Chris and Von Ramsey are owners of Ramsey’s Finishing, a furniture components business their father, Dr. Lonny Ramsey, started in Catawba Valley in 1992. What began as a small business venture in a single-car garage has morphed into a multimillion-dollar company with 70 employees and locations in Hickory, Conover, and Claremont. The secret to their success? Faith and commitment to family. When those priorities are in place, everything else falls into place, too, they say.
Other things have helped the company flourish—like being in a niche industry, evolving the business to be more self-sufficient, and building relationships, including with their customers, vendors, employees, and bank.
“We always tell people we're not trying to be just a vendor. We want to be a partner. And we mean that,” says Von.
The Ramsey brothers treat people as they would want to be treated. They value their employees like family and want to be there for them in any situation, whether business or personal. To that end, employee tenure averages close to 20 years. Part of building the relationship is doing the right thing and being dependable. When they say they’re going to do something or be somewhere, you can count on them. No exceptions. And if something changes, they communicate it immediately.
“We’ve got suppliers that we have relationships with for 30 years. And our bank relationship has continued to grow and build, allowing us to do what we’ve been able to do,” says Von. “Lots of families depend upon us, and the Lord certainly gives us the wisdom to make the right decisions at the right time.”
One of those decisions was choosing to partner with Peoples Bank over 20 years ago. “We have built this entire business on relationships,” Von explains. “As we've grown, the relationship that we have with our bank has been phenomenal. We could not do this without that relationship.”
In the early days of the company, they’d purchase wood pieces, apply finish, and resell. After deciding to manufacture the wood pieces—sourcing raw materials such as lumber and bolts—real success started. They were able to customize wood pieces to each customer's specifications, implementing a process that ensured the highest quality of care and products, from base material to sealer. The kind of effort the company puts into serving its customers is the same level of effort it expects from its partners.
“As in banking, we don't want to be just another company borrowing money at the end of the day,” says Von. “We want a relationship.”
To scale the business, they had to focus on their finances. That’s where their bank partnership has made all the difference. “I'm trying to teach my youngest son, who has a separate business, how important it is to develop a relationship with the bank, and specifically with individuals within the bank,” says Chris. “We love Peoples because they still have that small town feel and they've been super responsive to our needs.”
It's one thing for a bank to be attentive to the big players, but Peoples Bank was attentive right from the start, before the company started snowballing. “We got as much care when we were little as we do now,” says Von. “We built the relationship with the bank because they gave attention to detail when we were borrowing $100,000, not $5 million.”
Chris and Von never expected that the side business their father started to help supplement his income as a pastor would end up supporting them and their own children. Both brothers have children employed by the business, which has incentivized them to continue to invest in it as part of the legacy they’ll hand over someday—just like their own father handed it down to them.
“Our children are vital pieces of the puzzle here,” Von says. “We knew that if the next generation was going to grab hold of what we've been given to be good stewards with, we needed to update.”
The brothers talk about how, as children, they both worked in the garage (aka, the shop) behind their family home, spraying furniture before and after eating supper. An attic fan served as an exhaust system. They’ve both been in this business their entire lives.
“Growing up, I never saw myself doing this as a career,” Chris says. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself to say, ‘how did we end up where we're at now?’ It has been like a fairytale, from where we started to where we're at now.”
