HOW WE GOT STARTED…

Business Bulletin

A Special Background Report On Trends in Industry

OREGON – There are many small businesses sprinkled throughout Ogle County that not many people know exist.

One such operation is Cain’s Millwork. Located behind Al’s Tap on River Road, the big red barn-like place looks totally unpretentious without even a sign to identify it. Once through the small set-in door, however, persons encounter a buzz of woodworking.

Saws of all sizes and descriptions whir and clatter as Roger Cain and his workmen create beauty.

Cain, at 30, has been running his own shop for five years. ‘When you see the old gingerbread trim on Victorian houses and say, well, they don’t make them like that anymore? We do.’

Bid competitively ‘Actually,’ said Cain, ‘We can provide everything outside of structural wood for a building. We bid competitively on jobs for builders and architects, since we aren’t designers or architects ourselves, we prefer to deal with other professionals rather than the owner.’

‘Oh, sometimes we’ll have a walk-in customer with a wood problem they can’t handle themselves and that’s fine.’

There is wood and sawdust all over the place. What looks like the front of a judge’s bench turns out to be just that.

‘That’s part of the original bench from the first courtroom at the courthouse,’ explained Cain, ‘It’s been cut down about three times since they renovated the courtrooms in 1969 and now, the Renovation Committee is going to use it for facing on counters on the first floor.’

How did he get into this line of work? He laughed and said ‘Well, it certainly wasn’t hereditary; my father, George Cain, was comptroller at E.D. Einyre & Co, and couldn’t drive a nail straight.’

Native – born Roger went to Northern Illinois University and studied industry and technology but wanted to be independent doing carpentry, so after working for other people for 3 to 4 years, he decided to try it on his own. He now has a partner, Rick Hammer, 30, of Polo, who prepares most of the bids and does selling.

‘We do almost anything in wood,’ said Cain, ‘We’re doing 20 oak, raised panel doors for a house east of Route 51 – at a cost of $400 per door. We’ve done a lot of restoration type woodwork for Chicago and the suburbs. We just did some work for the St. Charles Country Club, the Stillman Valley Bank and some places in Woodstock. Word gets around among the builders and we get most of our business through word of mouth.’

Business Good

‘My partner and I and three full-time employees do all the work but when we move to much larger building on Clark Street, we’re going to have to hire an office person. Business is good but I don’t want to get so big I can’t be independent.’

‘I’ve been looking around the house for something wooden that needs fixing. I have a feeling anything Roger Cain does would be done right.’