Turning the Tables

When the Ethan Allen furnture factory in the tiny Vermont town of Island Pond (population 1,200) closed not only did 125 people lose their jobs, but the economic ripple was felt even at the Second College Grant. Under the stewardship of College Forester Kevin Evans, the Grant has been a model of a sustainable, working forest. With the factory closing Evans faced the prospect of having plenty of timber but not enough buyers.

Enter Island Pond Woodworkers (IPW), a group of 12 former Ethan Allen employees. Last February the skilled craftsmen formed a worker-owned cooperative and set up shop in a new facory in the Vermont village. Their plan was to make institutional furniture using only certified "green" lumber harvested from woodlands managed for sustainability and environmental protection. Dartmouth was one of the first customers. First IPW built conference tables, designed by College architect Jack Wilson, for President Jim Wrights offices. In the spring IPW constructed office tables for Collis Student Center, and in June IPW signed a licensing contract with Dartmouth to produce furniture branded with the Dartmouth logo. "It's all about local partnerships," explains Bruce Wilkie, an IPW founder. 'And it all started here—we have a lot of gratitude for the Dartmouth community."

The IPW/Dartmouth contract is as much a business arrangement as it is a form of economic symbiosis. Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy calls the IPW venture "a fine example of a homegrown solution to a global economic downturn." Thanks to orders from Dartmouth, as well as a half-million-dollar contract with Middlebury College to craft library furnishings, IPW hopes to employ 35 workers by year's end. The company also hopes to open a store in Hanover that will sell Dartmouth-branded products and two new lines of domestic furniture.

Meanwhile, Evans now has a ready market for Grant timber. IPW is using roughly 80 percent of the 80,000 board feet of hardwood cut each year in the Grant.