In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with three team members from Edmund Allen Lumber out of Illinois: Nick Morrison, Sales Manager; Brian Studebaker, Millwork Manager; and Brandon Romine, Marketing Director. Together they reveal how a 129-year-old cedar and Douglas fir wholesaler has evolved into a full-service custom millwork operation that regularly takes on projects nobody else will touch.

The company serves a dealer network of roughly 450 customers across Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana, sourcing the bulk of its Western Red Cedar from Canadian mills and manufacturing everything else in-house. Brian walks through the millwork department's capabilities, from a 54-inch McDonough resaw and six-headed molder to a CNC that lets them replicate any historical molding profile. Brandon explains how he moved from sales into marketing and rebuilt the company's web and Instagram presence to solve a recurring problem: customers kept saying, "I didn't know you did that."

The standout story is a clock tower restoration in Madison, Wisconsin. Lightning struck the tower, and the team had to replicate nine or ten unique molding profiles, fabricate stack-laminated corbels, and get everything hoisted by crane a hundred feet in the air while watching pieces swing in the wind. It captures exactly what Edmund Allen Lumber does best: the work nobody else wants to figure out.

The conversation also covers the custom design process from architect sketch to final CAD, the economics of quoting without charging design fees, tariffs pushing cedar costs up as much as 45 percent, and the shift from new single-family construction toward remodels and multifamily. The team's message is simple: if you can dream it, they can probably make it.

Chapters

00:00 What Edmund Allen Lumber Sells: Cedar, Douglas Fir, and Beyond

03:27 Inside the Millwork Department

05:24 Wholesale Model, Dealer Network, and Architect Partnerships

06:35 From Instagram Screenshot to Final CAD

09:51 The Clock Tower Restoration in Madison, Wisconsin

14:34 Brandon's Journey from Sales to Marketing Director

23:12 Where to Find Edmund Allen Lumber

32:36 Educating Customers on Checking in Cedar Timbers

35:11 Tariffs, Supply Chain, and the State of the Market

41:18 Fifteen Years of Change: Expanding the Mill Shop

44:41 New Construction vs. Remodels and Where the Market Is Heading

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

Connect with Edmund Allen Lumber Team at:

https://edmundallen.com/

https://www.instagram.com/edmundallenlumber

https://www.linkedin.com/company/edmund-a.-allen-lumber-company/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Luke Gaskin of Good Old Wood in Vancouver, BC. Luke shares how his business evolved from a full-service salvage operation called Salvage Vancouver into a focused reclaimed wood company. The name change wasn't just branding. It was a turning point. Dropping the salvage identity and committing to Good Old Wood meant letting go of the junkyard mentality and zeroing in on what he actually loved: working with the wood itself and turning it into something new.

Luke talks honestly about the growing pains that came with building a self-taught business from scratch. He had no woodworking background, learned everything from YouTube, and operated on a fake-it-till-you-make-it approach for years. He tried partnerships that didn't work out, scaled up to a big shop with four employees before COVID forced him to scale back down, and spent the better part of seven years scraping by before the business started gaining real traction. Through all of it, he grew organically without big loans, slowly building his understanding of the craft and the market.

The conversation covers the practical realities of working with reclaimed material. Luke explains why he stopped doing the demolitions himself, how free wood started coming to him once word got out, and why Vancouver's salvage mandate for older homes created a natural pipeline of material. He breaks down the economics of selling individual mantles and floating shelves versus landing larger commercial projects like feature walls and flooring installs, and why the bigger volumes are where the real money lives. He also talks about the challenge of staying true to the DIY customers who supported him early on while building a business that can actually sustain itself.

One of the standout stories in this episode is Luke's current project with Aesop, the skincare brand recently acquired by L'Oreal. He's building out an entire flagship store in Richmond Mall using over five thousand board feet of reclaimed wood. The material is coming from large timbers salvaged from a deconstructed Dairyland facility in Burnaby, and the design was inspired by an earlier project using wood from a wooden roller coaster at Vancouver's Playland at the PNE. The whole store will be reclaimed wood, designed around Luke and his story, and he describes it as the kind of project where, if it were the last thing he ever built, he'd feel successful.

Jennifer and Luke also dig into the marketing side of the business. Luke admits he hasn't done much formal marketing, relying mostly on word of mouth, Instagram, and Google searches. He talks about the love-hate relationship with social media, the challenge of documenting your own work while you're in the middle of building it, and why he's bringing someone on to handle content creation, especially heading into the Aesop project. Jennifer emphasizes the importance of professional photography and long-term storytelling, reminding Luke that this one project could fuel his marketing for years.

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Luke at:

https://www.goodoldwood.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/goodoldwoodco/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Joshua Morvant of Revival Timberworks in Louisiana. Joshua shares how his journey through woodworking started with taking apart pawn shop guitars as a teenager, moved into cabinet making to pay the bills, and eventually led him to an apprenticeship with a luthier just outside Quebec City. Living among some of the oldest colonial architecture in North America, buildings constructed in the 1600s that were still standing strong, something clicked. The idea of building something with your hands that could outlast you by centuries became the driving force behind everything he's done since.

What makes Joshua's path unique is that he had no formal apprenticeship in timber framing. He taught himself by visiting historic buildings across the East Coast over a five-year period, studying joints, reading failures, and building a mental toolbox of what works and what doesn't. He talks about how broken braces, undersized members, and insufficient relish behind pins taught him as much as the structures that survived, and how those observations now inform every project Revival Timberworks takes on.

The conversation covers the real-world complexity of integrating timber framing into modern light-frame construction, why the phrase "it's just decorative" has become a trigger for Joshua, and how working closely with engineers from day one leads to smoother, more cost-effective projects. Joshua breaks down how Revival Timberworks operates across multiple client channels, from partner builders and architect relationships to homeowners who find them on Google, and how customizable pergola and timber frame kits have found an unexpected niche with landscape companies looking for turnkey outdoor structures.

Jennifer and Joshua also explore the supply side of the business. Joshua talks about watching Douglas fir log sizes shrink over the past 15 years, the disappearance of old growth material, and why he's become a strong advocate for mass timber and glue-lam as ways to use younger trees more effectively with less waste. He shares his perspective on the 200-year growth cycle needed to produce quality timber and why the conversation about sustainability in the Southeast needs to go deeper, especially on smaller private woodlots where education and attention don't always follow.

Chapters

00:00 Origin Story: From Cabinet Shops to Guitar Building to Timber Framing

04:07 Learning from Old Buildings: What Lasts, What Fails, and Why

09:31 Structural vs. Decorative: Integrating Timber Frames into Modern Construction

12:44 Client Relationships: Builders, Architects, and Homeowners

16:03 Customizable Kits and the Landscape Company Niche

19:36 Marketing Through Relationships and a 15-Year-Old Website

21:41 Bonsai, Yamadori, and the Parallel Path of Working with Living Trees

27:29 Material Sourcing: Shrinking Logs, Thermal Modification, and Mass Timber

34:20 Sustainability, 200-Year Growth Cycles, and the Future of Wood

40:04 What's Next for Revival Timberworks

44:29 Legacy, Mentorship, and Where to Find Revival Timberworks

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Joshua at:

https://revivaltimberworks.com/

https://www.instagram.com/revivaltimberworks/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger welcomes back returning guest Mike McGarry of Urban Lumber in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. What started as a one-man pilot project to prove to three levels of government that diseased urban trees could be safely salvaged has grown into what may be one of the largest urban tree recycling and hardwood production operations in the country, processing three to four thousand trees per year with a team of eleven employees.

Mike walks through the early days of navigating government roadblocks, building chain of custody tracking, and developing disease mitigation protocols for working with Dutch elm disease wood. He explains how the elm bark beetle carries the fungal spores, why getting the bark off within five days is critical, and how Winnipeg's brutal winters actually work in his favor.

The conversation shifts to how Urban Lumber evolved from a sawmill operation selling raw lumber into a fully vertically integrated company. Today, ninety percent of the lumber they produce stays in-house for custom furniture, architectural millwork, boardroom tables, and floating shelves sold online across Canada. Mike talks about the equipment upgrades that made this possible, including a modified Wood-Mizer LT40 extended to handle massive urban logs and an iDry Turbo vacuum kiln that finally solved the challenge of drying American elm without excessive degradation.

Jennifer and Mike also dig into the business side: why your next hire should be a dedicated marketing person, how to build a company culture that keeps people around, the economics of smaller bandsaw blades when you're hitting metal every day, and why staying nimble keeps Urban Lumber insulated from market volatility. They close with a candid conversation about the economic climate between Canada and the US, cross-border tariffs on blade prices and shipping, and shifting species trends from maple to walnut to white oak.

Chapters

00:00 The Origin Story: From Forestry Student to Urban Lumber Founder

02:29 Government Roadblocks and the Pilot Project

04:19 Disease Mitigation: Dutch Elm, Bark Beetles, and Chain of Custody

08:03 Scaling Up: Equipment, Employees, and Closing the Waste Loop

13:46 Kiln Drying Breakthroughs with the iDry Turbo

15:05 From Sawmill to Fully Vertically Integrated Operation

19:01 Custom Furniture, Architectural Millwork, and the Shaper Origin

21:04 Building a Team and Keeping the Culture

25:20 Marketing, Inventory, and the Business of Running It All

29:01 AI in the Shop: Time Savings and Cautionary Tales

30:56 What Keeps Mike Coming Back Every Morning

33:15 Economic Fears, Tariffs, and Staying Nimble

35:38 Species Trends: Elm, White Oak, and Shipping Challenges

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Mike at:

https://www.urban-lumber.ca/

https://www.instagram.com/urban_lumber_mb/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mcgarry-967152166?originalSubdomain=ca

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Ben Pierce, a sixth-generation family member at the Holt & Bugbee Company, one of the oldest hardwood lumber businesses in the United States. At 201 years old, Holt & Bugbee Company has survived recessions, industry shifts, and the rise of synthetic flooring by doing what it's always done: adapting. Ben shares how the company evolved from importing mahogany from Central America to becoming a premier domestic hardwood wholesaler serving the East Coast from four branches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York.

You'll hear about what it was like to start working at the family business right as the 2008 recession wiped out 40 percent of their revenue overnight, and how the company held onto its sales team and pivoted toward higher-end, longer-length, wider material for luxury residential projects and architectural millwork firms. Ben talks about the shift from selling truckloads of commodity lumber to filling precise, high-dollar orders for coastal homes and custom molding work, and how COVID unexpectedly rewarded the company's ability to source, produce, and deliver when competitors couldn't.

Ben also shares two of the best marketing stories you'll hear on this podcast. First, how he got Holt & Bugbee Company featured on This Old House by donating a white oak floor during their 200th anniversary year. And second, how a chance sighting of a century-old ghost sign on a Boston building during a duck boat tour led to a nine-month restoration project that landed coverage from WBZ, the Boston Globe, and local NPR. Both stories are masterclasses in creative, relationship-driven marketing in an industry where traditional advertising doesn't always apply.

Jennifer and Ben also dig into the state of the hardwood industry, from the challenge of competing against synthetic flooring to why the next generation of consumers may actually swing the pendulum back toward authentic, sustainable, locally sourced wood products. Ben closes with advice for anyone born into a family business: get experience somewhere else first, then come back stronger.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Ben Pierce and the 201-Year History of Holt & Bugbee Company

04:09 Surviving the 2008 Recession and Pivoting to Premium Lumber

08:11 Selling Strategy: High-End Markets and Custom Millwork

15:33 Marketing a 200-Year-Old Brand in a Modern World

20:55 Getting Featured on This Old House

24:48 The Ghost Sign: A Century-Old Discovery Turned Marketing Gold

29:49 The Future of Hardwood: Authenticity, Sustainability, and the Next Generation

35:37 Advice for the Next Generation in Family Business

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Ben at:

https://www.holtandbugbee.com/

https://www.instagram.com/holtandbugbee/

https://www.facebook.com/holtandbugbee/

At 41 years old, with no woodworking background and tools made from hot-glued blocks of wood, Craig Hedges won a YouTube scholarship that changed the trajectory of his entire family's life.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Craig Hedges, the new owner of Goliath Hardwoods in Evansville, Indiana. Craig's story starts with a $250 check from a YouTube woodworker's scholarship fund, a circular saw, a jigsaw, and a drill. What began with cornhole boards made alongside his wife and four kids eventually grew into pen turning, laser engraving, craft shows, and ultimately the purchase of a nearly 30-year-old hardwood retail business that was days away from closing its doors forever.

You'll hear about how Craig and his family funded a trip to Disney World entirely from cornhole board sales, and the car ride home where the kids declared they were done making them. You'll hear about how he discovered Goliath Hardwoods as a customer, watched the sale fall through multiple times with other buyers, and negotiated an owner-financed deal that let the business pay for itself from day one. Craig also shares how he inherited a loyal customer base, kept the existing staff, and immediately went to work building a social media presence from scratch with his son Ian behind the camera.

You'll also hear about the incredible historic restoration project that landed on Craig's doorstep, resurfacing 130-plus-year-old flooring from the old Cargis building to be installed in 121 new apartments. Craig talks about his plans to create custom wood urns with military branch scroll work for local funeral homes, his vision for a dedicated maker space, and the heartwarming story of helping a pair of newlyweds build their first dining table in his shop. Jennifer and Craig also dig into sourcing strategies for small retailers, from Facebook Marketplace finds to building relationships with larger local suppliers, and how to use social media to stop the scroll and find the wood you need.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Craig Hedges: From YouTube Scholarship to Business Owner

05:56 Buying Goliath Hardwoods and Keeping a Legacy Alive

10:05 Building a Social Media Strategy from Scratch

11:46 The Historic Cargis Building Flooring Restoration

18:01 Custom Urns, Maker Spaces, and Creative Revenue Streams

25:50 Sourcing Wood as a Small Retailer

34:19 Challenges, Community, and the Power of Just Trying

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Craig at:

https://goliathhardwoods.com/

https://www.instagram.com/goliath_hardwoods/

https://www.facebook.com/goliathhardwoods/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Marty Parsons of the Wood-Mizer Pennsylvania Authorized Sales Center. What started as a side hustle while Marty worked as a diesel mechanic at PennDOT quickly exploded when he and his wife Lisa sold 65 mills in their very first year. A quarter century later, Marty has built a family-run operation known across the East Coast for its hands-on training, free tech support, and the kind of honest, no-nonsense advice that has made him a go-to voice in the sawmill community.

You'll hear about how the authorized sales center model got off the ground, the early pushback from within Wood-Mizer, and how Marty earned respect one perfectly aligned mill at a time. You'll hear about the real reasons sawyers get wavy cuts, why Marty swears by the 747 blade profile for mills of all sizes, and the fuel maintenance mistake that ruins more engines than most people realize. Marty also walks through common calls he gets from customers, from thick-and-thin lumber issues to power feed rebuilds on older mills, and explains why a simple phone call before you start wrenching can save you hundreds of dollars.

You'll also hear about the people behind the scenes who make it all work: Lisa, who keeps the books and the business running, son Nick who handles technical calls and wiring, Andrew and Tristan who are learning the trade hands-on, and the Resharp team keeping four grinders and two setters humming. Marty talks about the shift from doing 25 trade shows a year to reaching thousands through social media reels, his collaboration with channels like Outdoors with the Morgans, and what it was like to bring the second WM5500 in the United States to his region.

Whether you're a new sawyer trying to figure out why your boards aren't coming off flat, a seasoned mill owner looking for better blade performance, or someone considering getting into the sawmill business, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and real-world experience.

Tune in, take notes, and don't forget to follow the Woodpreneur Podcast. New episodes drop every Thursday morning wherever you consume your podcasts.

Chapters

00:00 Introducing Marty Parsons and Wood-Mizer Pennsylvania

01:54 The Origin Story: From Auction Mill to Authorized Sales Center

06:31 The Resharp Program and Building a Service Team

09:13 Social Media, Reels, and Reaching Sawyers Nationwide

17:23 Top Service Calls and Troubleshooting Tips for Sawyers

27:03 Fuel, Maintenance, and the Myths That Cost You Money

42:53 Advice for Sawyers and Supporting Your Local Sales Center

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Marty at:

https://woodmizer.com/us/contact-us/wood-mizer-pennsylvania?srsltid=AfmBOorEGprvw8Tv3RRFSIRoJokqHO6T89kfnMNqC6wFrfq93nnDaGxG

https://www.facebook.com/marty.parsons.50/

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Bob Kloes and Matt Schmitz of Kloes Specialty Hardwoods, a Wisconsin-based business specializing in curly maple, bird's eye maple, flame birch, and other figured hardwoods. What started as Bob's lifelong passion for custom furniture evolved into a lumber business when his wife suggested he start selling the stunning figured woods he had been sourcing for decades. Now, with Matt at the helm after purchasing the business, the two share a partnership built on mentorship, shared passion, and an unwavering commitment to quality.

You'll hear about how Bob built relationships with sawmills over 20 years and developed an expert eye for selecting figured wood in the rough. You'll hear about the process of buying green lumber, working with a neighboring vacuum kiln operation, and sorting material by species, figure density, and customer specs for everyone from furniture makers to guitar builders and pool cue craftsmen. Bob and Matt also get honest about the challenges of marketing a niche product, navigating social media algorithms, and the real cost of shipping in today's market.

You'll also hear about Matt's journey from federal government career to business owner, how a summer sales slump nearly broke his confidence, and why having a built-in mentor made all the difference. Bob shares stories from his furniture-making days, including secret compartments, his "high country style" designs, and why he believes in over-delivering on every order. The conversation also touches on the declining availability of bird's eye maple, the puzzling drop in cherry prices, and the broader challenges facing the domestic hardwood industry.

Whether you're a woodworker searching for the best figured hardwoods, a small business owner navigating the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, or someone who appreciates the art of letting natural wood speak for itself, this episode is for you.

Tune in, be inspired, and don't forget to follow the Woodpreneur Podcast so you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Thursday morning wherever you consume your podcasts.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Bob Kloes and Matt Schmitz of Kloes Specialty Hardwoods

01:04 Bob's 40-Year Journey from Furniture Maker to Lumber Dealer

03:06 Matt's Path from Customer to Business Owner

06:25 Sourcing, Drying, and Sorting Figured Hardwoods

14:47 Selling Retail, Shipping Nationwide, and Managing Costs

19:26 Marketing, Social Media, and Industry Challenges

28:22 Favorite Projects, Quality Philosophy, and Lessons Learned

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Bob and Matt at:

https://www.kloesspecialtyhardwoods.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kloesspecialtyhardwoods/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/kshardwoods/

What if the trees being cut down in your neighborhood could become the art hanging on your walls or the table your family gathers around? Brian Presnell of Indy Urban Hardwood has been making that vision a reality in Indianapolis since 2016, and his story is one of the most compelling in the urban wood world.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, Jennifer Alger sits down with Brian to trace a journey that begins in art school at the Herron School of Art, winds through museum work and public art collaborations, and lands squarely in a sawmill shed in one of America's most tree-rich cities. Brian grew up surrounded by hardwoods in Indianapolis, watched them get hauled off and burned for decades, and decided to do something about it.

Brian breaks down how Indy Urban Hardwood works, from sourcing logs through his firewood rig and local partnerships, to milling, drying, and turning urban hardwoods into furniture, art, and reclaimed wood products that tell the story of the city they came from. He talks candidly about the wastefulness baked into how most cities handle tree removal, and why changing that requires both community education and a business model that makes sustainability actually work at a small scale.

The conversation also goes deep on legacy. Brian shares his vision for what Indy Urban Hardwood could look like in 10 to 20 years, the projects he is most proud of, and why mentorship and community involvement are just as central to his work as the sawmill itself. For Brian, woodworking has always been an extension of his life as an artist, and that perspective gives everything he builds a depth that goes beyond the grain.

Whether you are a woodworker, an urban wood advocate, or a maker trying to build something meaningful in your community, this episode will leave you inspired.

Hit follow and tune in. New episodes drop every Thursday morning.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction to Brian Presnell and Indy Urban Hardwood

01:58 - Art school, mentorship, and the creative foundation behind the business

04:50 - From museum work and public art to urban wood recycling

07:17 - Founding Indy Urban Hardwood in 2016 and the story of the first tree

10:41 - Indianapolis as a tree-rich city and the wastefulness of urban forestry

15:39 - Community partnerships, estate lumber, and local sourcing

18:07 - Products, business model, and the role of art in Brian's woodworking

24:19 - Vision for the next 10 to 20 years and the legacy Brian is building

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Brian at:

www.indyurbanhardwood.com

https://www.instagram.com/indyurbanhardwood/

https://www.facebook.com/IndyUrbanHardwood/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/indy-urban-hardwood

https://www.youtube.com/@indyurbanhardwood149

The next time you walk through Portland International Airport, look down. The floor beneath your feet is a piece of Oregon history, and Ben Deumling of Zena Forest Products helped put it there.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, Jennifer Alger sits down with Ben to trace the remarkable story behind Zena Forest Products, a family-rooted Oregon business that has spent 25 years figuring out what to do with the hardwoods everyone else overlooked. Growing up managing a diverse, mixed-species forest in the Willamette Valley, Ben inherited a problem: Oregon had virtually no infrastructure for milling anything other than Douglas fir. So he built one.

What started as a mission to use more of their own forest has grown into a vertically integrated operation milling Oregon White Oak, Big Leaf Maple, Oregon Ash, and more, taking wood all the way from the tree to a finished, installation-ready floor. Ben breaks down the unique challenges of working with Oregon White Oak, one of the densest hardwoods in North America, from writing his own drying schedules after university research fell short to building homemade kilns out of repurposed refrigerated shipping containers.

The centerpiece of the conversation is the PDX Airport project, and the origin story of Zena EdgeGrain, an edge grain tile product that Ben brought to North America for the first time, inspired by a wood floor he tracked down in Copenhagen. The airport needed 75,000 square feet of flooring. Ben had a seven-person team, a brand new product, and a decade-long relationship with the architecture firm that made the introduction. He shares what it really took to land and deliver a project of that scale, including the sleepless nights, the production strain, and the rebuilding that followed.

Ben also gets into the innovation framework behind everything Zena does: finding new pools of raw material, applying new technology, and opening up new markets for wood that would otherwise end up in a burn pile. From beetle-killed pine to invasive Juniper to leftover urban elm logs, the Zena EdgeGrain process is turning low-value, underutilized wood into beautiful, durable flooring and the conversation around what that means for sustainable forestry is one you will not want to miss.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction to Ben Deumling and Zena Forest Products

05:28 - Oregon White Oak: drying challenges, density, and flagship species

13:55 - Vertical integration from forest to finished floor

18:29 - The PDX Airport project and the origin of Zena EdgeGrain

25:39 - Three ingredients for wood industry innovation: raw material, technology, and new markets

33:34 - How a seven-person company landed a major international airport project

43:06 - Marketing to architects, lunch and learns, and building long-term relationships

46:29 - Products beyond flooring: stairs, wall cladding, registers, and Viking ships

The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger 

For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com

See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com

Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io

Connect with us at: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sawmillsnearme/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/

Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork

Join our newsletter: https://substack.com/@woodpreneurnetwork

You can connect with Ben at:

https://www.zenaforest.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-deumling-54057717a/

https://www.instagram.com/zenaforestproducts

https://www.youtube.com/@zenaforest1677