It was 1987. Carnac the Magnificent was still mystifying – and cracking up – audiences on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The Simpsons debuted on the Tracey Ullman Show. Dirty Dancing, The Untouchables, Lethal Weapon, and Good Morning, Vietnam were box office hits. The Bangles were telling everyone to “Walk Like an Egyptian.” A Chevrolet Celebrity cost US $11, 010. Retail stores couldn’t keep up with the demand for Talking ALF The Storytelling Alien. Reaganauts stood behind then Vice President George H.W. Bush as he postured for power. And John Hudec began working alongside his father at home in Indiana in a two-car garage making simplistic laminated cabinetry for a small handful of local builders. Since then, John’s feverish dedication to custom architectural millwork and superior service has raised many an eye brow, including one or two at Inc. 5000: Hudec Woodworking was named one of America’s fastest growing companies in 2014, 2015 and 2016, a three-year period that saw John’s 29-year-old brainchild grow 52% and bring home – from Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and National markets – US $8.3 million.
By David MacDonald I f you are – to employ an idiom that’s seldom used without humorous or passive aggressive intent and I assure you, neither is its function here – of a certain age then the above references have got you. You’re gripped in the throes of nostalgia. Stevie Wonder’s “Stay Gold” is in your head and it’s not going away. Well, don’t fret because you’ve got a friend in John Hudec, President and CEO of Hudec Woodworking. He’s a leader in, as he puts it, “an extremely demanding industry where time is everyone’s worst adversary.” “That continues to be one of the largest challenges we face,” he explained. “The expectations are increasingly growing as the industry evolves and this significantly impacts lead times. We have nurtured an exceptionally committed and seasoned staff that is committed to meeting these growing demands. Likewise, we rely on the efficiency and commitments of our proven vendors and suppliers to ensure we exceed the expectations of our clients. We are fortunate to have excep- tional industry partners.” “Architects, designers, and business owners all want symbolic uniqueness in their projects.” John explained that the architectural millwork industry as a whole has been evolving these last four decades at an unprecedented rate. CAD (Computer Aided Design) software has been the backbone of commercial and indus- trial manufacturing since the 1960s when famed computer scientist and internet pioneer Dr. Ivan Sutherland devel- oped Sketchpad – the original CAD program – as a Ph. D Candidate at MIT. The cost of early computers, however, limited future development of CAD to the worlds of aero- space and automobile giants McDonnel-Douglas and General Motors, respectively. As personal computers and CAD software became ubiquitous in the 1980s, John said his industry began “exploding with greater demands.”
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OCTOBER 2017 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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