From One-Man Operation to Industry Leader: The Legacy of Bo Shaw

By Jennifer Hunt (Content Writer)

What does it take to grow a one-person consulting firm into one of the most influential forestry companies in the United States? For Bartow ‘Bo’ Shaw, it took vision, integrity, and a relentless dedication to doing things differently.

Early Curiosity and a Life in the Woods

Shaw was born in Sumter, SC, on May 23, 1941, just before the U.S. entered World War II. He spent his formative years innovating and experimenting in the woods and with wood products, crafting a zipline and obstacle course through a large cedar tree, and a two-seat Ferris wheel that stood 25 feet high. Early signs of leadership and entrepreneurship were evident as Shaw worked at his father's and uncle’s building supply business, performing small tasks and later collecting delinquent bills at the age of 14. When his father hired a forester from Camden, SC, to manage a family-owned land holdings, his exposure to forestry and timberland started a chain of events that would determine the rest of his influential career.

Ernest Nutting, the Shaw family forester, served as a role model and leader to Shaw, and Shaw accompanied Nutting on timber cruises, carrying a tally book and painting lines on trees. Later, Shaw also worked on timber volumes and engaged with loggers, creating rich experiences that allowed him to have a more complete understanding of timberland as an investment and source of forest products. Although he was originally accepted into Clemson as an Engineering major, he switched to Forestry a week into his studies and never looked back. His summers were filled with Forestry and ROTC camps, and a fortuitous opportunity presented itself for him to participate as an aide for Clemson University’s summer camp.  After completing his degree in Forestry at Clemson, he earned a Master’s degree in Forestry at Duke University. His studies and field experiences solidified his commitment to blending field knowledge with business strategy and client service.

Founding His Firm and Building a Business

After his father’s sudden and shocking passing after a massive heart attack, Shaw returned to Sumter from the Air Force to get his father’s business affairs in order. During this time, he reconnected with Ernest Nutting to complete additional forestry work and eventually took over some of those clients when Nutting retired. Shaw founded his consulting firm in 1966, establishing a collaborative approach with other industry professionals at the time. His networking skills and connections at the Rotary Club and the South Carolina Forestry Association enabled him to secure local clients in several areas around Sumter before expanding.

Expansion, Mergers, and the “Shaw Method”

In the 1970s and 1980s, Shaw began adding services such as land appraisal, acquisitions, and land transactions to his firm’s offerings. During this time, the firm evolved through a series of partnerships, growing from Bartow Shaw & Associates to Shaw, Bullock, and Stewart, to Shaw, Stewart, and McLeod, then Shaw, Stewart, McLeod, and Belser, and eventually to Shaw, McLeod, and Belser (SMB). Each transition reflected not only internal leadership changes but also a broadening of the company’s vision and service scope.

A pivotal moment came in 1987 with the acquisition of Boris “Doc” Hurlbutt’s consulting firm in Walterboro, SC, which marked the company’s first formal business acquisition and expanded its geographic reach in South Carolina. Hurlbutt, a respected forester and former chairman of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, ran a handshake-based business serving a loyal client base. Roy Belser played a key role in managing this transition and continuing those trusted relationships.

The firm also benefited from the contributions of several key individuals. Paul Klapthor, a meticulous and brilliant forester with a background in Forest Service inventory work, elevated AFM’s appraisal group, helping it become a nationally recognized service offering. His commitment to excellence and integrity left a lasting legacy within the company. David Pritchard became Chief Operating Officer just prior to the Canal Forest Resources merger, overseeing internal operations including HR, business development, and accounting. Robin Jolley, formerly the CEO of Canal, joined AFM as Executive Vice President following the 2001 merger, bringing operational experience and helping to integrate the two firms smoothly; eventually serving as AFM’s Chief Executive Officer. Lastly, Tom Margo, then district manager in Sandersville, GA, came to Charlotte, NC, to run the real estate operations before later becoming AFM’s president.

The acquisition of Canal Forest Resources in 2001 marked a major growth milestone, giving AFM broader geographic and client coverage. This was followed by the 2007 acquisition of Sustainable Forest Technologies (SFT), which added new services and further expanded the firm’s geographic footprint. These moves helped institutionalize what would become known as the “Shaw Method”: a philosophy that provided continuous guidance for the firm and what it would become. Shaw’s emphasis on employee ownership, thoughtful growth, and long-term client relationships would become a cornerstone of AFM’s identity.

His approach to business and employee retention was novel, and the results were resounding: employees felt a greater sense of empowerment and investment with the option of being shareholders. As such, the shareholders are largely AFM leaders, and turnover has been minimal amongst these groups. Additionally, the Shaw Method recognized and appreciated the importance of relationships in the consulting business. As landowners cherish their landholdings, the land management consultant must demonstrate a similar sense of awe and appreciation for the land as well. There was a strong emphasis on building trust, listening, and service innovation. Shaw believed it was of the utmost importance to “maintain solid relationships with clients and associates and put their well-being first.” Fostering and cultivating a sense of family in the business not only created an approach to managing clientele but also to valuing staff and establishing a work-life balance that prioritized the family unit. He shared, “We worked hard, but while thinking of families, too.”

While Shaw cultivated personal, trust-based relationships with many clients, none were more enduring than those with the Des Francs and Boardman families. In 1979, Anne Marie Boardman and her sister, Louise des Francs, descendants of the Beidler family of Chicago, engaged Shaw’s firm to manage approximately 60,000 acres of South Carolina timberland that were previously part of a much larger estate. What started as a typical client relationship blossomed into personal connections that transcended business. The families often joined to share meals and personal time together, and Chris Boardman, followed by Robert Boardman and Edouard des Francs, along with his siblings, later became actively involved in land management decisions. Under Shaw’s guidance, the families reinvested proceeds from land condemnations into new timberland holdings, including the acquisition and restoration of the Blessing Plantation. Shaw and his team helped the families develop comprehensive management plans, implement conservation easements, and structure estate planning strategies. This client-centered approach was a defining method of the Shaw Method and remains embedded in AFM’s business practices today. The method that spread throughout the company prioritized ways to share experiences, solutions, and find applications to use from other types of businesses.

Influence in Policy, Advocacy, and Reform

As his consulting business continued to grow, Shaw was empowered to turn his attention to other opportunities, including advocacy roles and serving on boards. After spending significant time in the field, Shaw noticed a consistent flaw in logging operations: roads were not the same quality after a logging operation as they were before the logging operation. He noted that builders on construction sites have performance bonds and wanted to institute a similar policy with loggers. A modest performance bond gave the consultants some leverage with the loggers who damaged logging roads. After receiving a notification that repairs needed to be made, a logger would have to make repairs; if repairs weren’t made before the deadline, Shaw used the performance bond to make the repairs. Although there was significant pushback to this at the outset, loggers and other industry players adjusted to the new standard, and logging roads maintained the same measure of quality before and after harvesting.

Shaw became a leader in issues that affected the forest industry, and private forest landowners in particular. Among the issues he helped the industry address was the Landowner Assistance Program, initiated by the forest industry to ensure it had the first right to buy timber from a property. These programs tended to affect the competitive bid price for landowner timber negatively and dampened the business of forestry consultants. One of Shaw’s early diversification interests was timber taxation, which led to his serving as chairman of the Forest Industries Council on Timber Taxation and Valuation, tackling retained economic interest, an important factor affecting landowner taxes when harvesting timber. Shaw had a seat at the table with President George H.W. Bush in September 1989 and helped influence decision-making on Capitol Hill.

One opportunity led to another, and Shaw was invited to sit on the Board and its Executive Committee for the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) in 1993. As one of the only board members not representing a manufacturing company, he brought a unique perspective rooted in resource management and private land ownership. He was particularly active on the resource and tax committees and eventually became Chairman of the AF&PA Forestry Committee. During his tenure, Shaw developed meaningful relationships with industry leaders like Carter Fox, then-CEO of Chesapeake Corporation, John Dillon, CEO of International Paper Company, John Weaver, CEO of Abitibi-Consolidated, Inc., Rick Holley, CEO of Plum Creek Timber, and Pete Correll, CEO of Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Fox later became the only non-employee shareholder of Shaw, McLeod, Belser, and Hurlbutt and served as a board member, offering valuable advice during major milestones, including the acquisition of Canal Forest Resources.  While Shaw sat at the Board table to provide resource-related input, it also developed long-lasting personal friendships and valuable openings for large-scale operations for many future projects and expansions for AFM. It also provided opportunities for other AFM personnel to serve on AF&PA committees for additional contacts.

Shaw was deeply involved in the discussions that led to the creation of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®), which emerged as environmental groups were exerting pressure on major retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s, partly through demonstrations and the promotion of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) certification. In response, the industry sought to "take the bull by the horns" and develop its own credible standard, leading to SFI®. Shaw observed that the creation of SFI® pulled CEOs and resource professionals into deeper, more technical conversations about sustainability and compliance, which was a meaningful reflection of changing public and market expectations.

In addition to his tireless advocacy efforts, Shaw served on the Board of Visitors at the Duke Nicholas School and was notably active in bridging the gap between academia and working forestry, helping the school understand and support the practical realities of private forest ownership and land management. Shaw also maintained a strong connection to his alma mater, Clemson University, where he served on advisory boards and supported forestry students through scholarships, mentorship, and professional development opportunities.  He served sixteen years on the Clemson University Foundation Board of Directors and, in 2010, received the Clemson Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2018, Shaw received the National Association of Consulting Foresters’ Distinguished Forester Award. He was also a strong advocate for the Society of American Foresters (SAF), receiving its Golden Membership Award in 2013.  Serving on boards and working with professional organizations wasn’t just an opportunity for networking, but a chance to shape policy and ensure that the forestry industry remained credible in the public eye.

A Legacy of Leadership and Stewardship

Reflecting on Shaw’s legacy, one might draw conclusions about his practical, boots-on-the-ground style of leadership. His decisions, from forest management to policy involvement, were rooted in real-world impacts. His career reflected a balanced focus on economic viability, forest health, and building public trust and ensuring a positive depiction of the forestry industry. Although stakeholders didn’t always agree, Shaw’s calm, collaborative approach was widely respected throughout the industry and marketplace.

Shaw observed firsthand the shift from traditional timber harvesting with little reforestation to sustainable management, including the rise of certification programs like SFI® and FSC®. He understood these changes not as compromises, but as thoughtful and smart adaptations that helped the industry maintain its social license to operate and function as a meaningful contributor to our nation’s economy and the natural resources sector. The need for scientific research and data-driven decision-making in the face of climate and market changes is essential, and his support for this pragmatic approach was evident.

Finally, Shaw placed a tremendous amount of value on mentoring the next generation of foresters and prized professional development, ethics development, and stewardship as key components of the industry’s future. Through his involvement with Duke, Clemson, AF&PA, and SAF, he shaped leadership pipelines and encouraged humility and curiosity in young forestry professionals who are hoping to make a mark in the industry. Shaw summed it up best when he said, “Forestry is a long game. What we do today determines the landscape 50 years from now. That’s a responsibility we should carry with pride and care.”