An Oasis for Innovation “If you know how to live in Vegas you can have the best time.” Tony Curtis
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www.surfaceandpanel.com
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ocated in fabulous Las Vegas, custom manufacturer CT Design leverages home field advantage to bring new materials and products to the market. The local region – with its massive resorts and culture of suspended reality – offers area fabricators a rare combination of producing both volume and wow-factor. For Bryan Thatcher, owner and operator of CT Design, bringing new design solutions to clients also presents an opportunity to continually add technology and related competencies to his shop. “Primarily we do custom flat panel manufacturing for both residential and big commercial projects. We love hospitality, and here we get to push both new and familiar products,” says Thatcher. “You have to be willing to embrace change. On a local basis, we are starting to see the industry evolve. When people visit Las Vegas, they see the latest finishes. It is not always doing what has been done in the past.” That being said, Thatcher is a classically trained woodworker. After graduating at the top of his vocational class, he opened CT Design in 2003 in his garage. More than a decade later, he credits relationships, continual pursuit of technology and passion for the on-going growth of CT Design. Currently operating with 15 employees in 8,000 squarefeet of production space, Thatcher is in the process of doubling the size of his facility by KBIS 2015. At the same time, he is making investments in equipment and software technology that allow him to expand his core competencies from custom millwork and acrylic fabrication, to functioning as an OEM and distributor of specialty products. In the bigger picture, CT Design has its sights set on a broader web-based platform that will allow end users to design their own custom products. “What we are planning for the future is pretty bold. Our objective is to take care of our local market and continually make new relationships,” says Thatcher. “That gives us the opportunity to grow and refine our processes, so that they are pretty much seamless when our online program goes live.” For more about CT Design’s state-of-the-art equipment and plans for the future see Tech Spec page 44.