12/17/2024
A family affair for 150 years and counting ~ Meyer Custom Woodworking
When a family company has been in business for 150 years you can bet on two things — that company is producing a magnificent product and those who are running it possess a superior level of perseverance.
Oh yes and a third thing as well — skill and a heavy dollop of talent. All these attributes and many more describe the Meyer Woodworking family in Dubois, which was founded 150 years ago by George Meyer.
His great-grandson, Melvin Meyer holds the proof — the company’s original ledger with its inaugural entry dated September 8, 1874. Melvin believes and in fact is pretty certain George was in business prior to that but did not use a ledger. The company today is in its fifth generation with Melvin and Dorothy’s son Steve and his wife Debbie, as well as daughter Lisa, remoting in from Greenwood, all working with their parents. Then there is granddaughter Kaitlin, a junior in high school representing the sixth generation who helps out when she can.
“We are in architectural woodworking. We work mostly with contractors and do the cabinetry and specialty work,” Melvin says. They also work with architectural designers like Universal Design in Ferdinand. To view some of Meyer Custom Woodworking’s beautifully crafted creations step into the downtown branch of German American Bank or any Freedom Bank branch, take a trip through Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center or St. Vincent’s in Evansville or drop by the Ferdinand, Jasper or Dubois libraries (to name but a few).
Their custom creations can be found throughout southern Indiana and beyond. Melvin adds that his physical working days have come to an end, but the company’s well-trained workforce combined with younger artisans still learning the trade makes for an excellent balance.“We are grateful for their trust in our work,” he says about the company’s customers. “We also thank our present and future employees who have made it possible to be in business all these years. We are definitely a family business and hope and pray that it will keep going.”
Hear, hear to the Meyer family. May their business continue another 150 years. And may their descendants hang onto that original ledger for posterity.
Story by Kathy Tretter
Photos by Sierra Bruggeman
