Rooted in Craftsmanship: Oakwood Veneer Celebrates 40 Years in Business
The Oakwood Team Continues to Grow
Oakwood Veneer turns 40! Celebrate our growth with us!
TROY, MI, UNITED STATES, January 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The year was 1986. Ronald Reagan was president. Everyone was watching The Cosby Show, “Top Gun” was the top movie, and Peter Rodgers, now the CEO and president of Oakwood Veneer Company, was still in the kitchen refacing business. He had been buying flexible wood veneer sheets in bulk for his refacing company use. A friendly and talkative guy, he soon started selling extra veneer sheets to his amicable competitors.
It didn’t take long for Rodgers to realize that what he really knew -- and enjoyed – was the woodworking industry, specifically wood veneer. That’s when he started purchasing wood veneer sheets in even larger quantities.
“We had semi-trucks pulling up to the side door of our house, the drivers absolutely put out that there was no loading dock,” says Denise Rodgers, Rodgers’ wife and currently the financial manager of the company.
“We’d placed ads in woodworking trade magazines, and I would get calls while making dinner with two small boys and a cocker spaniel at my heels. It wasn’t easy.”
It’s forty years later and the older “boy,” Ted Rodgers, is now the general manager, overseeing more than thirty-five employees in the warehouse, production, and front office. Ted and Denise both came into the company in 2010 and never left.
Since Oakwood Veneer’s beginning at their home where they still live, the company has moved first to a 3000 square foot facility in Clawson, Michigan, then to a 14,000 square foot building in Berkley, and then in 2007 to their current location in Troy, Michigan of 44,000 square feet.
Always growing and improving, Oakwood Veneer is on contract to expand their current building another 10,000-plus square feet to accommodate the need for increased manufacturing and warehousing.
“From the beginning, my dad’s plan was to provide the best quality veneer in the quickest way possible, whether the customer wanted one sheet or 100,” says general manager Ted Rodgers.
From 1986 till 2007, Oakwood kept increasing the wood species that were in stock and available for immediate shipping. At press time, Oakwood Veneer offers over 400 types of flexible wood veneer, ten times more than nearly any competitor, says Rodgers.
Oakwood boasts a spectacular selection of wood species available in multiple sizes, cuts, and backers. A quick look at their front showroom can be breathtaking for the wood aficionado. It is something like a wood veneer museum.
In 2007, Peter Rodgers bought machinery to start manufacturing veneer sheets in-house. “It was great to control the quality and improved timing we needed for our customers.”
“In 2010, when I came into the business, we were transitioning to accommodating special orders, which is now an even greater part of the business,” says general manager Ted Rodgers.
What is the mission of Oakwood Veneer? “We want our company to be the place where customers are treated the old-fashioned way. We like to think of ourselves as our customers’ off-site veneer department.”
What is the future of Oakwood Veneer? The past and current building plans would indicate that the company will continue to expand and grow, serving the woodworking industry and beyond. According to Peter Rodgers, “Forty years is just the beginning.”
Elizabeth McComas
Oakwood Veneer
+1 248-720-0288
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