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Cabinet firm is Amelia's top-shelf taxpayer(Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 9--AMELIA Victor Morrissette's business card for Old River Cabinets contains only his first name and cell-phone number. The card says so little, Morrissette said, because he is so sure of his product. "Every customer who walks through that door has a direct line with me. Most people are scared of that. I'm not," said Morrissette, owner of the custom cabinetry business at 10051 Old River Drive that is the largest single contributor to the Amelia County tax base. "What I tell them is, 'They call me and I'll make the problem go away.'" The company fills a niche, Morrissette said, by providing the craftsmanship of old-time artisans and the production pace that lets it compete with chain furnishings stores. "This is a marriage of modern technology and time-proven traditions," Morrissette said. "The old way melding with the new way." You can see solid wood cabinet doors in the display room and a vacuum crane, capable of picking up several thousand pounds of granite, in the 167,000square-foot production plant. "That's cool stuff," Morrissette said of the crane. "If you had to grab these rocks every day, you would quit." Company designers can help customers create their perfect kitchen, bathroom, family room, media center, home office or master closets, he said. Customers can tour the facility, go on the production floor and see how the cabinetry is built. County records show Old River Cabinets contributes most among business entities to the real estate tax base. That statistic may be skewed, however, because other businesses may hold more real estate and pay more taxes but operate under multiple names. Morrissette, a bricklayer by trade, owns about 10 businesses with 500 employees. Old River is one of his operations. He started the company five years ago when his son, Lee, was about to finish high school and announced he had no interest in college and wanted to make furniture. The younger Morrissette, now the plant manager, talked his father into going to a trade show. "We saw the technology available," the father said. Victor Morrissette said he spent $20 million to start Old River. It has been in its current location about 18 months and employs about 70 people. Morrissette said he expects the company to make about $7.5 million this year and $55 million to $60 million in about three years when the operation is "full bore." "They're a good, clean industry," said Frank Harris, chairman of the Amelia County Board of Supervisors. "They've got a good product, and I've heard nothing but good things about the cabinets they sell and their workmanship." Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 392-6605 or [email protected]. To see more of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesdispatch.com. Copyright (c) 2007, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |