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 andCEOof Hudec Woodworking. He’s a leader in,
as he puts it, “an extremely demanding industry where time is everyone’s worst adversary.”
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OCTOBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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