2016 Community Impact Awards: Growth

GOLD AWARD
Bellmont Cabinet Company
Location: Sumner

Bellmont Cabinet set a new course after 2009, when annual revenue plunged to $12.6 million, less than half of what it had been the year before. A strategy to bring affordable, contemporary, frameless Eurostyle cabinets to market worked, helping the companys revenues soar to $60 million by 2015. President Steve Bell regrouped with two sons, Casey, 36, now COO, and Tyler, 34, vice president of sales and marketing, as well as then-accounting manager Nick Johnson, 36, now CFO. I told them, Well just have to rebuild this company together, recalls Bell. Bellmont lost money in 2010 but broke even in 2011. By 2012, profits were climbing again. This years revenues are up another 12 to 13 percent. Compared to a low of 85 workers, Bellmont now has 306 employees. Its cabinet style is now trendy, says Bell, and competitors took notice by creating and stocking similar products. So Bellmont is notching it up, investing $5 million in new technology. By 2017, those capital expenditures will reach $7.5 million to continue making affordable, high-quality products. Bell notes that his wife, Carolyn, has been a core contributor, and that the family is transferring stock to the second generation. Daughter Loreen Bell Hernandez, 40, manages the charitable family foundation. Bell says his sons continued to share responsibility in the business, adding, Weve been willing to take the risks.