Hand-crafted furniture with a social mission
Maine Woodworks balances quality with a social mission while crafting their cottage style furniture.
By Amy Paradysz • Photos by Dennis Welch
A HANDFUL OF MAINE companies capture our state’s aesthetic and character in products marketed to a national audience. L.L. Bean. Seabags. And, although lesser known, Maine Woodworks.
“We try to incorporate all things Maine,” says Margaret Logan, director of marketing and sales. “It’s where we come from and we’re proud of the legacy that it implies.”
The pieces are cottage style furniture in the storied New England tradition, available in a palette of 40 hues with names that evoke aspects of idealized life in Maine, such as Regatta, Camp, Back Cove, Sea Smoke, Malt and Surf’s Up.
“The finishes we use are water-based and low-VOC, and all our materials are sourced as close to the shop as possible,” Logan says. “We try to leave as light a footprint as possible.”
While that’s how they’ve always done business, they have another social mission.
“The reason why we do all this is to employ people with disabilities,” Logan says. “The workforce, the 20-some-odd people who we employ, is tight-knit and very familial. For the people who do have disabilities, they’re part of a community, they’re contributing to the production of handcrafted furniture, and they’re making a competitive paycheck. There’s a right place for everyone to be an important part of the team.”
About half of Maine Woodworks’ employees are adults with a disability, whether that’s autism, hearing impairment, brain injury or intellectual disability.
“We’re an all-inclusive woodshop and we’re all about quality,” says Director of Operations Dave Gallati. “We’re all on the same team and treat each other equally. For those who have more limitations than others—and every human being has limitations—we do our best to fit them with where they can help in the manufacturing process and to grow into other areas. We focus on what people are capable of.”
Maine Woodworks, a 23,000-squarefoot woodshop based in an industrial park in Saco, is a social enterprise of Creative Works, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports Mainers with disabilities. While the Maine Woodworks mission has always been to integrate people with disabilities into the workforce, the product line has evolved significantly from its founding in 1991. In the early days, their niche was unfinished pine furniture that appealed to college students and twentysomethings. In the three decades since, the company has evolved to be sophisticated in an understated way, the sort of furniture that looks right at home in an upscale but casual beachside or lakeside property.
“We’re not a factory; we’re a woodshop. Every part of the process to take it from raw materials to finished product happens right here.”
This article appeared in the Fall/Winter 2021 edition of Green & Healthy Maine HOMES. Subscribe today!