Page 12 - CMA PROfiles Spring 2016

quarter
associate of the

CCF Drawers

Rising Above the Ashes

CF Industries is a national supplier of high-quality dovetail draw-
ers, located in Western Pennsylvania. President, Ken Clifton, has
C overcome significant obstacles, including every woodworker’s
worst fear, to get where he is today.
Ken began making custom furniture in 1982 and switched to
drawer boxes in 1995. The motivation behind the switch was two-
fold. “The primary reason for the switch was practical: we had gotten
to the point in our business where we had one main customer, which
is always a dangerous place to be,” said Ken. “But in addition to
wanting to diversify our customer base, I also felt that it was best to
focus on one thing and to do that well.”
Ken chose to concentrate on offering the best dovetail and dowel
and bore drawer boxes made from melamine, Baltic birch plywood,
and solid hardwoods.
While CCF’s product offering was reduced to a niche, the result
was a large increase in customers. With this change, Ken felt he could
build a thriving business that had a solid future. “I never wanted my
business to be a one-man show,” he said. “I always wanted a business
that could survive without me.”
After the events of April 2014, this goal was put to a strenuous test.
In April of 2014, soon after suffering a personal tragedy, Ken
was in Florida when he received more devastating news: his facility
was on fire. “It was a woodworker’s worst nightmare,” he recalled.
He flew home and arrived on scene only to witness his business had
suffered a total loss. The office staff and production manager had
already been on site to help where they could. “They went to work,
first contacting the insurance agent as well as our customers, before I
even got home. I appreciated their support so much.”
The fire took place on a Friday, so throughout the weekend
the team worked together to come up with a strategy to continue
business from a temporary office space offered to them from a
good friend of Ken’s. “Giving up was not an option,” Ken said.
“We were there to figure out how to move forward.” The strategy
12 PROFILES • Volume 16 • Issue 2, 2016 • www.cabinetmakers.org