept. 5 at a dinner, reception and awards presentation in the Abbot Center at the Darden School of Business where Griffith Lumber Company executives will meet with state and local officials, economic development professionals and business leaders. “The goal of the Resilience Awards is to bring well-deserved attention to highly successful businesses in parts of Virginia that some might unwisely overlook,” said Greg Fairchild, Associate Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business. “These finalists demonstrate the strength of Virginia’s main street businesses, even in the face of significant economic obstacles. In 2011, this group of businesses collectively employed almost 400 Virginians, and had an aggregated sales total of nearly $200,000,000—these firms embody resilience.” To help spur economic growth and entrepreneurial efforts in areas of the Commonwealth facing particularly difficult economic challenges, the Tayloe Murphy Resilience Award supports winners through ongoing media coverage, opportunities to engage key business and government leaders and enrollment in a week-long Executive Education course at Darden valued at $8,000–$12,000. Griffith Lumber Company extends warm congratulations to all the Resilience Awards finalists, including: • A Bowl of Good Café, Inc., Harrisonburg • Ballard Fish and Oyster Co, Inc., Cheriton • EXCEL Management Services, Inc., Richmond • Hubbard Peanut Company, Inc., Sedley • ODUrent.com, Norfolk • Office Plus Business Centre, Danville • Service Center Metals, Prince George • Silver Gallery, Waynesboro • Stuart Land & Cattle Co., Rosedale • Sunset Digital Communications, Inc., Duffield The Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards are held by Darden’s Initiative for Business in Society (IBiS) and presented in part with sponsorship from Virginia Business. To learn more about the Sept. 5 awards ceremony or request a press pass, please visit the Resilience Awards website or contact Chris Allerton at callerton@ivygroup.com or 434-979-2678.