Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Burns.
Hi Kris, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in the piney woods of Southeast Texas and moved to Austin in 1997 to study Environmental Science. While in school I became enamored with native plants and trees, and worked a couple of years at Zilker Botanical Gardens. I later became an Americorps volunteer where I learned how to build houses from the ground up. I was then hired as an instructor at American Youthworks(a charter high school), instructing young people in homebuilding.
My interests were brought together when I started learning woodworking. I began with trim carpentry, cabinetry, and millwork but realized my passions were in the finer details of furniture. I took a couple of furniture classes at ACC while I continued to work as a professional woodworker. In 2012, I started working for Michael Yates Design as a fine furniture maker and later became shop manager. In 2013, I was awarded a fellowship at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. There I explored my own work and furniture designs. I taught woodworking for a few years at The Contemporary Austin and currently teach woodworking at Austin School of Furniture.
Currently, I am the co-owner of Harvest Lumber Co in Austin, Texas. My business partner, Andrew Danziger, and I started Harvest Lumber as a response to a valuable resource not being used to its highest potential. At Harvest Lumber, it is our mission to give new purpose to Austin logs that would normally be burned or thrown into the wood chipper. We harvest locally felled (cut or fallen down) trees, mill them, dry them and sell the lumber to be used for all kinds of woodworking projects by contractors, woodworkers, homeowners, and DIYers.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not necessarily. As a small business owner, the beginning of COVID was scary. We lost a few months of production but managed to make it through. We had lots of new customers coming in, stuck at home during the pandemic, that had new woodworking projects in mind.
It can be challenging to make a self-funded small business work. We definitely fall under the bootstrap category. Luckily we have had steady growth since we began in 2017, and we have a great location in East Austin. We are looking forward to new growth as the city grows and more people become interested in woodworking.
We’ve been impressed with Harvest Lumber Co, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Working with arborists, tree companies and the City of Austin’s Urban Forestry department, we collect the trunks and logs of downed trees. Back at Harvest Lumber Co, the logs are milled into various thicknesses, stacked to air dry for 3 to 12 months, then moved to the kiln for 3 to 6 weeks. Once completely dry, the lumber is sorted and moved to our lumberyard and showroom where customers are invited to shop.
Harvest Lumber is different than other lumber retailers in that we take a local resource that would otherwise be chipped up and turn it into high-quality lumber. Every month we have a new and interesting wood species that you might have never seen or heard of come into our showroom.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
As mentioned earlier, we are growing steadily. We are adding a second kiln next month, so we will be doubling our production. We are also adding some new equipment that will greatly increase our material processing. We hope to keep up with this rapidly growing city!
Contact Info:
- Email: info@harvestlumberco.com
- Website: https://www.harvestlumberco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harvestlumberco/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiQu9qk_SpcFGCVFgin7jUg
