Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 24, 1993 TAG: 9301260180
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: EC-23 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN GIBBONS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COMPANY HANGS IN, DESPITE HARDSHIPS
Architectural Wood had its ups and downs in 1992, says company owner Bruce Cody, but "we're fairly optimistic right now."We were able to manage in '92 in spite of some hardships and I think '93 is going to be improved and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
One of those hardships Architectural Wood faced was a fire last February that caused $100,000 worth of damage at the company's office on Starkey Road. The fire forced the outfit, which specializes in custom woodworking, to operate from a small storage space near the damaged site. Production was moved to Salem while a new building was prepared. The company moved into the new facility, on Commonwealth Drive in the Southwest Industrial Park, in June.
Despite that, Cody says, 1992 "was our second best year [in the seven years] since we've been in business." He added, "We had to work harder for what we had, but it's available if you try."
It also helps to get through the hard times with a close-knit group of workers. As Cody explains, "We happen to have a very good group of employees who work well together. As a matter of fact, we did a little, kind of an in-house survey and the one comment I got on almost every one of them is that it's good to work with this bunch of people.
"I'm pretty well pleased with that comment," Cody said. "You can sometimes send those things out and get a lot of criticisms, but we didn't really this time."
His company has done millwork for three of the Roanoke Valley's high-profile new buildings: Dominion Tower, the new First Baptist Church's sanctuary and Norfolk Southern Corp's regional offices. They have also done work for projects in New York and Chicago.
Cody's view of the local economy is that "Roanoke is a stable market overall. Most of the impact from the [national] economy has hit in just the last few months. So I feel it kind of runs behind the trend a little bit. But even though I feel optimistic about Roanoke overall, it's isolated."
So, Cody says, he opened an office in Charlotte, N.C. "We felt as a company that we had to grow beyond that territory," Roanoke. "Of course, being a manufacturer, we're only limited by how far we can manage a project."
For himself, Cody - who lives with his wife Donna in Roanoke County - says 1992, economically, was "about dead center."
One change, which he said was a little unusual, was that "I was leasing a vehicle . . . but I got a good deal on" a used car.
"I had a friend who lost his job and he was selling, so I picked it up," he said.
In 1993, Cody says, "I'm going to concentrate on business. I don't have any personal goals or things like that . . . I think we're just going to concentrate on what we've got and make sure that it's shored up, pretty well protected."