We were lucky to catch up with Brent Schwanbeck recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brent, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

As a woodworker, I was drawn to the idea of using some of our local Texas timber to build furniture. I found it difficult finding a local source for local timber, and ended up driving out to a small sawmill in east Texas where I purchased a truck bed full of local oak from Texas trees. As I was half way through my long trip home driving through road construction, I noticed a tractor pushing over beautiful mature oak trees into a large burn pile! To that company, these stately Texas oaks were waste that needed to disappear. I saw a different purpose in sustainably sourcing these local trees that are being removed and giving them new life by preserving their beauty and producing slabs and furniture out of them. I have always had an appreciation for our Texas trees, and was surprised to find out that most of our trees end up in the landfill or mulched. Our goal since then has been to craft exceptional furniture out of these trees, as well as be a provider of local hardwoods to any other woodworkers with the same goal.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Urban Timber Harvest was founded out of a desire for beautiful furniture to be built out of our local trees. There are a lot of reasons why a tree might need to be removed, and we wanted to be a source to preserve that beauty in a lasting way through furniture. We partner with local arborists in the North Texas area to harvest trees being removed and transport them to our sawmill facility in Fort Worth. From there we mill them into live edge slabs and kiln dry them until they are ready for furniture production. We then do retail sales of our live edge slabs to the public, or we produce furniture out of them for our clients. We also offer sawmill and kiln drying services for local woodworkers. One of our favorite things we do is harvest a tree from someone yard with the final goal of and producing furniture that returns to its original and rightful home. This creates a true “Tree To Table”‘ experience that is sure to spark a sentimental story for all that sit down for a meal.

We truly are proud as a company that we have been able to foster relationships with so many local woodworkers that now make furniture from our local trees. We are also very proud that we have been able to build furniture out of Texas trees for many local establishments throughout the DFW in our local restaurants, hotels, country clubs, hospitals, etc. We also ship our furniture nationwide. We pride ourselves in being able to tackle technical and difficult projects that may even incorporate other materials such as metal work, plastics, resins, and even lighting.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe there are two keys things that have contributed to our growth as a company. First, my co-founder and I, we truly enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and to serve them. If you are a woodworker, we love to talk shop, share ideas, and provide local hardwoods. If you are a designer, home owner, or business owner, we love to talk design and bring your concepts and ideas to life. Secondly, our commitment to detail and quality craftsmanship has lead to many repeat clients and referrals. We take pride in producing furniture that lasts much longer than the manufactured furniture that is common today and we consider ourselves students of quality woodworking and design.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The first two years of our company survived on not much more that a dream. We started in a small backyard shop and slowly acculmilated needed equipment. It was two years of paying ourselves just enough to scrape by, relying heavily on our personal savings. While it was difficult, we KNEW it would be worth it because we 100% believed in our dream and what we would be able to accomplish. We have grown a lot since those early days and I would certainly attribute it to those early days of sacrifice and hard work while staying focused on our long term goals.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.urbantimberharvest.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urbantimberharvest/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbantimberharvest/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/urban-timber-harvest
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpOhtQRUsQJxlPWl80OyiYw

Image Credits
Cory Hale