PPB May 2020

How did your company get its start? My brother and I started Tuckahoe Hardwoods out of an old farmhouse in 2003. The company is named after the river we grew up on, outside of Cordova on the eastern shore of Maryland. We started out working with wood flooring and moved from there into custom wood furniture and home décor. We now own and operate a warehouse and showroom in Easton and a furniture shop in Indonesia, where I spend a lot of my time in new product design and production oversight. What led your company to enter the promotional products market? I started making some live-edge cutting boards a number of years ago out of leftover pieces from the big live-edge dining tables we make, mostly as gifts for friends and family. A few of my friends are chefs and they asked me to make them for their restaurants. I went to a small trade show with the boards on a whim, and met a guy there who told me he thought my boards would be great for promotional products, as he had never seen anything like them for the price I was selling them for. He told me the biggest and best show was the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. I decided to try the biggest show first to see if we were fit for the industry, and we have had great success with our products as promotional items since then. What’s your favorite thing about being in the promotional products industry? I like the design challenges that promotional products offer. Now, when I am designing or thinking about a new product, I not only incorporate the form and function of the product into an organic-feeling natural work of art, but I also consider how this can be used in a promotional sense. For example, when making our new bowls, I had to consider how we would engrave on them or use them in a promotional way. But my favorite thing about the promotional product industry has to be the company brands we have gotten to engrave on our boards. From Chevrolet to The Grand Ole Opry, we have done boards for some really cool companies already in just our short time being in the industry. Why did you join PPAI? I joined PPAI after finding such success at the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. After having attended a few other shows, I have found that show to be leaps and bounds beyond the others in almost every aspect—quality of the exhibitors, quality of the attendees, sheer size, you name it. The PPAI Expo in Vegas is the place where you can find out if you belong in the business. NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT George Dent Co-Owner Tuckahoe Hardwoods Easton, Maryland PPAI 738995, S3 | MAY 2020 | 87 CONNECT