Building Stairs Is A Fun
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Building Stairs Is A Fun

Building Stairs Is A Fun Business For local Company

by Scott A. Sumner
Thunder Bay Business
     When you think about the stairs we climb each day, I will now remember local company Tangent Stair Manufacturing Inc.Owner Sam Pollari  started  the company in 1991, after being in the  house building business. “ I was asked to do stairs for a couple of  house builders and  started doing that in my garage at home. Soon we  got more and more volume and eventually Beaver Lumber asked me to  build stairs for them. Then I moved to a bigger building and 
that’s how we started,” said Sam Pollari. “ I have an  engineering background and an apptitude for this type of work. I  went to  Confederation College and  the University of  Western  
Ontario taking engineering but found I liked the practical aspect of  working with my hands. It is very therapeutic. Sometimes it gets a  little overwhelming when I have so much work but I enjoy coming in  every day.”

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    Tangent Stair Manufacturing is currently bidding projects in Virginia , Winnipeg  and Regina and has completed work in   California  and  Florida, every state in the US according to 
Pollari.  “ Local Contactors such as Bruno’s Contracting like our  prices so we go to the house, measure it and build the stairs. I  liken it to trusses when before they did the roof on site and now  they use trusses. Working on the stairs in my shop is a better  environment for the end product,” noted Pollari.  “ There are no  other stair companies between Winnipeg and Toronto and the North Pole  and Minneapolis. We are it. Going back 5 years 70 % of our work was 
US when the dollar was low but things have changed.  I have a web  site and get calls from all over the world. Last year we were looking  at a large job in China in which I was going to partner with a Ottawa  company.”
     “ It is fun to come to the shop and produce the work. I was  more administrative for while but am now getting back in touch with  wood. Spending some quality time wood you might say. It doesn’t talk  back to you,” smiles Pollari. The company has some unique equipment like the vacuum press which works on atmospheric pressure. It pulls  the air out so you get 15 psi x 144 per square foot. You can apply a  finish that way to a plywood. Sometimes Tangent can just ship the  stairs to their clients and other times  has to go to the site to assemble everything.
     “ I like it here in Thunder Bay.  My family is here and  we  have loyal customers. There are many opportunities popping up  right  now,” said Pollari who is working about 78 to 80 hours per week and  will cut back to 50 to 60 when more staff is hired.“ I like to golf. My buddies kidnapped from the shop a while ago  and put me in a black car to Strathcona for  my first time ever  golfing and I loved it. The next day was at Whitewater which was  beyond me.
    Pollari informed me of  newly accepted bids in western Canada and  the US. This Thunder Bay company is growing.



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