Local furniture company won’t give into offshore
Dale Holmes started working as a furniture upholsterer straight out of high school 40 years ago; when he took his first job, work at furniture manufacturing plants in the High Point area was commonplace.
Mammoth factories for major home furnishings companies dominated the economic landscape. The industry followed the cycles of the economy, but usually someone could find a job with a solid trade skill.
Today, with tens of thousands of furniture jobs lost to overseas production, Holmes considers himself lucky to still work as an upholsterer at the age of 57. He makes a living at the Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman factory in the Southwest Industrial Park on Southwest Street. The High Point company has remained committed to domestic furniture production.
“It gives me a paycheck,” said Holmes, who commutes from nearby Thomasville.
Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman provides jobs to 85 local workers through its corporate complex covering 100,000 square feet. The high-end furniture manufacturer, which produces upholstered pieces and casegoods, has maintained a presence in High Point for the past 22 years.
The company, which did $15 million in business during 2012, hasn’t been immune to economic pressures. Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman reduced its workforce at the outset of the Great Recession — it has added some jobs back, though not to pre-recession levels.
Vice President of Operations Gregg Arrington and Chief Financial Officer Steve Wilt offer many reasons why Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman has been able to keep production here — lean product inventories, quick turnaround times for custom orders, a network of adept local vendors and suppliers.
But at its core, the company’s cause comes from heart and soul.
“There’s a moral commitment,” Arrington told The High Point Enterprise during an interview in a small company conference room. “We want to keep it here philosophically. We’re very passionate about that.”
If the erosion of North Carolina furniture manufacturing jobs in the past generation is any indication, other furniture employers don’t share the passion of Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman. In the past two decades or so, a who’s who of home furniture manufacturers have shifted production offshore to countries such as the People’s Republic of China to take advantage of meager labor costs and a lax regulatory climate.
Statewide, the furniture manufacturing work force dropped 63 percent from 89,017 employees in 1990 to 33,074 two years ago, according to state employment records.
When the new corporate owner of Pearson Co. closed the longtime High Point plant earlier this year, Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman was able to offer jobs to some of those workers, Arrington said.
“Over the years we have hired ‘the best of the best’ craftsmen when other … companies made the choice to shut down their American manufacturing facilities and go abroad with their production,” he said.
pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528
