Keith A. Atherholt

Keith D. Atherholt completed the first two years of his Penn State degree at Mont Alto, subsequently entering the Wood Products major at University Park and graduating in November 1979. His first professional assignment was with Rex Lumber Company of Englishtown, NJ, one of the largest hardwood marketing companies on the East Coast. Atherholt worked in sales and marketing for a period of 11 years, supplying many of the prominent wood product manufacturers in Pennsylvania and New York.

In 1991, Atherholt joined the Dwight Lewis Lumber Company at the onset of the company's expansion in lumber sales and marketing and their diversification toward dimension products manufacture. By 1995, Lewis Lumber established Lewis Lumber Products, Inc., naming Atherholt as president. Under Atherholt's leadership, Lewis Lumber Products organized an active sales development program linking their inside sales team with an evolving Internet sales system. Their growth warranted added investments in molding machinery and computer-based scan optimizing rip system and allied chop system. Today their company services wood product manufacturers throughout a 250-mile radius of Picture Rocks, PA.

Atherholt has maintained an active role with the Penn York Lumbermen's Club, Forest Products Society, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association (PFPA), and Woodworking Machinery Import Dealers Association (WMIDA). In 2001, Lewis Lumber received a first place Technology Achievement Award from the CEDA-COG region of central Pennsylvania. In 2002, Lewis Lumber received the national Innovator of the Year Award from WMIDA.

When Penn State announced formal plans for the new Forest Resources Building at University Park, the PFPA stepped forward with a suggested donation of laminated beams, paneling, and allied millwork. The University accepted the proposed gift, with Lewis Lumber Products working with Bower Lewis Thrower Architects on the final design. Atherholt coordinated the completion and installation of more than $600,000 of paneling, moldings, and laminated beams for the building.

Atherholt has maintained a close working relationship with School of Forest Resources faculty, lecturing in several courses on a continuing basis. He has also served on the School's Advisory Board over the past three years. He is an advocate of the Wood Products major at Penn State and considers its specialization a primary asset for entering his industry.

Atherholt has been active with the Kiwanis Club in both Williamsport and Montoursville, serving as president of the Williamsport group. He has a strong focus on youth development, both within the Faith United Methodist Church (Youth Worker of the Year Award), Kiwanis (1999 Kiwanis AYSO Coach), and as chairperson of the Central Pennsylvania Kairos Prison Ministry.