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South Shore Millwork craftsman Austin Donovan and two co-craftsman assemble custom-made doors.
José Vasquez applies a coat of primer paint to a piece at South Shore Millwork.
A South Shore Millwork craftsman blows sawdust off of a project.
Peter Marceau is the GM of South Shore Millworks.
South Shore Millwork in Norton.
Wood clamps are displayed at South Shore Millwork in Norton.
South Shore Millwork craftsman Austin Donovan and two co-craftsman assemble custom-made doors.
José Vasquez applies a coat of primer paint to a piece at South Shore Millwork.
A South Shore Millwork craftsman blows sawdust off of a project.
Peter Marceau is the GM of South Shore Millworks.
South Shore Millwork in Norton.
Wood clamps are displayed at South Shore Millwork in Norton.
If you drive by a little too fast you might miss it.
South Shore Millwork at 7 Maple St. in Norton, is set back on a slight upward incline which disguises its size and it’s big — 80,000 square-feet big — unrolling from its nondescript brick façade into a 30-acre lot.
There’s an unpretentious sign out front announcing its presence.
The company has been there for about 30 years, expanding all the while.
And it’s much bigger than it was when it was founded in Jeff Burton’s garage.
Burton still owns the firm, which is renowned for its woodworking craftsmanship.
He has two homes, one in Norton and one in Moultonboro, N.H.
South Shore is not a run-of-the-mill cabinet maker. It’s a specialty shop. Everything is custom made.
And it designs and builds for the richest of the rich.
At first, the company catered to mostly high-end homes in Boston and mansions on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, General Manager Peter Marceau said.
But it has expanded way beyond those sales boundaries now.
“Now we’re in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Napa Valley and Hawaii,” Marceau said. “We do millwork packages for high-end luxury homes.”
South Shore has done projects in the toney Hamptons at the eastern end of Long Island as well.
And he’s not just talking about millionaires, but billionaires.
The company has even created its own fire-rated door. Few mill works are capable of that and sub-contract that work.
The jobs are not confined to mere mansions, but often include whole estates which have multiple out-buildings, Marceau said.
“The ultra rich high-end home is our main market,” Marceau said.
The average project costs $1 million, South Shore controller David Munafo said.
Who those customers are, we’ll never know, because South Shore has confidentiality agreements with its patrons which prevents it from publicizing names. The company does some commercial work, too.
A well-known pharmaceutical company in the Boston area needed to remake some some space into offices and do it quickly.
“They couldn’t find anyone to meet the turnaround time, but we could,” Marceau said.
South Shore designs and creates anything the owner of a new home or building wants. The motto of the company is “Your vision-Our Passion.”
It makes wall paneling, book cases, bars, moulding, doors, windows, railings, stair cases, closets, dressing rooms, kitchens, baths and on and on — just about anything made of wood in the home.
All the work is custom and all the work is designed to fit into a custom-designed home.
“The designer comes to us and we fabricate their vision,” Marceau said.
And that includes putting on the finishes including stains or paint with the desired gloss to the owner’s specifications.
Munafo said there aren’t too many companies that do that level of work. “Maybe only 20 to 50,” he said. And right now the demand is growing.
South Shore can’t keep up with the requests for its products and needs to hire another 20 people to add to its current payroll of 72.
“There’s more opportunity than we can take on,” Marceau said. “There’s far more demand than we can fulfill at the moment.”
But that’s not the only problem.
Try as the company might, it cannot find the workers its needs. In that way, it’s not unlike a lot of other businesses right now.
No one can drive down a street in a commercial or industrial area without seeing a sign that reads “now hiring” or “help wanted.” And the same is true at South Shore.
The company has used all the online hiring sites, such as Indeed and Zip Recruiter.
It has tried newspaper ads and has reached out to high schools with Career and Technical Education programs like Southeastern Regional Technical Vocational High School in South Easton and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School in Fall River and others, but it still can’t get the people it needs, Marceau said.
Production Manager Chris Levesque said schools have been encouraging students to go to college instead of into the trades and that’s hurt.
“Since college has become a big thing, kids have been steered in a different direction,” he said. “The trades have taken a big hit.”
And woodworking has been among the many trades that has taken the hit.
Marceau said many of those that are steered into the trades are becoming plumbers and electricians. Woodworking isn’t even on their radar.
In addition, with home building currently at a torrid pace, those who are trained in woodworking appear to be going into ordinary carpentry, he said.
There are plenty of contractors ready, willing and able to hire entry-level kids with some skills. But a custom milling shop is a different story. Many of the young have probably never even heard of South Shore and have no idea what it does.
So now the company is holding an open house hoping to attract new employees who don’t just want a job, but want a career.
Levesque, who started with South Shore sweeping the floors more than 20 years ago, said the requirements are that the applicants be willing to show up every day, have a good attitude, willing to learn and able to use a tape measure.
Levesque, whose father owned a machine shop which made metal parts, said he was more attracted to woodworking because the machine parts were small and woodworking was more satisfying.
“I veered toward woodworking because (when I finished a piece) I could stand back and say I did that,” he said.
Tim Hamlin, who’s in charge of sales and marketing, grew up in a wood shop. His dad, Brian Hamlin, owns Hamlin Cabinet in Norfolk.
Hamlin said he moved away from the trade for a time, but it had such an appeal that it eventually drew him back in.
And Jeff Burton’s son, Jacob, 21, has a summer job at the shop and it’s something he wants to pursue full-time eventually, he said.
“I’d like to continue on with it as a career,” he said. “My dad has been supportive, but he hasn’t forced me, he wants me to do what I want to do.”
So, on June 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., South Shore is holding an open house. It’s a major effort to attract employees. Those attending will get a tour of the plant.
They will get a look at projects underway, get treated to some food and drink and they’ll meet the South Shore team.
South Shore is advertising good pay and its health insurance is 90% company paid. Some of the open jobs are project manager, cabinet maker, millworker, engineer/draftsman, estimator, CNC (computer numerically controlled) programmer and CNC operator. For more information visit www.southshoremillwork.com/
George W. Rhodes can be reached at 508-236-0432.
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