Harden enjoys 160 years of tradition

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Jul 02, 2004 by Spohr, George

MCCONNELLSVILLE -- There's a reason Harden Furniture Co., Inc. has survived - and prospered - through five generations of family ownership.

"We have a very effective and talented team," says Gregory M. Harden, president and chief executive officer, who describes his management style as "analytical and low key. The best management style is to give the directions and stay out of their way."

Under Harden's watch, the company, whose storied past dates back to when nearby Verona was best known for its wilderness rather than its casino, has seen a dramatic shift In the way it has done business.

Since its start in 1844, the company has made its money on furniture for the home. That hasn't changed. But since 2001, the commercial side of furniture manufacture has outpaced residential-furniture revenues. It was a change brought on by "good management," Harden says.

And it's a trend Harden says he hopes will continue.

"It allows us more diversification as the business-furniture percentage of our business has grown," he says.

There's room to grow, he adds, and much of that growth continues to fall under the direction of Christine Woodard, the company's vice president and general manager of the Contract Division. "Despite the recent growth, we still have a very small share of the market," Harden says. "A continued focus on marketing and sales will yield more volume."

The Harden family traces its roots - and the industry -- to the "unbroken wilderness of Verona" of the 1800s, according to the company's Web site. The company's founder, Charles S. Harden, Sr., left his home in Verona, heading west in search of adventure - and gold. Finding none, Harden decided to move his family back to New York, settling in McConnellsville and purchasing a sawmill on Fish Creek.

His son Frank started working in the sawmill as a young man. After much discussion, the father-and-son duo decided there was a need for some well-built kitchen chairs, so they set up shop and started production. At first just a sideline, furniture-manufacturing became their sole business in 1884. By the 1930s, when Harry Harden became president of the company, Harden was a full-fledged furniture manufacturer.

Harry Harden was one of the chief proponents of producing furniture using native black-cherry hardwood as the company's prime case-goods wood; up until that time, mahogany, maple, and birch were used. During World War II, little or no furniture was manufactured at Harden. Instead, Harden joined the rest of the country in the war effort, producing items such as gun stocks.

After Harry's sudden death in 1950, Harry's brother, Charles H. Harden (president of Camden Wire), became president. In 1955, Harry's son, Dave, was elected president of Harden Furniture and remained in that position until 1992, nurturing the formal, 18th-century, handcarved line while developing more contemporary and colonial designs.

Gregory Harden, representing the family's fifth generation of ownership and management. became chief executive officer in 1992. Since then, he has developed several new residential collections, from European Interpretations to Natural

Transitions. For the Contract Division, Gregory Harden and Christine Woodard brought to market the Serotina and Connectives desk and casegoods collections, Serotina NuVo, and, in 2003, the Puma Collection by renowned designer William Sklaroff. This June, Harden Contract added new models to Puma, extending the line's applicability to office and hospitality installations.

Harden says that one of the characteristics that makes his company so unique is that it is a truly family-owned, family-operated company. Not only is the Harden family five generations old, but a lot of the employees' families go back five generations in the company. All the company's growth is internally generated, Harden says.

Much of that loyalty's borne of the company's giving back to the community. The company has helped with the construction of churches, a community house, and several homes for employees. The tradition continues through Gregory Harden's leadership, with the building of a fire department, golf course, and a new post office in McConnellsville completed in 1995.

Family ownership has its ups and downs, Gregory Harden explains.

"There are always issues often not related to the business," he says. "That can be distracting and time-consuming." But at the same time, "decision-making is much faster and efficient."

Sales, estimated at about $50 million, could rise as much as 20 percent this year as the economy continues to gain momentum, Gregory Harden says.