Adirondack canoe aficionados, who collect boats as ants collect crumbs, at some point in their paddling adventures may have been exposed to beautiful, handcrafted components made at an Adirondack plant they have probably never heard of.
Lacking an iconic name like Hornbeck, Wenonah or Old Town, Essex Industries operates anonymously amid the rusting ironworks of Mineville not far from the shores of Lake Champlain.
Within the walls of a former Catholic school building, Essex has for decades churned out the good, old-fashioned wooden stuff—seats, yokes, gunwales—that accent the space-age materials that go into modern canoe hulls.
Its parent company, Mountain Lake Services, is the largest employer in Essex County, and Essex Industries is among the county’s largest manufacturers, with annual sales of canoe parts exceeding $1 million. (Essex Industries also produces furniture, picnic tables, camp stools and other wooden products.)
It is not a routine they take for granted, nor are they shy about expressing how happy it makes them to be a valued part of the community in which they live. That happiness invariably rubs off on the people they work alongside. “They make it impossible to have a bad day,” said John Gereau, operations and marketing director at Essex Industries. “And I’ll put our quality up against anyone’s.” Of the 65 employees at the shop, 35 are people with disabilities, he said.
Employees able to do more can earn more than the minimum wage; those who can do less are paid by the piece, which at day’s end they are proud to report. Most live with housing assistance provided by Mountain Lake Services, a private, not-for-profit chapter of NYSARC, a state-regulated organization founded by family members of people with developmental disabilities.
Essex Industries sells their products in the Adirondacks and around the world. As she packed a shipment of folding camp stools bound for Tokyo, employee Jessica Meehan said Mountain Lake has provided a family atmosphere where she felt comfortable learning a job, and has helped her deal with her coping issues and given her confidence about her ability to make her way in the world.
“I just think it’s neat how I’ve grown at Essex Industries,” she said. Now she has greater goals, like going back to school for a GED and maybe one day working with children.
Essex Industries takes to the next level other ARC programs in and around the Adirondacks that prepare people with disabilities to enter the workforce, by, for example, teaching job interview skills and presenting opportunities for arts and crafts production or work in janitorial services.
It has been fortunate for Chad Smith as well. He founded Adirondack Canoe Co. 20 years ago. His ultralight boats add a little weight and rigidity to the floor, in contrast to the lightest boats on the market. When Essex Industries called in search of a partner, Smith said the timing was good.
His regimen that produced 80 boats a year left him little personal and planning time and limited the models he could produce. With Essex Industries resources, he’ll have more opportunity to design and be with family with the gratification that comes with teaching employees to do something they never thought possible.
“Training is a big part of the job, and they’re happy to learn,” Smith said. “It can be frustrating at first, but you develop a love for it.”
The boats begin as a fiberglass mold, into which is tucked a sheet of Kevlar or carbon-fiber fabric. A hardener is added to a pail of liquid petroleum-based resin, which must be briskly and expertly brushed over the fabric before it is no longer pliable. After the material has hardened overnight, it’s popped from the mold and fitted with its wooden parts.
Gereau said the idea of canoe production has been percolating for some time. And it made sense to go with an established name rather than starting from scratch.
“Adirondack Canoe is well-known in the industry,” Gereau said. “Chad was the missing piece of the puzzle—he’s fabulous to watch.”
For the employees, said Mudge, there is a meaningful difference between making parts of a boat and making a boat. Parts are theoretical, while a finished product adds a level of understanding and accomplishment. “Some of them didn’t see (the components) as part of something greater,” Mudge said. “Now they clap when a canoe goes out the door. It’s nice they can see the value of the boat and say, ‘I was part of that.’” The company makes everything but the hull.
Many employees are outdoors aficionados who enjoy paddling and fishing as part of Mountain Lake Services’ recreation program. Two are 46ers. “They’re very engaged in the Adirondacks,” Mudge said.
Public perception tends to focus on disabilities without understanding that those who are lacking in one area often have skills that, without cultivation, would go unnoticed. “They may have deficits, but they have abilities that outshine those deficits,” Mudge said. “We teach them to overcome those deficits.”