MITCHELL – Tom Patzer has seen the past four decades running his woodworking business.
From a devastating flood that destroyed his equipment and caused extensive damage to his facility, to fires and plagues, Patzer faced many challenges that tested his will to succeed as a local business owner. But every time a big obstacle is thrown, Patzer always finds a way to overcome them.
His ability to step up in times of trouble has helped Patzer Woodworking reach 40 years of business this year. Thursday was the time to celebrate that milestone at Patzer’s new-look facility, which went under water three years ago.
“We’re going to be stronger than ever,” Patzer said of the three years of struggling with flood recovery efforts and supply chain wars from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the year A big smile grows on Patzer’s face when we reflect on how far Patzer Woodworking has come since it was founded in 1981 as a small garage office and manufacturing facility.
Adam Thury / Mitchell Rep
Starting woodworking was a “leap of faith,” as Patzer puts it. The friends doubted they would stay in business for more than a few years, and banks were hesitant to give them the credit they needed to get rolling in the early 1980s. .
“I had some friends who said they’d give me two years until I was out of business. They knew it was hard to run a lumber business, but here I am 40 years later and it’s still going down,” Patzer said. I thought so. I’m sure glad they did, because it worked.”
What began as a one-man woodworking business in a 650-square-foot garage is now a company of more than 20 employees that manufactures custom cabinets and countertops out of a 32,000-square-foot facility in central Mitchell.
“I’ve been blessed to have a wife who’s been by my side from the beginning,” he said of his wife, Sherry Patzer.
After earning a reputation as a skilled cabinetmaker and table craftsman, Patzer began taking on larger businesses. Acquiring Avera Health and Putz Construction as clients was a proud moment for Patzer.
Watching the business succeed has given Patzer many fond memories, but seeing his son, Ryan Patzer, and daughter, Amanda Naple, join the team is “one of the proudest moments” for the business founder. Ryan and Naple’s decision to work in the company turned Patzer Woodworking into a family-owned business that spans generations, something Tom has dreamed of since the beginning of the journey.
“I always assumed Ryan would come back here, but I never thought Amanda would. It was a blessing that they both came back and made it a second generation family business.”
The brother-sister duo oversees commercial projects, design operations and client relations. The addition of Ryan and Naples has translated into success as the business has been expanding its footprint in neighboring states such as Iowa, Wyoming and Minnesota.
Although Patzer lost his original building to a fire and dealt with one outbreak in the past two years, there was no question that the 2019 flood that submerged the business by more than a foot was the hardest the family had hit the business.
The Patzer family still remembers the natural disaster vividly. An annual work party was scheduled to take place in Patzer Woodworking’s showroom on September 12 of that year, but Mother Nature had other plans.
Instead of entering the show room, waiting for the workers to celebrate another year of service, the Patzers couldn’t even find their building because the area had been inundated with standing water for ages. A morning shower that brought 8 to 10 inches of rain.
“The water was higher than the windows on the building. We had floating computers. There was even a boat with a man floating next to the building,” Tom said of the images he remembers from the flood. “We lived in a semi-showroom for three years.”
Republic file photo
Unlike the structure fire, insurance did not cover much of the flood damage. The family-owned business forced him to pay out-of-pocket for damage repairs and equipment replacements.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), 40% of small and medium-sized businesses do not reopen after being severely damaged by a natural disaster. About 25% of businesses that reopen after a natural disaster close within a year, FEMA data says.
Now in their third year of operation since the 2019 floods, the Pazer family business has paid off.
“There were a lot of sleepless nights,” Ryan said of the nights after the flood.
The flood severely damaged one of the most important pieces of equipment, the heartbeat of Patzer Woodworking’s production. Following the flood, the wood cutting machine was out of service for three days, which stopped the production.
Technicians reported a 40% survival rate of the woodcutter once it was brought back to life, but the production team was able to repair the machine several months after it broke down until a new woodcutter arrived. Broken tools and damaged goods, the workers of the wooden crafts were loading products to customers from the door and back.
Patzer credits Naples’ ability to improve flood control and overcome challenges as key to helping the woodwork emerge from the rubble.
“Each of our employees touches the business. It takes a team effort to make a business like this successful for a long time,” she said. Without them, we would not have been able to overcome the challenges.
Three years ago, there were no signs of the unit being submerged in more than a foot of water when community members and business leaders gathered at the show Thursday to mark the company’s 40th anniversary.
Through the few challenges that Patzer Woodworking has faced over the years, Tom has always had the faith to overcome obstacles, as his family often says, “It always works.”
“That’s what he always says when we’re worried about everything,” Ryan said of his father. “And he has.”
