SCOTT FLYNN, LEFT, general manager of the rk Miles store in Middlebury, accepts the Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Association’s 2021 Lumberperson of the Year Award from Brian Wright, territory manager for Trus joist/ Weyerhaeuser

MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Retail Lumber Dealers Association (VRLDA) has named Scott Flynn, general manager of r.k. Miles Inc.’s Middlebury store, as their 2021 Lumber Person of the Year. This award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the lumber and building materials industry as well as to his or her local community.

Flynn began his career in the lumber industry in the mid-’80s when Poulin Lumber opened a store in his hometown of Derby.

“I started running forklifts and shucking lumber in the yard, then moved to driving, dispatching and finally I moved into inside sales,” he said. With a short stint running his own custom wood products business, Flynn returned to Poulin and rose the ranks as outside salesperson, assistant manager, manager, then ultimately as general manager of that company’s location in Hardwick.

Flynn joined the rk Miles team in 2016 as general manager of its Middlebury location. Since then, he has help support the company with its expansions in 2017 and 2020 and has been instrumental in implementing a dispatch and delivery system at most of the rk Miles locations in Vermont and Western Massachusetts.

Flynn spent a decade on the VRLDA board of directors, including a term as president from 2015-17, and has also served on the NRLA’s board of directors and convention committee.

“If you get a chance to participate or serve on a board in your industry, do so,” he advised. “The networking will only empower you and bring you to new levels.”

Flynn is the fifth rk Miles employee to win this distinguished award.

rk Miles is a third-generation family business founded in Manchester in 1940. The company supplies lumber, building materials and home goods out of its 10 locations in Vermont and Western Massachusetts.