FROM VISION TO ENDURING LEGACY: Rago Millwork Celebrates 55 Years By Nerissa McNaughton
R
ago Millwork and Supplies Ltd., a millwork and cabinet manufacturing company in Edmonton, opened in 1963.
“My father, Carmen Rago Sr., started the company 55 years ago,” explains Carmen Rago Jr., president. “As a young man coming to Canada from Italy at 15 years old, he had experience in a number of previous occupations.” While this experience included working as a tinsmith and in a flour mill, it was woodworking that he truly enjoyed. The enterprising young man had plenty of ambition and a great work ethic, but that wasn’t enough to get his millwork company started. “The challenge my father faced early on was the same as most companies experience at the startup of a new business – a lack of capital,” Carmen Jr. explains. “Back in the day, those challenges were real. A visit to the bank at 19 years old in the hopes of securing a loan was denied since the teen from Italy had no assets to secure against the loan. “Through some investigation, my father came in contact with a lending agency who worked closely with a government body. This government body guaranteed the loan for my father. Suddenly he had some cash in his jeans. My father purchased a piece of land on 160 Street and 118 Avenue and built his first production shop on the west part of that land.
Carmen Rago Jr., president
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