Featured Story: “North Carolina’s Keating Stands Tall”

Written By: Jessica Johnson, Associate Editor, Southern Loggin’ Times

Company: Summit Logging
Location: Elizabethtown, NC
SLT Issue: June 2019

After getting bitten by the timber bug, and graduating from NC State with a forestry degree, A.J. Keating worked as a procurement forester before starting his own company. Now, his Summit Logging crew works a mix of stands, both that Keating buys for himself and those he’s on contract with from Campbell Global.

The Elizabethtown, NC logger has huge aspirations and is one to watch in coming years.

“I’ve been blessed,” he shrugs. “There’s always room for improvement, and I learn something new every day I am out here.”

Finding help is a bit of a challenge Keating is already starting to worry about as age is going to eventually become a factor. He says, “My guys are starting to phase out. I lost a key guy in January 2019. That devastated me, but I jumped on the loader the next day to keep trucks moving.”