Federal grant
helps local business increase sales by $2 million
Just south of Wilkesboro in Moravian Falls is an operation
that defies a number of widely held assumptions about North Carolina
business during the worst economic recession in decades: manufacturing
in the state is dead; small business is struggling, cutting back
on employees and postponing expansion; and an off-the-beaten path
location means certain failure.
Steve and Sandy Forrest, owners of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, point
to example after example of how their business is not only surviving,
but thriving in these lean times and to the phenomenal growth
they’ve experienced in the past two years.
Workers in the new woodenware
assembly area at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm construct the
components of the firm’s beehives. Lean manufacturing
improvements in the assembly area have resulted in dramatic
increases in productivity and significant decreases in
production costs. Photo
submitted
That success is the result of applying lean manufacturing techniques
they learned from a specialist with N.C. State’s Industrial
Extension Service (IES) — invaluable training that didn’t
cost the Forrests a dime.
On June 3, representatives from IES presented Steve Forrest with
the $1 Billion Award for North Carolina, formally recognizing
Brushy Mountain Bee Farm for posting more than $2 million in increased
sales and for increasing its workforce from 27 to 50 employees.
The story behind the story is that the money for the lean manufacturing
training at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm came from the federal government.
Two years ago, Steve Forrest worked with Ruby Greene of the High
Country Workforce Development Board to prepare a proposal for
an incumbent worker grant.
The federal Workforce Investment Act includes funding for training
employees at existing businesses with the idea that such training
will enhance employees’ skills, will increase the business’s
productivity and will increase the potential for company growth.
Forrest won an incumbent worker grant in a statewide competitive
process, and the trainers from IES brought their expertise to
Moravian Falls.
“The government never did anything to help me that I can
put a finger on until this,” Forrest said at the awards ceremony.
“This program is the only thing I know of trying to help
American business, and small business generates jobs. This is
one of the biggest opportunities I’ve had to positively impact
the lives of people here in North Carolina.”
Forrest said in addition to almost doubling the number of employees
at his business, he has also been able to provide benefits such
as a 401(k) plan and health insurance. “I can’t even
guess the amount of money that has gone into the local economy,”
he said.
“I want to thank Ruby Greene and the folks from Boone,”
Forrest continued. “We got money from the federal government
to pay for this; this is the first time I’ve gotten money
from the government.”
As he accepted the award, Forrest said, “This is not a day
of celebration for Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, but a day of celebration
and promotion for N.C. State Industrial Extension Service. I’m
so impressed with what they do, I’ve joined the board. We
need to get the word out about what N.C. State does.”
Steve Laton, lean product leader for IES, congratulated Forrest
and said, “Brushy Mountain Bee Farm stands out as a special
case in this economy.”
In business since 1977, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm manufactures
and sells a variety of beekeeping supplies, beeswax for candle
and soap making and educational books and videos.
Lean principles are focused on increasing productivity and decreasing
waste, and incorporating those principles at the business led
to expansion of the wood storage area, the woodenware assembly
area where the beehives are constructed and the packaging area
where personnel prepare an average of 300 orders per day for shipping.
“The woodenware assembly area is a great example of us taking
what we learned in the green process and making ourselves much
more efficient,” said general manager Shane Gebauer.
In a clean, well-ventilated and light-filled workroom, woodworkers
assemble the various components of the firm’s beehives. The
redesign of the workstations, the equipment setup and doubling
the number of workstations have resulted in significant decreases
in the production cost per piece and in assembly time. For some
pieces, Gebauer said, the production cost dropped by half.
By improving its production processes, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
has been able to take full advantage of the increased popularity
of beekeeping. Books and movies with beekeeping themes, the growing
number of backyard gardeners who are branching out into beekeeping
and the prominent placement of a beehive at the White House to
pollinate the first family’s victory garden have all contributed
to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm’s increased sales.
“All the publicity around beekeeping has generated a lot
of interest,” Gebauer said. “I don’t care what
your political affiliation is — Democrat, Republican, independent
— but to the White House having a colony of bees in the front
yard, I say, ‘Thumbs up!’”
In addition to the wood cutting, stamping with the Brushy Mountain
logo, shaping and assembly operations; the sew room where protective
veils and suits are constructed or finished; the warehouse and
distribution operation where orders are picked and packed for
customers all over the world, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm also welcomes
an average of 30 walk-in customers each day and hundreds of customers
at its thrice-annual Bee Days when people arrive from all over
the country to pick up live bees to populate their hives.
To better serve these walk-in customers, Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
has a brand-new retail building scheduled to open this month.
The recently completed building, with stunning poplar bark accents
from Highland Craftsmen Inc. in Spruce Pine, will provide enough
room for the on-site retail operation to display more products
and expand offerings to include bee-related gift items, as well
as the standard beekeeping equipment and supplies.
And as if all these expansions and improvements aren’t enough,
the company plans to open a distribution facility in Pennsylvania
this fall to serve the growing number of customers in the Northeast.
“I’ve just been incredulous throughout this whole thing
that (a) we could get government money, and (b) that it has been
so valuable,” Gebauer said.
“The N.C. State IES is one of the most amazing things I’ve
ever seen,” Forrest said. “I can’t say enough about
them. The things that we learned — the lean manufacturing
techniques — we are continuing to build on. We’re real
proud of what we’ve got here.”
To learn more about Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, click to www.brushymountainbeefarm.com.
To learn more about N.C. State’s Industrial Extension Service,
click to www.ies.ncsu.edu. To learn more about Workforce Investment
Act incumbent worker grants, call Ruby
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