Recently, Newport Furniture Parts celebrated its 50th anniversary. Fifty years in the wood furniture manufacturing business here in North America has provided more than ample experience in craftsmanship when it comes to the design and manufacture of wood furniture parts. Over the years many things have changed and adapted, one of those being our ever-growing group of team members. We’d like to raise our hats to a few people; one who is leaving, and a few who are joining our team.
Larry Daigneault Retires, After 50 Years of Dedicated Service
After 50 years of dedicated service to the
furniture industry and its clients, one of our long-time partners, Larry Daigneault has retired. Immigrating from Drummondville Quebec, Larry started at Newport Furniture Parts (NFP) in 1966 when we were just a sawmill. Larry’s job was to unload the lumber from the trains and load it into the wood shed. A few years later, Larry moved on to the bandsaw, which was the only piece of equipment onsite at the time.
During the late 60’s and early 70’s NFP largely manufactured wooden rocker blades; by the 100,000s! With the addition of a shaper, business expanded into more detailed projects, with Larry learning and mastering every piece of machinery that came and went.
Around 1970, Larry became a foreman here and took on the responsibilities of hiring and managing employees, as well as dealing with HR tasks. With an interest and talent for business, Larry continued to advance more into the business development area of NFP by visiting clients, handling customer service issues, quoting and sales.
In the 90’s Larry focused on the glider rocker area of NFP by traveling, along with his wife, to trade shows and the businesses of individual clients. As the representative of NFP, Larry would sell our glider rocker chairs to many businesses throughout the USA.
In 1996, Larry Daigneault and Dave Laforce took ownership of NFP. As the new partner/owner of NFP, Larry took on the role of vendor relations and raw materials sourcing. The remaining years of Larry’s service were marked with an attention to people and delivering quality, in all areas of the business.
As of June 30th 2014, Larry will be moving on to a new phase in life and to enjoying his time together with his family. Larry intends on spending more time with his grandchildren and children, as well as spending time on the east and west coasts. We will miss you Larry! Thank you for all your contributions to who and what NFP has become today.
Internal Duties Shifting
Larry’s duties here at Newport were largely in vendor management, although he knew the in’s and out’s of our business very well. Taking over Larry’s duties, Dave Laforce will largely be responsible for vendor sourcing for our existing products, as well as new ones; as we add them. Nancy Laforce has also joined our team as the person in charge of raw material quote requests, raw material quality control, delivery requirements and purchase orders. Over the years, Paul Gariepy has worn many hats within our organization. Paul will now be leading our manufacturing operations. His responsibilities will lie in overseeing all production scheduling and quality control.
More New Team Members
We’d also like to announce some new team members who have joined us here at Newport Furniture Parts: Rick Lunt and Kim Daggett. Joining us this past January, Rick’s primary role is in the areas of sales, design and new product quotes. And coming to us this past May, Kim Daggett will take care of order entries, quote submissions, accounts receivables, collections and customer service. We’re sure you’ll be very satisfied with our new team members, please feel free to contact them with your questions or concerns.
