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November 12, 2007

Restart the machines | Eight months after shutting down production, Moosehead Manufacturing is back in business

By Douglas Rooks
Second chances may be even rarer in business than in the rest of life, but Moosehead Manufacturing has one, and its new owners and old managers hope to make the most of it.

Other than adopting a new name to better match its product line ˆ— Moosehead Furniture ˆ— the Monson-based manufacturer will pretty much take up where it left off when it shut down in February. This time, however, it'll be in streamlined form, and initially with far fewer employees.

Moosehead began operations at its Monson plant in mid-October, and its new owners, Dana Connors, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, and Josh Tardy, a Newport attorney and Republican leader in the Maine House of Representatives, are optimistic that the mill can be profitable almost right away.

They have sharply downsized, buying only the original Monson plant and not a virtually identical mill in Dover-Foxcroft, which remains idle. The workforce will total 40 in the first few months, though it may grow after that. When Moosehead shut down, it laid off 120 workers and had more than 200 at its peak, before competition ˆ— chiefly from Asia ˆ— cut into its profits and eventually forced the company to close its doors.

Tardy, whose wife's family had multiple connections to the old management team, said he'd been looking for a business investment opportunity for some time, and this was the first that made him want to bid. His new partner, Dana Connors, said he at first just wanted to help the business get back on its feet, but was soon intrigued by the opportunity. "Moosehead is one of the key Maine brands, like L.L.Bean and Poland Spring, that has great value in the marketplace. There was nothing at all wrong with the product, but we think it may have to find a different niche to succeed again."

Neither Tardy nor Connors would disclose the purchase price for the company.Connors noted that the pair's offer for Moosehead wasn't the highest, but that other bidders were more interested in the brand than the production aspect. "Our group was the only one committed to resuming production and supporting the community," he said.

Moosehead's niche is not strictly upscale, like Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers ˆ— an Auburn furniture maker that caters to a high-end market ˆ— but it does represent a step up from the furniture that's sold in big-box stores, noted Connors. "The quality is there," he said. "We just have to get back to basics in terms of marketing and focusing on the best-selling items."

Connors said a sales analysis showed that 20% of the product line was accounting for 80% of revenue, so offerings will now be pared back to the best-selling items. Operating two similar plants also created additional overhead, he said. "You're most efficient when you can concentrate on one location and make your changes there," he said.

Bringing back jobs

John Wentworth, whose grandfather founded the company 60 years ago, and who previously had 20 family members as co-owners, said the restart "has been a great uplift to the community" in Piscataquis County, where jobs ˆ— particularly manufacturing jobs ˆ— have been scarce.

While Tardy described his current role as a consultant "for a few months," he said that he would like Wentworth and Dwayne Allen, a 37-year veteran of the company who managed the Monson plant, to play important roles in the new company. A third investor is providing equity for Tardy-Connors LLC ˆ— Rhode Island financier Ed Skovron.
While resuming production was one key milestone, another one will be a regional sales meeting in Hartford, Conn., in November. "The orders we get then will be the big factor" in how rapidly production increases, Tardy said.

Connors acknowledged that being co-owner of a furniture factory is not the usual role for the executive officer of the State Chamber. (He's held that position for 13 years.) But Connors has some relevant experience ˆ— he co-owned a manufactured housing firm in Presque Isle years ago, where he served as city manager ˆ— and said the challenge of keeping this "iconic" Maine brand in business wouldn't necessarily take a lot of his time. "You're not going to see Josh or me working on the shop floor, that's for sure," he said.
The chamber board, he said, "is comfortable with what we're doing, and it seems manageable." If the ownership role at Moosehead proves more demanding, "then we'll have to reconsider."

It's rare for a small manufacturer to shut down and then re-open with a new focus. Pat Bowling, vice president of communications for the American Home Furnishings Alliance in High Point, N.C., said she couldn't recall another example, though she said that some wood manufacturers "have made the decision to maintain domestic production and concentrate on a niche." Such specialties tend to involve raw materials, whether Vermont hard maple or distinctive upholstery, she said. Moosehead's distinctiveness, Wentworth said, is that it uses only solid hardwood pieces, virtually all of them from Maine forests.

If there is a precedent in Maine for this kind of rescue mission, it might be the partnership of former Gov. John McKernan and businessman Michael Liberty, who bought the Hathaway Shirt Co. plant in Waterville in 1996 when its corporate parent shuttered it. Shirts were made for another five years before the plant closed permanently.
Tardy said he knows the venture looks like an uphill climb, but is confident about its prospects. "We spent a lot of time on our due diligence, and we believe it can work, and work well."

Whatever his personal future, John Wentworth said the return to production is a major boost to Monson, and to Piscataquis County. "There's nothing that's sadder to see than a factory that's been shut down," he said from his office at the plant. "To smell the sawdust and lacquer again is as sweet as its gets."

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