1980

Eighty Percent Export

Bob McCracken became president in 1976 and turned the company toward the world. He opened the Australian market and built the trade through Europe, working buyers in the U.K., Italy, and Germany. Within a few years Patrick had gone from roughly 80 percent domestic sales to roughly 80 percent export. High-grade Douglas fir and cedar left the Pacific Northwest by the shipload, and export stayed the core of the business for decades.