A city furniture company born out of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to thrive as it recently placed 3,471 on INC Magazine’s INC 5000, which measures the fastest-growing private companies in the country.
“We like to get ourselves into situations where it’s very new to us, and we try and figure it out, which isn’t always a great decision, but it’s definitely more fun that way,” said Zach Wahl, president of Brick Mill Furniture.
With global supply chains shut down during the pandemic, self proclaimed “serial entrepreneurs” Wahl and company CEO and co-founder Michael Caseman saw the need for a local supplier of tables, desks and other furnishings as more and more people began working from home.
“Being in the former lumber capital of the world, and all of the hardwoods that we have available to us in the state, we saw the opportunity to be able to manufacture stuff made out of solid wood and get it to people, instead of waiting on a shipping container,” Wahl said.
Starting in a warehouse in the water tower with a crew of three skilled woodworkers and advertising via internet only, Brick Mill would begin moving their products in all 50 states within the first 18 months of opening, with their very first sale being placed out of Washington State.
“Our market was nationwide, pretty much from day one, and we’re now focusing more on the local and regional market, because we didn’t have a showroom up until a month ago, where people could come in and see and touch and feel the quality of furniture we make,” he said, of their new showroom located at 315 West Third St. That new location will ultimately host their production facility as well.
Being almost entirely internet based, the business partners are sometimes astonished at the level of success they’ve seen.
“I’m always surprised at how many people are willing to purchase furniture from us without ever seeing it, but we’ve developed a really good reputation online. We have hundreds of positive reviews, and I think that’s really allowed us to go nationwide with our furniture,”Caseman said.
Brick Mill focuses on a number of product from dining tables, to floating shelves, to beds, chairs and more, all made from the readily available Pennsylvania hardwoods, including black walnut.
“That’s kind of why we started the whole business, the amount of hardwood lumber that we have here. We’re very lucky to have that in our backyard. We worked with a lumber mill in Snyder County from day one, and actually ended up acquiring them after a couple years. So now we do everything from log all the way through finished furniture,” Wahl said.
“It’s kind of what separates us from a lot of national companies, is that we monitor that whole process from tree all the way through the finished furniture,” he said.
The hard work has certainly paid off, as evidenced by the company’s placing on the INC 5000, growing by 113% over the past three years, according to the magazine’s website.
“They look at privately owned businesses, and your growth over a three year period. So they look at your revenue from three years ago, look at your revenue today, and look at how much you’ve grown over that period, and if your growth rate is fast enough, you make the list,” Wahl explained.
“The more niche thing that I feel like is even more interesting is when you just look at manufacturing, because manufacturing is really hard to scale. You need the workers, you need the machines, you need the electricity, you need the raw material, and we’re the 98th fastest growing private manufacturing business in the U.S.,” he said.
“And we’re the 97th fastest growing private company in the state,” he said, calling their placing on the list, “pretty special.”
“Realistically, the other closest business to make the list is in State College, and then it’s Philly, York, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh. There’s not many companies on the list that are in north central Pennsylvania,” Casemen added.
Not looking to rest on their laurels, Brick Mill Furniture is gearing up to launch several new products, including bathroom vanities, a variety of entertainment centers and other sorts of cabinetry style products.
The pair are quick to give much of the credit for the company’s success to their highly valued employees.
“We wouldn’t be where we’re at without our employees,” Wahl said, stressing that, unlike many professions, manufacturing is one that requires many dedicated employees to produce a large amount of product.
“The thing that’s been the most fun is just watching the guys in the shop really learn, because it’s not a skill that you come out of high school or college with, so we’ve really had to bring in people willing to learn and work hard to develop their skill sets from scratch,” Wahl said.
“It’s been great to see that personal growth in a lot of the employees to create a quality product and be proud of the stuff that they’re putting out every day,” he added.
“Part of that culture stems from it being truly a family business,” Caseman said, noting that Wahl’s father is a partner in the business, while Cameman’s son, Zac acts as general manager.
“I have another son involved in management. My future son-in-law and my parents work here, my wife does sales, and my brother-in-law works here part-time,” he continued.
“So it’s sort of three generations on the Casemen side,” Casemen said.
“Our employees have been our biggest recruiter and assets, because we try to create a quality work environment, and that’s allowed our employees to go out and feel comfortable bringing in their friends, their family, the people they know into our company, because they know it’s a really great place to work,” Wahl said.
The pair make it a point to mention that potential employees need not be skilled in woodworking to apply.
“We probably employ three woodworkers and everyone else, we’ve made them a woodworker,” Wahl said.
“We’ve brought kids in, straight out of high school that have been with us for a couple of years, that are moving up within our organization. We had some college students that were in the welding department that came into sand. We have all different types of people that come in, and then we train them to be woodworkers,” he said.
With the continued growth of the company, Wahl and Caseman are actively looking to expand their workforce.
“We’re always in need of people who are hard working, willing to learn and want to come in and be a part of a growing company with the ability to work your way up from something as simple as sanding wood, all the way up through building really cool bases and cabinetry products,” Wahl said.
“We’ve discussed really wanting to use this opportunity to bring in really talented, local workers into our organization and help them grow up through the process,” he added.
Wahl said several factors set the company apart from many other furniture providers.
“Everything here is made custom. People come to us because you can pick your size, you can pick your base, you can pick your wood species that it’s made out of, and we manufacture it custom for you, which kind of is a very different model than a lot of other furniture companies,” he said, adding that all products are made in the U.S.
“Not only are they made in the U.S., they’re made in Pennsylvania, using Pennsylvania materials,” he “Everything we do is supporting American workers, all the way from taking the log out of the woods and milling it up and drying, to it ending up in the showroom,” he stressed.
“We also strive to provide a really good customer service experience. We’re very transparent about our pricing and about the process and how long it’s going to take, and give that service all the way through to final delivery,” Wahl said.
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