Special to Atmore News
United Bank announces the addition of Elmo “Douglas” Ziebach, Jr. to the Board of Directors. The Monroeville business owner and community leader begins his term body following service as a member of United Bank’s Monroe County Advisory Board.
“We are very pleased to have Douglas join our board.” United Bank President and CEO Bob Jones said. “His commitment to community service as well as his success in business make him eminently qualified as a bank director. Douglas’ business interest fit nicely with our service area and growth plans. United Bank’s dedication to forestry and rural land financing coupled with Douglas’ timber expertise, strategically align with our footprint and mission. We welcome his guidance in this emerging market.”
Born in Mobile, Ziebach has lived in Monroeville since 1972. He grew up in the family business and began working with his father while in high school.
“From as long as I can remember, I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps as a forester, joining him at work with Ziebach & Webb, which I now lead as the Chief Operating Officer,” Ziebach said.
When he began at the company Ziebach & Webb, they employed four foresters and a secretary. They now employ more than 36 personnel and contract with more than 20 full time logging contractors and currently manage almost 18,000 acres of timberland.
Ziebach is a second-generation Auburn Forestry graduate, graduating in 1995 from the Auburn University School of Forestry. After graduation, he began work full time at Ziebach & Webb Timber Co, Inc. During his time there, he has helped grow the family business from 300,000 tons a year and working in a 10-county area surrounding Monroe County to expanding operations in 40 counties from Birmingham to South Alabama and into the panhandle of northwest Florida. The company supplies more than 1.5 million tons of timber annually to various pulp and paper mills, sawmills, and pole mills across Alabama and Northwest Florida.
In addition to the timber business, Ziebach helped lead the construction and operation of several other expansions including a temporary hurricane relief wood yard near Atmore for pulpwood and saw timber recovery from Hurricane Ivan, which provided an additional market for salvaged timber. Ziebach built and is operating Evergreen Wood Yard, a rehaul pulpwood wood yard. In 2018, he built Owassa Log Yard, a forest products export facility in Owassa, Alabama.
Beyond his corporate endeavors, Ziebach currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Alabama Forestry Association and the Alabama Forestry Foundation. He is a current board member and past president of the Monroe Academy PTA.
Ziebach is married to the former Chris Chaney of Gosport, Alabama. They have two children, Mimi, 20 and Chaney, 17.