By Sharon Verbeten
Kaleb Ranker grew up in a woodworking family — he and his father, Kevin, built houses together. It seemed only natural that he’d follow that path as owner of KDR Wood Design Co. in Green Lake.
Eight years after starting his custom woodworking business, Ranker’s company broke ground on a large expansion in Green Lake’s Hwy. 23 Industrial Park.
“We’ve worked really hard in the last few years to keep pushing and growing,” says Ranker. “It’s a big change, but it’s also a positive change that’s needed, not only for us and our existing business, but to continue to grow Green Lake.”
While Ranker says he looked for other locations and buildings in neighboring Princeton and Berlin — “I went door-to-door to every farmer on the highway,” he says — he ultimately decided to stay in Green Lake. “Our customer base is pretty strong [here], and we wanted the highway visibility.
“This is where our business started; it’s been growing and, ultimately, we just felt it was right and we want to keep growing here,” he adds.
Ranker, who has a degree in wood manufacturing from Fox Valley Technical College, is a native of nearby Ripon; he purchased 23 acres in the park with help from Fortifi Bank, which also assisted with a Small Business Administration loan. “They really understood the business needs,” Ranker says.
The first phase of construction will include a 10,000-square-foot warehouse and 6,000-square-foot workshop, triple the size of its current space. “This is going to give us the space and the capacity for warehousing,” says Ranker, noting that KDR’s current location downtown will remain a showroom and retail center for its products, which includes custom furniture, dining tables, patio furniture, personalized gifts and specialty cabinetry.
Ranker hopes to have those structures completed in November, so work can then start on building a sawmill with an additional production line next spring.
At a time when other businesses struggle to find staff, Ranker says he’s been lucky to find skilled workers. KDR now employs eight, and Ranker says, “We’ve been growing steadily that last few years.
“We had our best years ever during the pandemic,” he notes, adding that people staying home were looking to improve their homes and outdoor living spaces.
The expansion will initially fill only part of the acreage, so Ranker is still considering options for the remaining parcel. But for now, he’s focused on the future and maintaining sustainability in his work.
“We’re just trying to reuse and be as sustainable as we possibly can,” he says. “That’s a huge part of the world we live in today.”
