All in the Family 2020

All In The Family ourmidland.com

Celebrating and Recognizing Local Family-Owned Businesses

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ALL IN THE FAMILY

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Orvosh Builders Are Vested in the Midland Community I

Jon Becker for the Daily News

t’s a chilly, blustery Monday before Thanksgiving but instead of getting a jump start on the holiday weekend local business owner Jason Orvosh is on a job site 165 miles from home. Whitecaps are rolling off Black Lake in Cheboygan and the overcast November skies are preventing any peeks of sunshine that might provide a bit of relief from the biting cold.

Orvosh, a second generation owner of Orvosh, Builders, Inc., a Midland company founded in 1987 by his parents Cindy and Paul, has been with his crew working on the initial stage of a home build since 7:30 a.m. He may be the boss, but making it a point to be on-site engaging with customers and making sure things get done is right is a trademark company principle that began with Paul Orvosh.

“It’s cold but I can’t complain,” he said. ‘We’re busy every minute.

This has been the best, worst year.

We have a lot of people needing work done and being on-site doing the work yourself is my Dad’s influence. It’s a lot easier to sit behind a desk but if you hire everything out, that’s what you get. We don’t do business that way.”

November is typically a busy, sometime frantic time for construction companies in Michigan because they are trying to get

Son & Father Jason & Paul Orvosh

as much work done as possible before winter. It’s been even crazier this year because companies began the construction season later and thus behind schedule due to COVID shutdowns. Then came an April 7 hailstorm and the historic flooding, two weather events after which Orvosh Builders were quick to help people rebuild. This was especially true in Jason Orvosh’s hometown of Bullock Creek.

“I take care of Bullock Creek,” Orvosh said. “It’s my hometown and it’s been good to us. I was sitting on my front porch in April when we were hit by the hailstorm. My house got hit. My sub-

division got hit. The hail put holes in my camper cover. We installed 65 roofs in our area. Usually we do about 3 or 4 a year. We always have a rush before winter but this year with November’s weather being so unseasonably nice it’s been insane.”

The company has been a longtime sponsor of youth sports in Bullock Creek and has promoted the skilled trades through its involvement with programs at both Bullock Creek High School and Midland High School.

“We give back. We like supporting our hometown,” Orvosh said. “I think we’ve sponsored T-Ball for

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Orvosh Crew

about 22 years.”

A 2006 Ferris State University construction management graduate, Orvosh has made it his mission to grow the company since his father took a step back about four years ago, settling into a V.P. role. His mother Cindy is also still quite involved, working at the office doing bookkeeping and performing other duties.

“I learned the fundamentals of the business from my Mom and Dad,“ Orvosh said. “There are not many builders of our size (9 employees) doing the scale of work we do. Our company maintains a strong family influence.”

As owner, Paul Orvosh was not one to sit in an office all day. He had to be in the field working with his crew, digging holes, building foundations, framing houses and performing all the other psychicallydemanding tasks required for building homes.

“It’s hard work,” said Jason Orvosh. “You get in your 50s and your body starts breaking down, if not sooner. I try to strike a balance between managing and doing office work. It’s probably about 50-50 for me between taking care of business at the office and being on-site. If you want to maintain real quality, you have to be there at least some of the time. I don’t have to be there hanging siding with the guys, but my business model includes communicating with

customers and working in the field. That’s how our company was built. I don’t want to lose that.”

The family-owned company, Orvosh said, has seen its revenue increase dramatically under his leadership. It helps that the company is so well-established that its reputation generates business on its own without the benefit of a lot of advertising.

“We bringing in five times more revenue than we did about 7 years ago,” Orvosh said. “I’ve taken the company to the next level. My Dad is way more hands-on than me. I’d like to think I’ve found more of a happy medium.”

Orvosh Builders, Inc. does custom homes, finished basements, kitchen remodels, major renovations, large scale additions and light commercial work.

Jason Orvosh loves doing large renovations, the kind that come with price tags between $200-$300,000.

“That’s my bread and butter,” he said. “I’m trying to specialize in that aspect of the industry. We’re currently finishing up a couple of big renovations and just put a hole in the ground on Black Lake for a new build. It’s crazy busy and that’s a good thing.”

The custom home builder’s office is located at 800 S. Poseyville Rd, Suite 1, in Midland.

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Tri-City Furniture a Family Business With Deep Community Ties Jon Becker for the Daily News

The Tri-City Furniture Family poses for a photograph in the iconic businesses’ showroom. The store specializes in custom-made furniture and has been a fixture in the Auburn community since 1957.

A

bout five years ago Lee Kilbourn, one half of the husband-wife team that have owned and operated Tri-City Furniture for decades, decided it was time to retire. Lee and his wife, Kathy, daughter of the store’s late founder, Ron Fahrner, took over ownership of the award-winning Auburn business in the mid 1990s but the couple’s involvement dates back to 1976.

“Kathy said maybe it’s time for a one-day going out of business sale,” said Lee Kilbourn. “We have been doing this for a long time.”

“Then I called,” recounted Krista Hall, Lee and Kathy Kilbourn’s daughter. “I asked my Dad if he had room for me. He told me yes, that we’ll work it out.”

If you’re Lee and Kathy Kilbourn, it was a no-brainer. When a family member calls needing a helping hand, you answer.

At the time, Hall was years into her career as a teacher in North Carolina following her graduation from Saginaw Valley State University, in 2004. Her roles required her to be responsible for 100 students, a heavy time com-

mitment that left little time for anything else.

“I wanted to start my own family and wanted my children to know grandma and grandpa,” Hall said of her decision to return home.”

Hall is third generation in a family business that has been a fixture in Auburn since 1957. When she phoned her father asking if there might be a place for her, the Kilbourns put their retirement plans on hold. They quickly welcomed their daughter back to a store she had spent time in since she was 8 years old.

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“My parents are doing a whole lot for me and I’m extremely grateful,” said Hall. “I love design, I love working with people. I don’t know the business side of it yet.

There’s a lot coming in and a lot going out.”

Restrictions have tightened as COVID-19 cases escalate, but products and customers continue to come in. Hall said they just unloaded 65 boxes of merchandise and the showroom is full.

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$5,000 worth of furniture and home furnishings after his home was badly damaged by fire.

The Kilbourns also slashed prices for Sanford flood victims.

“We gave them a sale price and then extra savings off the top,” said Lee Kilbourn. “Some people had tears in their eyes.

They told us they had been other places and were charged full price.”

“Sanford Strong and Midland Strong,” Hall Two generations of Auburn’s award-winning furniture store pose “You can come in and said.

“You never want to for a photo in their showroom at Tri-City Furniture, in Auburn. buy,” she said. “People see people face that kind Krista Hall (far left) left a teaching career in North Carolina six want their products a litof tragedy, but it brought years ago to return home and begin a career at a family business tle differently these days. people together. We tried she grew up around. Her parents Kathy and Lee Kilbourn, seated Many come in and want to do our part by helping next to Krista Hall, have no immediate plans to retire, but are their furniture tomorpeople out who needed grooming their daughter to take over when that day comes. row. We do a lot of custhings they lost in the tom work, but you have floods. We’ve provided a to adjust to the times.”

You’re in business to make a lot of great deals to flood victims.” profit, but the bottom line isn’t Products evolve. Industry trends everything at Tri-City. There’s a change, as does consumers’ tastes generous spirit begun by Ronald K il bou rn’s f at he r-in-law w as and shopping habits. Tri-City Fahrner that burns brightly in known to be generous in his own Furniture adapts and remains on his successors, Kathy and Lee right. Perhaps to a fault. top of its game through it all. Yet Kilbourn. The couple are quick there is one hallmark of the busi- to help people in need and they “I remember my grandfather kept ness that is not subject to nego- did just that with many Sanford giving away his Currio to people tiation: a commitment to selling residents who saw their homes in need,” Hall said. “My grandAmerican-made products when- and furnishings decimated by the mother must have replaced it four times because he kept giving ever possible. It’s a legacy that May floods. it away. Grandma finally had one began with founder Ron Fahrner, born out of a belief that American “I remember My Dad and grand- built into the wall.” manufacturers create far superior father talking around the dinner products than foreign companies. table,” Hall said. “Sure, you have There’s not a set-in-stone timetaemployees that need to be paid ble for passing the family business “You won’t see our sofas at the and you want to make a profit. onto Hall, but Lee Kilbourn said, curb,” said Kathy Kilbourn. “We The world needs to go around. But “Krista and her husband will take have customers who bought sofas they always talked about helping over eventually. We’re gradually phasing her in. Even so, when that from us 25 to 30 years ago and the community.” day comes it’s not as though we’re they remain in fine condition, but they come into the store simply “We do what we can to help people going to be sitting around watchbecause they simply want some- out,” said Lee Kilbourn, who ear- ing TV and eating bon-bons. We’ll lier this year gave a local resident still be around.” thing different.”

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Plaid Giraffe Midland’s Longstanding Unique Children’s Boutique Jon Becker for the Daily News

T

he holiday season is upon us and the Plaid Giraffe, true to its name, is a unique Midland children’s boutique that has been outfitting local youngsters for special occasions and everyday life for a long time.

Featuring dozens of brands from across the country and beyond, if you want to see your child sporting his or hers own special look and style, the Plaid Giraffe’s lines are certain to please. This time of year, holiday photos and videos become treasured mementos for

families. The store’s expert staff can help you select just the right outfit, whatever the setting, be it formal or casual.

The store offers clothing, gifts and accessories for infants to children up to size 18, typically a fit for 10 to 12 year olds. In what has been a unique and challenging year for everyone, Plaid Giraffe ownership decided the time was right to participate in Cyber Monday sales for the first time. The three-day sale saw everything in the store

marked 50% off. It may not have generated as much foot traffic as co-owner Beth Lewis would have liked, but with COVID-19 restrictions in place and consumers’ shopping habits changing anyway, the same could be said for many, if not most retail stores.

“It’s been a nice experiment,” Lewis said of participating in Cyber Monday. “It’s slower in the store but we’re getting more online orders.”

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Lewis and her mother, Barbara Carras purchased the boutique in 1998, continuing a tradition of the Ashman Circle being a site for a children’s clothing store that dates back to the 1950s when the storefront originally was known as Emily Gibbs. Carras doesn’t attach any special significance to her store’s name, merely that “I wanted it to be an adjective and a noun. We were all sitting around thinking about a name and someone blurted out Purple Hippo. I think that was the name of a Northern Michigan store at the time. Someone said ‘what about Plaid Giraffe’? We did a quick search (“remember this was before smart phones”) to see if there was another Plaid Giraffe.

There wasn’t and so we went with it.”

Another first for the family-run business in 2020 was the launch of a store website. Talk about a fortuitous move. The website went live at about the same time businesses were being shutdown at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic early this year.

“It totally saved us during the first shutdown,” Lewis said. “Getting the website up was a huge investment and there was a learning curve involved, but it brought in enough business that we were able to make payroll. That’s a good thing.”

The Plaid Giraffe has four employees, excluding Lewis, who, among other responsibilities, does the buying with her mother.

experience working at the Plaid Giraffe while they were in high school.

“They learned a little bit of everything about retail,” recounted Lewis. “It was a good experience for them.”

Popular brands at the store include Isobella & Chloe, Little Giraffe, West Willy and Mayoral.

“She’s not in the store every day anymore but we do the buying together, which is nice,” Lewis said.

Said Lewis, “We sell a lot of baby things. That’s the heart of the business.”

Lewis’ two daughters, Mary and Vada, gained their first work

Hot sellers for Christmas include sweatshirts and joggers. You just

don’t see kids in jeans like you used to.

“There’s been a big change,” Lewis said. “We’ve seen a huge upswing in comfy clothing. Kids want to be comfortable too. I think part of this is related to the pandemic.

It’s been much harder on kids than a lot of people realize.”

Visit the Plaid Giraffe for the most unique selection of children’s clothing in Midland. It’s located at 160 Ashman Circle. It’s the perfect place to shop for special occasions, school, everyday play and so much more.

Succession Plan in Place at Amish Reflections

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Jon Becker for the Daily News

J

Owners Lanis and George Swaney and Jeremy Swaney.

eremy Swaney, the heir apparent to Amish Reflections, always knew the furniture business was in his blood.

If he had any reservations about following in the rather large footsteps of his parents, Lanis and George Swaney, as owner of the successful Midland business, they have been dispelled after 13 years

spent working in the corporate world.

Swaney, a Saginaw Valley State University graduate with a degree in business administration, worked in warehousing and transportation for two different corporations before officially starting at Amish Reflections about a year

and a half ago. The corporate gigs, Swaney said, were good jobs.

He has nothing bad to say about them. Yet how can they compare to the challenge, the exhilaration, of knowing he’s next in line to lead a family business he watched his parents build from the ground up?

Lanis and George Swaney have

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spent more than 25 years carefully crafting a business that has developed a sterling reputation for its handcrafted solid wood Amish Furniture. But the Swaneys have never stopped at finding the finest craftsman to build the wide selection of furniture they offer. The husband-wife team has always combined quality with a laser-like focus on taking care of their customers. The son, Jeremy Swaney, does not want to sully that reputation. That’s why he has spent the past 18 months or so learning the business. Every aspect of it.

“I do deliveries, I work in the store and am trying to learn as much as I can,” said Jeremy Swaney. “I know I have a long way to go and still have a lot to learn but when my parents are ready to retire, I want to be ready. This is a familyoriented culture. It’s dramatically different from the corporate cultures I worked in, so, yes, it’s a transition.”

There is no set time on the succession plan, but it is coming. Having Jeremy working at the store has allowed Lanis and George to step away from the day to day operations, newfound free time they often fill watching their grandchildren.

“My Mom and Dad are still very much involved in the business, they just don’t necessarily have to be here every day,” Swaney said.

“I call my Mom just about every day, asking her things. Right now my Dad is down in Ohio picking up furniture from 37 different craftsmen. We deal with a lot of different craftsmen because we constantly seek out the best.”

The younger Swaney feels fortunate business has been steady despite COVID-19 and the shutdowns and restrictions that have come with it.

Table pictured is our Bayfield table in Rustic Cherry with Michael’s Cherry stain.

“Our craftsmen have been busier than they have been in 5 years,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s because people are home, but we’ve been doing pretty well.

There was huge concern after being shut down for months. We wondered if people would come back. We’re very grateful they have.”

Through the years, Swaney has watched how hard his parents worked to build a business that has stood the test of time and seems poised to seamlessly change hands someday.

“This is something I always knew I wanted to do,” he said. “My parents started with nothing and built this company to what it is today. That didn’t happen by accident. They took care of customers and sold quality furniture. They told people if you take care of it, it’ll last a lifetime.”

Swaney takes great satisfaction in seeing happy customers.

“It’s great to be involved in helping get customers exactly what they want,” he said. “The woods, the stains, the color…When I deliver furniture and see the excitement on our customers’ faces, then I know I’m in the right business. Some of these pieces are 100 percent custom.”

And Jeremy Swaney is 100% committed to carrying on his family’s hard-earned legacy of excellence.

He’s looking forward to the challenge.

“You know where all your hard work goes,” Swaney said of selfemployment. “The family business is definitely where I know I should be working.”

Amish Reflections is located at 54 Ashman Circle. Store hours are Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

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JD Jewelers is Where Quality Has Been Set in Stone for Generations

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Jon Becker for the Daily News

.D. Jewelers’ Jason Jenkins, a second generation owner of custom jewelry stores in Midland and Gladwin, has always had a flair for art and design. That talent has led him to become a gemologist whose attention to detail drives him to make one-ofkind pieces that leave nothing to chance.

“I consider my profession an art form with a slim margin for error,” Jenkins, whose father Dave started the family jewelry business 35 years ago, said. “Much like music or cooking you have to combine elements harmoniously to produce a quality finished product.

The ingredients have to be good.

Your methods you use have to be on point.”

As a premier custom jeweler, J.D. Jewelers does not mass produce items. If you purchase, say, an engagement ring from their store you can rest assured its style and design will be uniquely your own.

They produce all their jewelry inhouse, a distinction that makes quite a difference.

“That’s what sets us apart,” Jenkins said. “We will hand-pick diamonds not only for size, clarity and color but we will match them by proportion, angles and cut so they behave with the light in a similar fashion. You’ll get a nice rainbow effect that cascades brilliantly over the piece. We’re thinking of all the extra details in making a one-of-a-kind piece.”

J.D. Jewelers is a second generation Midland business whose custom-made fine jewelry has been treasured by customers through the years. It’s owner, Jason Jenkins, who took over the family business from his father, Dave Jenkins, in 2014, considers it an honor to be a part of such special moments in people’s lives.

One such occasion, of course, is weddings. And if the groom-to-be chooses J.D. Jewelers for an engagement ring, his fiance will be dazzled by its brilliance and uniqueness.

“It’s emotional to be involved in such a special moment in someone’s life,” Jenkins said.

“An engagement ring is a symbolic expression of love and commitment. It’s one of the bigger investments a guy will make. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist as a gemologist, so I make sure a customer is educated on how to properly buy and invest. We’re making oneof-a kind pieces. The last thing a woman wants is to see is another woman wearing the exact same ring she has.”

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pieces you’ll want to wear every day. We invest in technology that is state of the art.”

The store has a laser welder that Jenkins said his father was one of the first in the industry to have.

“It does the work of three jewelers,” he said. “It’s still an advanced piece of equipment.“ Midlanders may remember J.D. Jewelers when it was known as Jenkins Jewelers, located in the Ashman Circle. Jason Jenkins took over the family business in 2014 following the retirement of his father, who spent 30 years building it into a successful and trusted jeweler.

Its new home is located in the Bell Plaza, next to Whine, on East Wackerly. Jason Jenkins has been making his own mark on the business, but remains determined to uphold the jewelry store’s legacy of high quality, custom handmade jewelry--with a sparkling dose of customer service to enhance the experience.

Jenkins got his start in the business as a youngster, helping his father in the shop and going with him on deliveries. He always enjoyed hands-on activities and soon found that the jewelry business might be a good fit for someone who had a passion for art and design.

Dave Jenkins’s first store in Midland was Goldspot Design Jewelers, which back in the day was located in Eastlawn Plaza where Walgreens now sits. Today the store’s founder may be retired but is still involved in the family business, though his son and 2 employees take care of the day to day operations.

“He consults and works with customers,” said Jason Jenkins. “It’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off him and have that sort of knowledge available to me. Our customer service and our methods are very professional. All of our

work is done on premises. You’ll be inspired by our visual concepts and designs. Come in with your custom jewelry idea and watch us bring it to life.”

Have old gemstone or gold that is a bit tired? J.D. Jewelers can work wonders there as well.

“We can put a fresh twist on anything,” said Jenkins. “We can turn old gemstones and gold into

“We have a lot new in the store and we’re gearing up for a busy Christmas season, especially with some of the Mall store closings,” Jenkins said. “Building quality is our benchmark. Whatever price the customer is comfortable spending, we’ll give them the power to make the decision on what they want. We have access to all of the materials and the expert craftsmanship to make it happen. As a certified gemologist, it’s my passion to find the perfect diamond.”

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