In 1999, Jim Powles, a metal fabricator at a major boiler company, built his family an outdoor wood stove to save money on fuel bills and eliminate the mess and fire hazard of an indoor wood stove. It was not unusual for people to stop by and try to get Jim to build them a stove.
After working years of a lot of overtime, the overtime was cut, so Jim replaced the extra hours at the shop with hours in the garage. In March 2000, Jim put an outdoor wood stove out front for sale. The stove sold within a week and the money was reinvested to build two more. In July, Jim voluntarily went on part time at the factory job, working 30 hours a week, while working 40-50 hours at home trying to keep up with orders.
By October Jim quit the regular job to build stoves full time at home. By January 1st, 29 outdoor wood stoves were manufactured in the garage.
The stoves seemed to advertise themselves with the help of their owners. Orders kept coming in, mostly from friends and relatives of our customers. With a lot of help from wife Stacey, and some part time help in the garage, 70 stoves were manufactured in the first full year in business.
Timberwolf Furnace Co. continued to grow. It was time for expansion. In 2003 a new building was erected on site. A 40 x 60 pole barn. This allowed for more employees, but after 2 years was not big enough.
In 2005 Jim and Stacey bought 10 acres in Muskegon, Michigan. In 2006, Timberwolf Furnace Co. moved into a brand new 10,000 square foot manufacturing facility. This will be the home of Timberwolf Furnace Co. for years to come.
The success of Timberwolf Furnace Co. can be credited to a family owned and operated business, dedicated, hard working employees, and most of all, a great product that is extremely affordable.