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Lou Irion founded Irion Company in 1977 after working in his father's cabinetmaking shop for a year or so. He was soon joined by Chris Arato, a college friend, and together the two built the business over a next 15 years. Arato left in 1992 and opened a small shop of his own in Maine, but he is still a presence at Irion, recalled by everyone I spoke to as a master at the bench and an inspiring mentor. When the two pitched their lots together, neither one had much experience in woodworking or business. "We set out to survive," Irion said. "There was no grand plan. If we'd had one, we would have failed miserably." Their survival strategy was to take any work they could get. At the beginning, that meant mostly furniture repair, refinishing and restoration. As the company grew, they built more furniture, but restoration and repair remained the engine of the business.

That was a lucky thing, according to Monn, because in addition to paying the freight, that work also paid the tuition. "Dealers would bring in this great stuff, and everyone would be all over it. We'd see great pieces and great ideas every day, and that's absolutely the way to learn. You see the real stuff, and you see it the right way - you're not looking at somebody's interpretation." Perhaps because the company's founders discovered firsthand that passion and not prior experience was the key to success, they've fostered an atmosphere of learning. Irion has rarely hired fully trained cabinetmakers. "For some reason, we seem to do best with people who learn most of what they know with us," Irion said. The learning occurs off the job as well as on. If an employee wants to make something for himself, Irion gives him lumber and free run of the shop after hours. A number of Irion employees said that's how they got from one level to another. "As we see you can do something effectively," Monn said, "you'll get to do it for the shop. Then you have to do it cost-effectively, and you get a raise."