Copeland Furniture Weighs In on Obamacare Delay
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Copeland Furniture uses asymetrical dovetail on drawers.
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Computer assisted sizing of lumber at Copeland Furniture.
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Double tenoner in operation at Copeland Furniture.
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Gluing up panels at Copeland Furniture.
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Copeland Furniture planer
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Copeland Furniture stores of cherry and maple, harvested locally.
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Placing in the pulls.
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Routech CNC operation at Copeland Furniture.
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Wide-belt sanding operation at Copeland Furniture.
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Copeland Furniture Berkley coffee table. Copeland uses FSC certified wood, including some harvested locally.
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Copeland Furniture employees manufacture heirloom furniture intended for generations. See how they do it.

  Copeland Furniture, a 95-employee manufacturer in Bradford, VT, already provides health insurance to its employees. So do 91% of employers with 50-199 workers, according to the Kaiser Foundation.

So on Monday, when the Obama administration postponed a requirement for companies with more than 50 employees to offer health care, it did not immediately impact Tim Copeland's business.

But the delay in Obamacare "is delaying the ultimate for another 12 months," Copeland told the Wall St. Journal today. Companies his size were given a one year reprieve on having to insure employees, but Copeland Furniture already does so.

The family-owned and -operated business got its start making cider presses in the 1970s, moved into  butcher-block kitchen furniture and Adirondack-style porch furniture, gradually changing from a one-man operation in an old garage to a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility using a combination of leading-edge computer technology and traditional craftsman technique. Its beautiful designs are a unique take on Arts & Crafts, Mission, Shaker, and Scandinavian movements.

What is impacting Copeland Furniture is the rising cost of insurance premiums. . .Copeland Furniture saw a 30% spike in 2012. Tim Copeland told the Journal he may consider eliminating company insurance and begin covering his employees through the Vermont state insurance exchange - if benefits and coverage were comparable to their current program.

Paul Downs Cabinetmakers related his insurance in transition story. I suspect there are hundreds if not thousands of wood manufacturing firms affected by the changes in insurance. Let me know about yours. 

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