Patrick Molzahn
Madison Area Technical College
Board President
Credentials: B.I.A., School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL; B.F.A., School of the Art Institute, Chicago, IL; Vocational Certification, Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building, Port Townsend, WA Patrick has had a lifelong love of working with wood. He joined MATC in 1998 after running his own Woodworking business for several years. Originally trained as an architect, he has a strong interest in Architectural Millwork. His pursuits have led him around the world in search of how other cultures train their craftspeople. After living in Japan for 2-1/2 years, he returned to the US to study Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding. Although he is boat less, Patrick employs the curved and circular techniques he learned in much of his work. In 2008, Patrick was the recipient of the "WMIA, Educator of the Year" award. In addition to serving on the WLUSA Board since 2006, he is also a founding Board member of the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America.
Program Director, Cabinet Making & Millwork
Madison Area Technical College | 3550 Anderson Street, Madison, WI 53704
Email:pmolzahn@matcmadison.edu
Tel: (608) 246-6842
David Hildenbrand
Board Secretary/Treasurer
David Hildenbrand, president of Thermwood Corporation, Dale, Indiana, has over thirty years experience in CNC technology and wood industry knowledge. He has previously held technical, training, managerial and executive positions within the company. David currently serves as a director for Thermwood Europe and has conducted CNC technology presentations at various industry conferences. He resides in Jasper, Indiana with his wife and two daughters. David has served on the WoodLINKS USA board since July of 2008.
Thermwood Corporation | P.O. Box 436, Dale, IN 47523
Email: david.hildenbrand@thermwood.com
Tel: (800) 533-6901
Jonathan Adams
Chief Operating Officer
Jonathan Adams lives in Port Charlotte, Florida and is the Chief Operating Officer of Adams Group. Adams Group is a market leader in commercial architectural casework and millwork. The company manufactures and installs work across the southeastern United States.
Jonathan began working at the family business at age 12 and has served in various capacities throughout his tenure. Jonathan is a graduate of Port Charlotte High School and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems Management from Hodges University.
Learning & education has always been a passion of Jonathan's and he enjoys volunteering at his church and throughout the local community.
Adams Group | 2221 Murphy Court, North Port, FL 34289
Email: jadams@discoveradams.com
Tel: (800) 455-5536
Mendy Claridge, LEED AP
Product Line Manager
Mendy has been with National Office Furniture for 14 years. She has held roles in manufacturing, quality and product line management. Mendy holds certifications as an ASQ (American Society of Quality) technician and as LEED AP, which is an accredited professional that supports the certification of LEED points.
Mendy is chairman of National Office Furniture's Engineering Change Control Board and is a certified product auditor. She is also a member of National's Quality Sustainable Management team and serves as council leader on National's Sustainability Council.
Mendy attended Wabash Valley College and Southern Illinois University where she studied science.
In her current role as Product Line Manager, Mendy manages customer satisfaction with specialty in product quality and sustainability.
National Office Furniture | 1205 Kimball Boulevard, Jasper IN 47549
Email: Mendy.Claridge@NationalOfficeFurniture.com
Tel: (812) 481-6477
Bill Esler
Associate Publisher/ Editor in Chief, Wood Interiors Media Group
Bill is responsible for editing Custom Woodworking Business and coordinating all content for Wood & Wood Products, CLOSETS, Woodworkingnetwork.com and Closetsmagazine.com, along with related newsletters.
Prior to Vance Publishing, Bill’s background includes 20 years in business to business communications and 10 years in print manufacturing and production. Bill’s publishing background has been distinguished by the integration of content in print and online, spearheading use of innovative print manufacturing techniques to grow audience engagement, incorporating high-end offset and variable digital printing, and online response mechanisms such as purls (individual reader web landing pages) and quick response (QR) codes to document reader response; and lead-generating mechanics such as webcasts, custom websites, and custom digital and print content, including show dailies.
A native of Chicago, Bill is a graduate of Knox College, Galesburg, IL. He lives in Chicago with his wife Beth Burbank and son Kyran Esler.
Vance Publishing Corp. | 400 Knightsbridge Rd, Lincolnshire, IL 60069
Email: besler@vancepublishing.com
Tel: (847) 415-8027
Tim Fixmer
President/CEO
Tim Fixmer is a seasoned B2B media executive, who has launched, acquired, and grown more than 30 brands in print, digital, and event properties that serve specialized business segments including high-tech, agriculture, manufacturing, and commercial real estate. Tim has had a lifelong passion for woodworking. His involvement in the woodworking industry started with a position in a hardwood plant in Wisconsin, which manufactured cutting boards and chopping blocks. Following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, Tim joined Johnson Hill Press where he became publisher of Furniture/Woodworking Product News. Following the acquisition of Woodworking and Furniture Digest, Tim combined the two brands to form Wood Digest, which became an industry leading magazine with an editorial focus on manufacturing efficiencies in solid wood and panel processing operations.
In August of 2010, Tim formed CCI Media, LLC, a business-to-business media organization, which he used to acquire the CabinetMaker+FDM media properties in February of 2011. Tim spent the prior decade in the commercial buildings market acquiring and publishing media brands that served commercial real estate developers, building owners, facilities executives, architects and commercial interior designers. As part of that industry he has had extensive involvement with the USGBC’s LEED program to encourage sustainable built environments.
Tim’s professional strengths include strategic planning, competitive strategy, formation and management of partnerships and industry alliances. As a media turn-around specialist, he has built a solid track record delivering strong bottom-line results in record time.
CCI Media, LLC | 2240 Country Club Pkwy, SE, CCedar Rapids, IA 52403
Email: tim.fixmer@ccimedia.net
Tel: 414-807-3540
Kent Gilchrist
President
Kent Gilchrist is President of Fremont Interiors, Inc, an architectural woodworking firm that designs and fabricates projects in their Carmel, Indiana facility.
He is very active in serving and promoting the industry with an emphasis on education and support of a sustainable workforce for our industry. For the past 8 years he has managed the AWI SkillsUSA Committee which designs, organizes and judges the national cabinetmaking competition as part of the SkillsUSA organization.
He currently holds director positions with the Architectural Woodwork Institute, the Woodwork Career Alliance and WoodLINKS USA.
Fremont Interiors, Inc. | 998 Third Avenue S.W., Carmel, Indiana 46032
Email: kent@fremontinteriors.com
Tel: (317) 843-0237
Mitch Kohanek
Dakota County Technical College
Mitch Kohanek has been an instructor for the Wood Finishing Technology Program at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota since 1978. His graduates become some of the best professional finishers, furniture restorers, spot repair artists and pre-finishers this country has to offer. This program is the only certified finishing program in the US, and has been featured in Fine Woodworking, Better Homes and Gardens and Wood Magazine.
Mitch completed an internship at the Smithsonian Conservation and Analytical Laboratory and is a member of the American Institute of Conservation. He has lectured all over the US, is a consultant for the finishing industry and has authored articles for American Woodworker and Fine Woodworking Magazines.
Dakota County Technical College
National Institute of Wood Finishing
Wood Finishing Technology Program
1300 145th St. East, Rosemount MN 55068
Tel: (651) 423-8362
Dave Peel
President
Dave Peel lives in Medford, Oregon and is the president of Microvellum, Inc. Microvellum provides software to the manufacturing industry with the focus on the secondary wood industry.
Mr. Peel has also been a long time supporter of industry education, including but not limited to a supporter of WoodLINKS USA. He also sits on the board of WoodLINKS USA and served as WoodLINKS USA President from 2008-2011.
Microvellum, Inc. | 444 South Haskell Street, Central Point, OR 97502
Email: dave@microvellum.com
Tel: (800) 204-0913
David R. Spencer
Willow Creek Tool Sales, Inc.
President:
Willow Creek Tool Sales, Inc. 1982 to present
Willow Creek Wood Productivity Training Center 1992 to present
Owner:
Rosa Ranch 1984 to present
David began his love affair with wood at age 5 or 6 building rubber band boats in his father's basement workshop in Jericho, Vermont. After graduating from college with acceptance letters from law school, Mr. Spencer took a path less traveled by moving to Montana and opening a wood shop. From 1976 to 1982, David operated Spencer Design Unit, specializing in architectural restoration of historic buildings. In 1982, he started Willow Creek Tool in his garage in Willow Creek, MT (population 200). That company has grown to be one of the dominant suppliers of machinery and technology in seven states in the Western U.S.
In 1992, Spencer founded the Willow Creek Wood Productivity Training Center, a dedicated educational facility aimed at improving the productivity of woodworkers and their reverence for wood. With over 150 programs to its credit, the training center draws students regularly from ten western states.
As a strong advocate for the woodworking industry, Mr. Spencer sits on numerous educational foundations and boards, including the Sam and Alfred Maloof Foundation; Pittsburgh University Advisory Board; regional vocational training boards to name a few. He still spends as much time in his woodshop as possible.
Willow Creek Tool Sales, Inc.
P.O. Box 85 Main Street, Willow Creek, MT 59752
Email: Drs6982@aol.com
Tel: (406) 285-3247
Thomas W Tuck III
Thomas Tuck was born and raised in Hillsborough, NC. In 2003, he graduated from the Cedar Ridge High School woods program and received his WoodLINKS Certification. Thomas attended Appalachian State University in Boone, NC where he graduated with honors and received a BS in Furniture Studies and a BS Business Management. While in school Thomas interned with Great Lake Woods of Holland, MI and the Association of Woodworking Furnishing Suppliers (AWFS) of Commerce, CA, was named Wood Digest Student of the Month in November 2005, and received scholarships from AWFS, WMIA, Woodwork Institute and American Home Furnishing Alliance
After graduating from ASU, Thomas began working at SCM GROUP USA, a world leader of industrial woodworking equipment, in Duluth, GA, as Marketing Coordinator. Thomas now continues as Marketing Coordinator, and also works as Regional Sales Manager in parts of the South East.
Marketing Coordinator & Regional Sales Manager
SCM Group USA, Inc. | 2475 Satellite Blvd., Duluth, GA 30096
Email: ttuck@scmgroup-usa.com
Tel: (770) 622-6583
Gerald E. Finch (Jerry)
Fox Valley Technical College (Retired)
Education:
BS in 1967 from Univ. of Wis. - Stevens Point (History, Physics)
MS in 1978 from Univ. of Wis. - Stout (Industrial Education)
Wood Manufacturing Technology instructor (retired) at Fox Valley Technical College Founder of the program in 1982. Work experience: Supervisor at Simmons Juvenile Products (children's furniture); shop manager for Ronald Wahl — Organ builder (pipe organs); taught high school Industrial Arts at Sun Prairie HS; salesman/application engineer (3 years) for Honeywell, Inc. (commercial temperature controls); worked several years as a painter and interior finisher, starting at age 12 (father was a painting contractor).
Jerry's efforts to improve the quality of woodworking education and training have included: founding member of the Institute for Woodworking Education; member AWI Educ. Planning Comm., Careers Task Force, and past member of the Board of Directors of the Architectural Woodwork Institute; WMIA Industry/ Education Forum; Advisory Board -Grinderman's Association; Advisory Board - Willow Creek Productivity Center.
He is Board member of the Woodwork Career Alliance of North America, a non-profit corporation founded to develop national skill standards for the woodworking industry, an initiative supported by AWI, WMMA. WMIA, AWFS and the US Forest Service.
Finchworks | 405 Wyman Street, New London, WI 54961
Email: finchworks@charter.net
Tel: (920) 982-6210
Steve Finnessy
Steven Finnessy is an Account Executive for Endeavor Hardwoods Inc. in Lyndon Station WI. Beginning his venture into the Architectural woodwork industry in 1978, while in high school, he has worked in both manufacturing and distribution.
He is a past President of the AWI WI chapter and has served on the board from 1993-2007. From 2007-present he has chaired the education committee. In 1999 along with Jerry Finch they organized a meeting of industry people and started the WoodLINKS USA (WLUSA) program in Wisconsin. He currently is Treasurer of the WI board.
2008-Present he has served on the Technology and Engineering Education advisory committee for Hartford Union High School.
Frank Paxton Lumber | 1250 St. Agustine Road, Hubertus, WI
Email: stevefin@paxtonwood.com
Tel: (262) 623-2993
L. Duane Griffiths
Duane is currently the Director of Educational Services at Stiles Machinery, Inc. There he manages a staff of faculty and support personnel to develop and deliver training courses for the panel processing industry. Stiles Education is internationally known for providing accredited hands-on training for machine operators, maintenance technicians, programmers and others. Stiles Education remains the only training institution in our industry that has been accredited by the prestigious International Association of Continuing Education and Training (IACET). Under Duane's leadership, Stiles Education has been recognized as "Educator of the Year" by the Woodworking Machinery Importers Association. Duane's knowledge and expertise in solid wood and panel processing resulted in his peers selecting him for induction into the Furniture Hall of Fame.
Duane previously held the position of professor in charge of the highly recognized Wood Technology program at Pittsburg State University, and was named Director of their National Wood Technology Center.
Duane has written numerous papers and journal articles, and published several technical textbooks and references. He is active in trade associations and was named the first "Educator of the Year" by WMIA. Duane with Stiles Machinery continues to be a strong supporter of Woodwork Manufacturing Skill Standards, WoodLINKS USA and promote the growth and education and training in the woodworking industry.
Manager of Educational Services
Stiles Machinery Inc. | 3965 44th Street, SE, Grand Rapids, MI
Email: dgriffiths@stilesmachinery.com
Tel: (616) 698-7500
Keith Malmstadt
Keith holds a BA and MBA in Business, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and is a Certified Management Accountant.
After graduation he joined Keamey and Trecker in Milwaukee, a large manufacturer of machine tools, as a cost accountant. Displaced by an economic slow down, Keith accepted a position with Haworth, Inc. in Holland, MI as a cost analyst in 1983. Through the experience gained at Haworth, and the opportunity to grow, Keith accepted a position in 1985 as Controller of Vista Business Forms of Oshtmo, MI, and later Controller/Treasurer in 1987 at Lippert Furniture in Zeeland, MI. This experience and his own drive to become a business owner, lead him to purchase a 33% interest in Great Lake Woods, Inc. in 1993. In 1996, he expanded his ownership to 50%, and in 2005 purchased a majority of the outstanding stock.
Under his leadership, Great Lake Woods, Inc and GLW Finishing, LLC have grown from a small residential moulding and millwork company with 35 employees and $4MM in sales to 160+ employees with sales exceeding $25MM. In 1999 Keith became involved with WoodLINKS. Keith has committed significant time, and resources to the WoodLINKS Program by serving on the Board of Directors, as Secretary, Treasurer, and 2004-2005 as President.
Great Lake Woods, Inc. | 3303 John F. Donnelly Drive, Holland, MI
Email: kmalmstadt@greatlakewoods.com
Tel: (616) 399-3300
Mark Roberts
Mesa Community College
Native of Indiana, living in Arizona since 1975
Married: Wife Marilyn, three grown daughters: Jennifer, Meredith, and Jessica
Education: Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science (Industrial Education), Purdue University
Experience: Thirty three years teaching Industrial Technology, Junior High, Senior High, and Community College. Experience in Federal Project Administration (Occupational Versatility). Past President of Arizona Technology and Industrial Teachers Association. US Army veteran.
Accomplishments: Numerous Skills USA State and National Championships in Leadership and Skills competition. Coach for National RTA Championship contest 2007.
Mesa Community College | 7635 South Willow Drive, Tempe, AZ
Tel: (480) 472-5883
John Schultz
Super Thin Saws
President
John Schultz is founder and president of Super Thin Saws of Waterbury, Vermont, a manufacturer of high-tech circular saws. Currently that is primarily owned by UCT Coatings. Upon graduation from MIT, and before starting STS, John started several other businesses, including Green Mountain Valley School, a small private school with ski racers as its intended market.
Always interested in education, John served for years on the local school board, and various other boards as well. He has also been a frequent presenter at university colloquia and practical symposiums dealing with saw blades and tooling for woodworking. He has also contributed numerous articles on the subject to woodworking journals.
His current responsibilities with Super Thin Saws include development of overseas markets and coordinating research with product development. He is also the current Treasurer of WMMA.
Super Thin Saws | Waterbury, Vermont USA
Paul M. Winistorfer, PhD
Dr. Paul Winistorfer is professor and head of the department of Wood Science and Forest Products, College of Natural Resources, at Virginia Tech. The department is one of the recognized leaders in wood science research, teaching and outreach in North America. His areas of research expertise include radiation densitometry, and wood-based composites design, manufacture and performance. He is the founder and a principal of QMS, Inc. a leading instrumentation company providing non-destructive density measuring equipment to the panel industry. He is a two-time recipient of the American Museum of Science & Energy Emerging Technology Award. He was awarded a U.S. patent for development of an optical system for thickness swell measurements in wood composites. He has published over 40 peer reviewed publications associated with his research in wood composites and generated over $2 million in support of his research program.. He was recognized as the outstanding teacher in the College of Agriculture at the University of Tennessee. He is past president of the Forest Products Society and WoodLINKS USA. He was elected a Fellow in the International Academy of Wood Science in 2004. He previously held faculty positions at the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee prior to joining Virginia Tech in 2001. He holds the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University.
Dean, College of Natural Resources
Virginia Tech | 324 Cheatham Hall (0324), Blacksburg, VA
Email: pstorfer@vt.edu
Tel: (540) 231-5481
