Release Details

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Oct 21, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Universal Forest Products, Inc. (Nasdaq: UFPI) announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.045 per share, payable on December 15, 2002 to shareholders of record as of December 1, 2002. The Company has paid an annual cash dividend since 1983, a semi-annual dividend since 1990, and has increased its dividend in each of the past eight years. This is the Company's twenty-eighth consecutive semi-annual cash dividend.

"Once again we have shown that Universal's unique business model enables us to execute solid strategies," said Peter F. Secchia, UFPI's chairman of the board. "Our employees remain focused on delivering shareholder value at every turn. We are pleased to share our success with the people who have invested in us."

Universal Forest Products markets, manufactures, and engineers products for D-I-Y retail home centers, structural lumber products for the manufactured housing industry, engineered wood components for the site-built construction market and specialty wood packaging for various industries. For information about Universal Forest Products on the Internet, please visit the company's web site at www.ufpi.com , or call 888-Buy-UFPI.

SOURCE Universal Forest Products, Inc.

CONTACT: Michael R. Cole, Chief Financial Officer of Universal Forest Products, Inc., +1-616-364-6161