![](media/image1.png){width="1.979861111111111in"
height="1.0083333333333333in"} ***News Release***

New York District Office

Release Date: January 12, 2005 Contact: John J. Miller (212) 264-7770

Release Number: NYDO-06-04 e-mail: john.miller@sba.gov

***Bronx Cabinetmaker Making a Name for Itself***

***On Manhattan's Fifth Avenue***

*With a Little Help from the SBA*

**Bronx, NY**--- With celebrities, high-flying business execs and the
upper crust of New York

City society as clients, cabinetmaker Hendrickson Custom Cabinetry is
proving that quality manufacturing can thrive in the resurgent Bronx.

The high-end product company owned by husband and wife team Felix and
Lisa Hendrickson

is an example that with hard work, patience and pluck a small business
can become successful

in the Bronx, provide both employment and life skills to local
residents, and give back to the community.

The Hendricksons had been living in Austin, Texas when Felix decided he
wanted to return home to New York City to be closer to family. Both
Felix and Lisa took up corporate positions when they returned but Felix
wanted to continue his 15-year career as a cabinetmaker. He had a vision
of a custom-cabinetry company that provided high-end services for
customers and a great work environment for employees. So Felix
established Hendrickson Custom Cabinetry with five employees in a
workspace sublet from his retiring former employer. Sales began to rise
rapidly. Felix then asked Lisa, a business strategist at a professional
services firm, to join the company and the two began building HCC into
the business they envisioned\-\-- a competitive, community-oriented
company based on the "lean" manufacturing model. The Lean manufacturing
method happens to be that commonly used by the Japanese automakers.

The for-the-trades-only business, at 134^th^ Street and Saint Ann's
Avenue, had first-year sales of \$333,000. Those sales numbers trebled
in just three years with the company doing one-of-a-kind works for
notable interior designers, contractors and architects like Peter
Marino, and Beyer, Blinder and Belle, who were working for well-heeled
clients residing at Manhattan's most desirable addresses.

The company grew to twelve employees in the process but that growth
created a problem. Specifically, the construction of high-end cabinets
requires extensive and detailed communica-tion between all the craftsmen
including the designer, cabinetmaker, finisher and installer. Yet half
of HCC's skilled and semi-skilled employees could either barely speak
English or not speak it at all.

Page 1 of 2

Fortunately, HCC had been contacted by the Bronx Overall Economic
Development Corpora-tion. HCC applied for and won a grant through the
BOEDC in which Booz-Allen Hamilton engaged the Berlitz School to
customize an employee training program focused on conversa-tional
English as well as manufacturing and technology terminology. The program
proved to be highly successful and resulted in reduced production errors
and increased employee morale. The grateful students were recently feted
with a "graduation ceremony" hosted by the Hendricksons and attended by
their supportive English-speaking co-workers.

The company has also found an innovative way to both recycle and give
back to the community. As one might imagine, there is a lot of waste,
known as off-fall, generated by a woodworking operation. With the help
of the non-profit Wastematch organization, HCC identified New York
City's Studio-in a-School Program to welcome the off-fall. Now, rather
than fill the city's landfills, that off-fall is shipped to 50 New York
City elementary where artists teach kids how to build art projects using
wood blocks. HHC has also constructed the off-fall into stage props
which it donates to New York's Desert Apple Theater Company.

Most recently, the company received a \$100,000 working capital loan
from Commerce Bank

that was guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The loan
was granted based upon a carefully detailed business plan and loan
application that the couple compiled with the help of New York SCORE
Counselor, Harry Lowenstein. SCORE is a business mentoring arm of the
SBA. "We have the state-of-the-art design software, efficient new
machine tools on order and the ability to increase our capacity," said
Lisa. "The working capital loan will now allow us to pull all the pieces
together in an efficient operation and allow us to continue to grow here
in the Bronx."

As far as tips for other entrepreneurs and Bronx business owners in
particular, Felix advises, "Training and education are imperative to the
success of your business. The more you invest in your employees, the
stronger they and your company will be." Hendrickson Custom Cabinetry
offers prove-positive that Bronx manufacturers can not only survive,
they can thrive.

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*All of the SBA's programs and services are provided to the public on a
non-discriminatory basis. For more information about the SBA please
visit [www.sba.gov/ny/ny](http://www.sba.gov/ny/ny).*