W. Va. county establishes furniture ‘college’

Pocahontas Woods modeled after a school in western Ireland

By Nancy Lee Leffingwell

 

Pocahontas County, nestled high in the Allegheny Mountains along the Virginia-West Virginia border, grows some of the nation’s finest hardwoods, but virtually all the beautiful cherry, maple and oak is shipped out as lumber. For years people in the area have dreamed of a furniture industry, but the county’s sparse population (only 9,000 people scattered across 1,000 rugged square miles) and isolated location rendered this impossible.

About 15 years ago the County Development Authority and a few local woodworkers began to explore the possibility of an alternative approach to establishing a conventional furniture plant — fostering the development of a decentralized, small-scale, hand-crafted high-end furniture movement. Tom Culbreth of the North Carolina State University Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center advised the group to pursue this course, predicting with frightening accuracy the devastation about to be wreaked on the conventional domestic furniture industry by overseas competition. A number of meetings were held and there was an attempt to form a woodworkers’ cooperative, but the idea fizzled out.

In 1998 Gibbs Kinderman, a member of the original planning group, was vacationing in the West of Ireland. He hiked to the tiny village of Letterfrack and discovered The Furniture College, a school devoted to high-quality woodworking training, housed in a former boys’ reformatory.

source. If the people of Letter-

frack could successfully run a

furniture college in their barren,

treeless area, why couldn’t we?”

On his return home, Kinderman started talking with others about developing a Pocahontas furniture college. As a member of the county board of education, he was able to interest the school system and the county commissioners. He partnered with John Friel, a graduate of the woodworking program at Rockingham Community Col-

lege in Wentorth, N.C., to spearhead

planning for a fine woodworking educa-

tion program under the umbrella of a

new nonprofit organization, Pocahontas

Woods. Representatives of the local lum-

ber industry, tourism and other interest-

ed community members also joined the

initial board of directors in 2000.

The effort got a big boost with the passage of the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. This legislation stabilized the revenue that counties affected by U.S. Forest Service landholdings received in lieu of taxes, and allowed part of the funds to be used for “ forestry-related educational programs.” Pocahontas County is over 50 percent owned by the Forest Service, and the revenue from this source amounts to more than $600,000 per year. By law, 85 percent of this money goes for public schools and roads. The Pocahontas County Commis-

The Pocahontas Woods shop features 3-phase power and rebuilt industrial machinery.

The college, which offers a two-year national certificate course, prepares its graduates to design and manufacture modern furniture in ways that are innovative, creative and responsive to the need and development of a quality Irish furniture industry. It also aims to promote the use and value of native timber in the furniture manufacturing industry. Currently 68 percent of its graduates are directly employed in furniture or wood-related industries, and 15 percent have established their own furniture workshops in Ireland.

The school had a small core faculty supplemented by an impressive roster of consultants who came from all over Europe to conduct short courses and enjoy a mini-vacation along the beautiful, rugged Irish coast.

“It was like lightning struck me,” Kinderman recalls. “We, in Pocahontas County, had the beautiful scenery, the need for jobs, and the natural timber re-

 

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sion decided to invest its 15-percent dis-

cretionary money in helping Pocahontas

Woods get off the ground, with funding

to start in 2002.

For two years Friel and Duane Gibson, a longtime friend who teaches carpentry at Pocahontas County High School, taught after-school woodworking classes for teens and evening adult classes using borrowed facilities at the high school construction trades shop. Dave Kenealy, Friel’s mentor at Rockingham Community College, assisted with planning. Then, in 2004, the USDA Rural Development Program awarded $123,000 to Pocahontas Woods to equip its own woodworking shop. Swallowing hard, the board voted to borrow money to purchase a former auto body shop in the county seat town of Marlinton, and work began on renovation of the facility in 2005. One of the conditions of the USDA grant was that the shop serve as a business incubator for fledgling woodworking enterprises as well as an educational program, so Friel and the Board decided to install 3-phase power and purchase vintage rebuilt equipment.

The new Pocahontas Woods shop was completed this fall. Friel and furniture restorer David Blanchard have embarked on the first year of full-scale classes. Offerings range from one-session introductions to five-day, all-day seminars.

Classes are open to everyone in the community. Younger students can take the classes for a nominal fee. Although most are high school age, kids as young as 8 have participated in basic hand tool project classes. A number of students are adult hobbyists, while some are looking to supplement their income with part-time self-employment. A few are on the verge of jumping into business on a full-time basis. Although the new shop is superbly equipped, development of basic hand tool skills is emphasized.

The shop’s Yates American 20" jointer and Time Saver 37" three-head wide belt sander are available for a nominal fee to those who cannot afford this level of equipment but find them handy from time to time.

Local tourism promotion officials are excited about the possibility of working with Pocahontas Woods to develop a craft tourism base. The county has long been known for outstanding hiking, mountain biking, hunting and fishing. It is hoped Pocahontas Woods’ weeklong seminars, taught by the core staff and guest instructors, will produce an influx of woodworkers wanting to combine professional development with a relaxing time in a beautiful natural setting.

Contact: Pocahontas Woods, 503 Third Ave., Marlinton, WV 24934.

Tel: 304-799-6985. www.pocahontas

woods.org