John Reding has been the owner and manager of J.R. Reding Co. since he started the company more than 30 years ago, despite prior dreams of sailing away. Located just off South Tacoma Way in the Nalley Valley, the 10-worker 14,000-square-foot operation is anything but a "small" business.

"We do just about everything that can be done to furniture, cabinets, doors, pianos and any other woodwork," Reding said. "That includes repairs, restoration, refinishing, upholstery, and water and fire damage repairs. We're the only shop in the area capable of handling large corporate projects like churches, banks and offices. One of our larger contracts at the moment is a refinishing job at the famous Weyerhaeuser headquarters in Federal Way. Nevertheless, our bread and butter comes from homeowners bringing in one piece at a time."

Reding said he was introduced to the business by his father, a carpenter who eventually went into wooden boat-building by starting his company in the late 1950s. Reding started working for him when he was 12, learning both woodworking and finishing. After a stint in the Navy, Reding became a partner in his father's business. He later quit  and opened his own shop, subcontracting his father's finishing work, as well as taking on work for other clients.

"Most cabinetmakers hate working on old pieces, and shun both repairing and refinishing," Reding said. "I loved it, so a lot of work came to me from other cabinetmakers. That grew until I had five shops in and around Pierce and King counties. As I got older, I consolidated it into one large shop in the facility we occupy today."

Reding said there are many things that he wishes he had known at the beginning of his career.

"People skills, money management, the value of community involvement and, perhaps most difficult to learn, the art of estimating a job accurately."

When asked who he has modeled himself after, Reding is amused.

"Physically? Buddha," Reding laughed. "Because I never worked for any large, well-run companies, I never really had a good business role model. (If I could do it over), I might be in a more mainstream business, like cabinetmaking or construction, where it is easier to find already trained employees. But, for the most part, I have few, if any, regrets."

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