It’s 8 a.m. on a spring morning and Koopman Lumber in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, is alive with activity. Contractors pick up orders, professional painters and DIYers line up at the paint counter, and early morning shoppers browse the greenhouse and store aisles. The property, which sits near the center of town, includes a large barn stocked with building materials, a seasonal garden center, a kitchen and bath design showroom, and a store that sells everything from all-natural cleaning supplies to lawn care products.
Since 1939, four generations of the Koopman family have supplied residents and contractors of Massachusetts with lumber and home improvement products. Now led by chief financial officer Denise Koopman Brookhouse ’91, chief operations officer Tony Brookhouse ’89, and CEO Dirk Koopman, the company boasts 12 locations and is the largest independently owned lumberyard in Massachusetts.
Koopman Lumber started in Denise’s grandfather Peter Koopman’s home. As a contractor, he stockpiled supplies he needed for the business, storing them in his basement and garage. He set up a bell outside the garage, so locals could come to the house and buy from his personal stores for their own projects. Peter’s wife, Hendrika, at home with five children, would answer the bell and help patrons find what they needed. Koopman opened his first store and lumberyard one street from his house with the help of a friend during World War II. Local men returning from the war found gainful employment at the new business in town.
Peter’s son Don ’59 (Denise’s dad) took over the store in 1974, moving from Haledon, New Jersey, back to his hometown with his wife Doris ’61 and their children. They loved their life in Haledon, but Don wanted to honor his dad and do what he could to bolster the family business that had hit hard times. Under his leadership, he expanded the store’s second location and opened a third.
The Koopmans and Brookhouses say their years at Calvin made an enormous impact on the values they bring to the business. “The biggest thing for me,” says Tony, “was weaving Christian ethics and values through business or political science or whatever lens we were looking through. We’re very proud of Calvin, not only the heritage but the broad, liberal arts education.”
This year the LBM Journal named Koopman Lumber the Lumber Building Materials 2023 Dealer of the Year, a prestigious industry award. It’s a point of family pride precipitated by over eight decades of hard work and Christian values.
“This business is not really ours,” says Denise. “We’re just taking care of it while we’re here.”
Her husband Tony concurs, adding that their family’s motivation for continuing to grow the business in a profitable way is motivated primarily by a shared value—stewardship. “Everyone’s favorite family meeting is the one at the end of the year where we decide what we’re going to tithe and where we’ll tithe.”
The Koopman family is known for its investment in the local community, making generous donations over the years to area churches, healthcare facilities, a community center, and Whitinsville Christian School, where four generations of Koopmans have attended.
When asked what it’s like to run the company as a family, Denise and Tony both smile. Tony cites the tough but rewarding task of earning respect as a newcomer when he and Denise returned to Whitinsville in the mid-90s to raise their family and support the business. Challenges aside, keeping the business in the family has paid off. Over the last five years, Koopman Lumber has doubled in size, at a time when many family-run lumberyards in New England have either consolidated or closed their doors for good.
Denise and Tony say their goal is to stay the course. “Our biggest hope and prayer is that our kids continue the Christian values that Koopman Lumber was founded on. It’s about stewardship. It’s about service,” says Denise. With the fourth generation of family members stepping forward to learn and lead, that hope seems well within reach.
