• Arts
• Business
• Computers
• Games
• Health
• Home
• Kids and Teens
• News
• Recreation
• Reference
• Regional
• Science
• Shopping
• Society
• Sports

Midwest Partnership

Midwest Partnership Development Corporation (west central Iowa) Superstition in the 19th century typically would have prevented a furniture maker from building and displaying a coffin specifically for his showroom. It seems that folks back then thought if you build one, someone would surely wind up in it. But when Robby Pederesen, the Jefferson furniture maker who adheres to the techniques, tools and finishes of the 1870s, waned a coffin for his own showroom, he did something presumably would have freaked the muttonchops right off even the most hardened veteran of Antietam. He measured himself. And you know what? Working daily in the shadow of his own coffin, Pedersen's RVP~1875 historical furniture shop is thriving. Pedersen, 43, recently signed off on his 820th career piece. "Lots of dining room tables come out of here," he explained one recent morning as a fire crackled and popped inside his hearth's shop. The shop is coming off a banner year- having produced 82 pieces and nabbing the state of Iowa's 2013 outstanding tourism business award in October- but it looks like history will repeat itself in 2014. Just 30 days into the new year, Pedersen already is only four orders away from being booked with work through Christmas. "This is the farthest out we've been," Pedersen said. That's also merely keeping with historical accuracy. In 1875, he said, the average furniture maker had a waiting list of at least six months. The first weekend in February RVP~1875 will host the first in a series of three-day workshops this years at a cost of $250 for beginners to learn about the trade. By Sunday, students will have built their own piece of furniture. Additional workshops are scheduled for March 7-9 and September 26-28. When Pedersen set up shop nearly six years ago in the old Milligan Lumber, Grain and Coal building just off the Square, conventional wisdom suggested that his business model had about as much of a chance at succeeding as an infant born on the prairie during a ch

Contact Information