Someone once told Corbin Manbeck the key to success is to surround yourself with people whose skills fill your voids.
So when it came to launching a woodworking business, Manbeck turned to longtime friend Jeremy Meyer, IT director for USD 257.
?He?s been teaching me how all this stuff works,? Meyer said, pointing to the comparably crude equipment such as a radial arm saw, a table saw and a planer at their Mid-American Woodworking shop near Neosho Falls.
The shop ? which Manbeck built ? is located behind his home at 231 Texas Rd. Manbeck has dreams of having a showroom in downtown Iola featuring his furniture. Manbeck?s ultimate goal is to create local jobs.
Manbeck describes his furniture as ?industrial-inspired farmhouse.? He works with area welders to build steel bases for things such as dining room tables, and uses locally sourced, reclaimed wood ? often taken out of old barns throughout the area ? to create signature pieces.
That type of furniture is popular now, Meyer said.
For his end of the business, Meyer has created a website to market the furniture and promotes it via social media accounts using Instagram and Facebook.
Along the way, Meyer has taught Manbeck a little bit about computers and technology, too.
?He?s dug in and done some stuff I didn?t know he was capable of,? Meyer said.
THEIR partnership grew out of a friendship, spawned by the longtime friendship between Manbeck?s wife, Lissa, and Meyer?s girlfriend, Reine Loflin. Because the two women spent a lot of time together, that, naturally, meant Manbeck and Meyer spent time together, too.
?We?d sit around and look at each other, so we finally started to talk to each other,? Meyer said.
It?s been six or seven years since then.
Neither Manbeck nor Meyer expects their woodworking business to take the place of their day jobs. Meyer enjoys his work with the school district, and Manbeck is a track inspector for Union Pacific. The men plow any profits they make from the woodworking business back into it, which they hope will help it grow more quickly.
