John Sappington is the plant manager and purchases all lumber for Kirkwood Stair & Millwork in Pacific, MO.
Kirkwood Stair & Millwork has been in business since 1899 and is a manufacturer of stair parts, circular stair cases, mouldings and millwork, doors, architectural beams, arched and curved millwork, table tops, bar tops, and custom-designed panels. Sappington purchases between 400,000 and 500,000 board feet annually of Poplar, Red and White Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry, Birch, Hickory, and Ash, as well as imported species like African Mahogany (FAS, Select and Better, No. 1 Common, SAP & Better, 4/4 through 16/4, all kiln-dried to furniture specs).
Sappington attended Kirkwood High School, located in Kirkwood, MO. He attended St. Louis Community College and studied lean manufacturing, lean supply chain, and accounting from St. Louis University School of Business. Sappington has worked for Kirkwood Stair & Millwork for 15 years. He began working in the forest products industry in 1991 as a cabinetmaker.
Kirkwood Stair & Millwork is a member of the St. Louis Home Builders Association and the Certified Builders Guild.
In his free time, Sappington enjoys coaching youth sports, and martial arts. He has been married to Suzan for 36 years and the couple has three sons, one daughter, and three grandchildren.
For more information visit www.kstair.com.
Carl Riggall is the lumber purchaser at Finger Lakes Moulding Company, a division of the OneSource Millwork family of companies, located in East Syracuse, NY.
Finger Lakes Moulding is a manufacturer of architectural woodworking, custom cabinets and mouldings, purchasing at least 100,000 board feet of Cherry, Red Oak, Poplar and Walnut annually. The company offers Premium finger jointing, CNC knife grinding and finishing. Finger Lakes Moulding is a member of the Architectural Woodwork Institute.
Riggall began his career in the forest products industry eight years ago as a wood finisher. He has held his current position at Finger Lakes Moulding for five years. Riggall also has an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in mechanical technology.
For more information about Finger Lakes Moulding, contact Riggall directly by phone at 315-575-7851 or email flmcarl@hotmail.com.
John Harren is founder of Northern Toboggan Co., located in Warroad, MN and he has oversight of lumber purchasing.
Northern Toboggan manufactures traditional snowshoes, toboggans, sleds and custom artisan products. Sled sales are wholesale and retail, with additional production of components for wood furniture and custom wood projects. The company purchases 100,000 board feet per year of Red Oak and White Ash.
Regarding Northern Toboggan’s mission, the company’s website states, “We use principles that are centuries old in the production of our traditional products. We have an artisan manufacturing side of our business where we design and build wood components and products that require skilled hands versus automation. We are building on a family tradition and sharing that lifestyle story through several mediums, including digital media.”
Harren founded Northern Toboggan in 1995 and the family business is currently in transition to its next generation of family ownership. Harren’s son, Jackson, is the company’s manufacturing engineer, also helping to manage operations. Harren’s second son, Gabriel, manages Northern Toboggan’s client relations, in addition to marketing, business development and creating written material for the firm. Jackson’s wife, Solveig, runs the business’ administration side.
Harren is married to Pat and the couple has four children (Katrin, Jackson, Gayle and Gabriel) and 14 grandchildren. In his spare time, Harren enjoys hunting, fishing, outdoor activities, cooking, camping, hockey and spending time with family, especially toboggan rides at Harren Mountain.
To learn more, visit www.northerntoboggan.com.
