Eastwood Office Maintenance
Owner: Elwood Garner
Lending Partner: First Citizens
Location: Rocky Point (Pender County)
Project: Construction of a 7,200 sq ft. warehouse
Community Impact: Veteran-owned, rural area, four new jobs created
Company Mission: Affordable, quality furniture installations
When a big storm in 2005 dumped $8,000 worth of water damage that insurance didn’t cover on Elwood Garner’s furniture inventory, he decided it was time to make a move. His furniture and equipment installation business, Eastwood Office Maintenance (EOMC), had been needing more room to grow so Elwood saw this unfortunate event as an opportunity to find a new space sooner than later.
Elwood’s banker, First Citizen’s Greg Neel, presented him with the option to use the SBA 504 Loan Program to finance the construction of a nearby 7,200-square foot warehouse with an office. The 504 program’s low, fixed rate and requirement of only 10 percent down made the decision easy, and they brought Self-Help into the loop.
“First Citizens and Self-Help were excellent to work with,” said Garner. “The process went like clockwork.”
Furniture stores outsource their installation services to EOMC, which Elwood founded in 1994 in Rocky Point. The company delivers and installs office furniture and equipment– like panels, seats and workstations— for mainly small, independent businesses. The company grew nearly 300 percent in 2007 alone. It also serves big professional customers like the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Cape Fear Community College, New Hanover Regional Medical Center and many others.
Elwood, a Vietnam Veteran who served in the Navy for eight years and trained with the U.S. Navy Seals, prides himself in leading a company focused on customer service. In fact, since opening its doors, EOMC has lost only one customer – and that was due to price.
Prior to starting his company, Elwood had been receiving, delivering and installing furniture for 15 years for various partners of the Indoff Corporation in Wilmington. He was formerly a project installation manager for Carswell Business Systems and worked for Interior Systems. After being laid off there, he founded EOMC. Now, many of his former employers are Elwood’s customers.
“I love to work and I love turning a profit,” says Elwood.
EOMC has five employees and serves customers throughout the Southeast, from Myrtle Beach to Morehead City to Raleigh. The largest concentration of clients is in nearby New Hanover and Pender counties. Business continues to pick up. Elwood just finished serving a government-owned marine center in Morehead City and plans to start on large job in Whiteville for Southeastern Community College. Elwood has plans to expand by building mini-warehouses behind his current building to lease out to other businesses.
