By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Cumberland Furniture, a Grand Rapids-based furniture manufacturer owned by Gilmore Furniture, logged double-digit revenue growth over the past four years and has added five jobs since January. The company works with architects and interior designers to create earth-friendly furniture for a variety of environments, including art museums, hotel lobbies, offices, and health care facilities.
“We’re known for our ability to combine a wide variety of materials,” says Robert Clark, spokesperson. “It’s unusual to find a bench that has upholstery plus wood and steel.”
The company purchases steel that contains 69 percent recycled materials, including pre-consumer industrial scrap and post-consumer materials. The steel is 100 percent recyclable and comes from suppliers within 150 miles of Grand Rapids.
“Our goal is to look at the longevity of the product so it doesn’t end up in a landfill,” Clark says. “We partner with several fabric manufacturers who have eco-friendly missions in manufacturing and distribution, and all our foam is soy based.”
Cumberland created furniture for the Library of Congress, the Denver Art Museum, and is currently working on a large project for the Cleveland Clinic’s new heart and vascular institute.
“We anticipate continued growth,” Clark notes, “which will spur demand for additional jobs, but we have no idea how many. We proceed cautiously because we want to be sustainable as a company.”
Source: Robert Clark, Cumberland Furniture
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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