By Mary Owen
Mackenzie Strawn has sawdust in his veins.
The Stayton family man loves working with wood, an interest that began in his childhood.
“I recently discovered a small book I wrote and bound in the third grade that confirmed when I was a boy, I wanted to be a carpenter,” said Strawn, an “almost” father of three. He and his wife, Asia, are parents to Malachi, 3, Ruby, 1, and are expecting a third.
Today, Strawn owns and operates Stayton Wood Windows, on Golf Club Road. The journey he took to get there started in college, when he decided he wanted to build houses. After leaving college, he got a job with an experienced finish carpenter in Salem.
“My next job was with a high-end remodeling firm in Bend,” he said. “Before I knew it, I had started my own business. Though the construction industry was very quiet at the time, the Lord blessed me and kept me profitable.”
Strawn said the idea of starting a wood window business first passed through his mind in 2006.
“And left almost as quickly as it entered,” he added. “Then when building our house on Santiam Street, and experiencing tremendous delays, I began to ponder the idea of building my own wood windows for it.”
Even though the task proved to be formidable, the idea never left. Strawn was on his way to switching his career to woodworking and joinery.
“I started Stayton Wood Windows in my garage because I wanted to be close to my family,” he said. “Wood windows and doors are large and hard to handle, and I was spending most of my time moving them around the shop.”
After a year, Strawn knew the time had come to move his growing business to a larger facility. He “thanks God for his prosperity,” and hopes his business will continue to grow, but not in the traditional format of a large factory.
“I want to be able to be the retailer,” he said. “I want the small local joinery aspect to remain.”
To accomplish these goals, Strawn hopes to clone his business by opening several small shops throughout the Pacific Northwest, each employing 10-20 workers.
“Therefore the product built in Stayton is the same product built in say, Sisters or Spokane, but the buyer is still able to purchase locally,” he explained, “and build a relationship with the people that made their windows and doors.”
Strawn loves to work with people – contractors, architects, homeowners – on their projects, offering advice when he can.
At his shop, Strawn manufactures doors, wood windows and other products mostly out of Douglas fir, sometimes spruce, oak, cedar or other woods.
“It’s a custom shop, so if someone needs something different that they can’t find on the shelf or a person wants their wood windows or doors to be made in Stayton, mine is the number to call,” Strawn said. “All products come pre-finished, eliminating a time-consuming step for the buyer.”
Another benefit of owning his own business has been the progression of his woodworking skills, he said.
“After ripping miles of lumber on a table saw, you start to be able to feel how it will react when cut,” he said. “Things like that have made it possible for me to build some nice furniture for our home.”
Finding and acquiring equipment, hardware and wood products with limited capital has been challenging, he said.
“Thus far, the business has been built on a very tight shoestring,” Strawn said.
For information, call 503-769-8887 or e-mail staytonwindows[at]wvi.com.
