HNI’s Gunlocke office furniture expands production; adds jobs
gunlocke-furniture.jpg

WAYLAND, N.Y. – Gunlocke, an HNI-owned manufacturer of high-end office furniture, will expand production at its facility in Wayland, New York. The expansion has the potential to create 110 new full-time jobs.

With the expansion comes new leadership. Gunlocke president Don Mead, after 17 years with Gunlocke’s parent company HNI Corp. – nine of which were spent leading Gunlocke – will retire April 7. Kris Yates, who previously served as Allsteel’s vice president of sales, will succeed Mead. Allsteel is also owned by HNI.

“Gunlocke has had a notable evolution over the past few years, and I know that our members, under Kris’ leadership, will continue to move the company forward,” Mead said. “I’m honored to have been a part of this tremendous organization for nearly two decades and am eager to watch its continued success in the future. Gunlocke is in great hands with Kris at the helm.”

Mead was previously a Wood Industry Market Leader. 

“Don Mead set a standard of leadership excellence for Gunlocke,” Yates said. “I look forward to carrying on this outstanding legacy of service with our members, dealers, architects, designers and end users. We have much to look forward to both imminently and down the road. It’s an exciting time for Gunlocke.”

HNI Corp. saw $2.2 billion in revenue in 2016. The company is the eighth largest firm on the 2016 FDMC 300, the annual listing of the largest North American wood manufacturing firms.

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Profile picture for user rdalheim
About the author
Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].