Sparta WoodWorks, Sparta, TN, staff from left to right: Les Tubb, owner, Lori Livesay, scheduler, Ruth Edmonds, customer service, and Jay Dee Hanna, operations manager.
Over A Century Of Woodworking Expertise And Still Going Strong At Sparta WoodWorks
By Bridget McCrea
Sparta, TN¡ªYou can¡¯t stay in business for 118 years and succeed through four family generations without doing something pretty special. For Sparta WoodWorks, located here, the secret to success lies in delivering quality products that exceed customer expectations every time. And customers can only be satisfied if a company has the right people in place to make it happen.
Working from a 25,000-square-foot facility that runs a single shift on a 40-hour-per-week schedule, Sparta WoodWorks employs about 25 persons, including Ruth Edmonds, office manager, and Lori Livesay, scheduling manager. To manufacture its products the company uses about 350,000 board feet of Ash, Sycamore, Red and White Oak, and Hard and Soft Maple annually, mainly in No. 1 and 2 Common.
In April 2014, Les Tubb, 4th generation owner of Sparta WoodWorks, retired from active management of the company after 42 years of service. Jay Dee Hanna became the new manager in charge of all operations. Tubb remains the owner and will assist in making this transition as smooth as possible. ¡°It is a blessing to hand the reins over to someone as highly qualified as Jay Dee,¡± said Tubb. ¡°A key to longevity is making the transition to bright leadership with the vision and skills needed for competing long into the future.¡±
Randy Mayfield operates a six-head profile shaper.
¡°We¡¯re extremely meticulous when it comes to making products for our customers,¡± said Hanna. Sparta WoodWorks¡¯ primary customers are in the office furniture industry. Its most popular items include office chairs, chair assemblies and chair parts, but they also make specialty products like residential chairs, parts for musical instruments, and even wooden swords used by the military to award outstanding service to our country.
¡°We can make a lot of different items that are customized to our customers¡¯ requests,¡± said Hanna, ¡°even things that you wouldn¡¯t immediately associate with a Hardwood manufacturer.¡±
Sparta WoodWorks guarantees that 100 percent of its parts will be useable. It¡¯s a guarantee that goes beyond what the firm¡¯s competitors typically offer. ¡°Most companies expect to produce a few bad parts, but not us,¡± said Hanna.
The firm also aims to ship on time, every time. In fact, over the last 10 years Sparta WoodWorks has posted a 98 percent on-time ship rate. ¡°I don¡¯t know another company in our field that can say that,¡± said Hanna.
Sparta WoodWorks¡¯ attention to detail and customer service can be traced back 118 years and across four generations of the same family. The firm was founded in 1896 by J.R. Tubb (Les¡¯ great-grandfather), who started Sparta Spoke Factory on the Calfkiller River in the heart of Appalachian Hardwood country.
Deeply rooted in the pioneer days of the 1920s and 1930s ¨C when quality craftsmanship and a good name were honored and promises were made to be kept ¨C the firm became the world¡¯s largest producer of wooden spokes. Younger generations of the Tubb family would come to run the company, including J.R. Tubb Jr., and his son, J.R. Tubb III (Les¡¯ father). ¡°My Dad broke tradition and refused to name another son J.R.,¡± Tubb chuckled.
A stack of chair assemblies ready for prompt shipment.
If there¡¯s one thing that the Tubb family has learned during its 100+ years in business, it¡¯s that adaptability and flexibility lead to continuity and success. As the need for wooden spokes decreased and automobile manufacturers used alternative materials on their wheels, Sparta Spoke reset its course and became one of the nation¡¯s most respected wood component manufacturers.
¡°Gradually, as metal wheels were introduced, spokes went the way of the buggy whip,¡± said Tubb. When the wagon business declined after World War II, the Tubb family knew that it was time to reinvent their company to meet new customer demands. ¡°We started making furniture, and we¡¯ve been there ever since,¡± Tubb said.
After a name change to Sparta WoodWorks in 2003, the company continued to build its reputation as an innovative manufacturer of custom furniture components and specialty products. Through all of the changes, Tubb said the company¡¯s foundation of timeless values has remained intact.
Like many other Hardwood component manufacturers, Sparta WoodWorks is grappling with unfavorable economic conditions and stiff competition from overseas firms.
Those obstacles aside, Tubb sees a bright future ahead for Sparta WoodWorks. ¡°We¡¯ve been around long enough to know that there are going to be obstacles put in our path, and we¡¯ll just continue to overcome them as they rear their heads,¡± said Tubb. ¡°Through it all the focus of Jay Dee and his team will remain on providing quality products, shipping on time and giving our customers the best possible value for the dollar. It¡¯s a simple equation that works well for us.¡±
Table bases in the manufacturing process at Sparta Woodworks.
