Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
SHOALS – A Martin County business that is a supplier of wood products to large companies is under new ownership.
Perry Knepp of Loogootee is the new owner of Tedrow Wood Products, a dimensional wood product company and supplies hardwood products for companies like Kimball International and Indiana Furniture, both in Jasper, and Automated Routing in St. Meinrad.
Cletus Tedrow founded the business in 1978. His sons Bob, Mark and Brian became owners in 1992 and they sold it to Knepp in January. Mark and Brian continue to work at the business and assisted during the ownership transition.
“Mark and Brian have been a tremendous asset, sharing their knowledge of the business and our customers,” Knepp said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Knepp has a background in manufacturing and said he was looking for an opportunity to own his own business when he learned the business was for sale. A married father of three, he said the business will let him set up a solid future for his children. He spends most of his time in the shop; his wife Angela handles the paperwork.
Prior to purchasing the Shoals business, Knepp worked 13 years for his grandfather’s business making custom cabinet doors in Montgomery.
About seven employees operate milling machines and gang rip saws in the large shop building. Nearby on the property are large three-sided buildings that store the maple and poplar favored by most customers.
Knepp said the company goes through about 2,000 square feet of lumber per day. Because of the variety of work requests, some as small as 3 inches, Tedrow Wood Products has very little scrap wood leftover. Wood shavings are sold to a farmer who uses them for turkey litter and any unsold scraps are saved and used to fuel wood boilers that heat the shop in the winter.
Expanding to new markets
As a supplier for Kimball, Knepp’s employees cut wood pieces to Kimball’s specifications. Those pieces are then finished at Kimball for use in making office furniture.
Indiana Furniture is a new customer and that acquisition is part of Knepp’s plans to expand the Tedrow Wood Products customer base to level out fluctuations in product demand.
“Our work flow follows Kimball, so if they slow down, we slow down,” he said.
One potential growth sector is providing frame stock and drawer box stock for the dozens of cabinet shops in the area. Another market he’s looking at is providing surface and straight line lumber.
Less than a year after buying Tedrow Wood Products, Knepp said he is still learning about the business, making sure he has the right wood at the right time and creating a good working environment for his employees.
“The Tedrows had a good reputation for on-time deliveries and I want to maintain that,” Knepp said. “The biggest challenge is living up to that reputation.”
For more information about wood products and Tedrow Wood Products, call 812-247-2260.