By ANDREW WAREING
An online listing of project tenders is proving an invaluable tool for Thunder Bay's Tangent Stair Manufacturing with exports to the U.S. expected to expand considerably in the coming year.
Tangent Stairs is a small operation out of Thunder Bay headed by owner Sam Pollari and production manager Shawn Thomasson. The company produces about 1,000 custom wood-construction staircases in about a year. One of the most effective tools in their business is an online listing of construction tenders produced by The Contractors Register Inc. in Jefferson Valley, N.Y. called The Blue Book.
Thomasson says the Blue Book has contributed to about 35 to 40 per cent of the growth of the company's business so far. The company services many of the area's local contractors and provides between one and a handful of staircases at a time. Through contracts successfully bid through the Blue Book, Tangent Stair has been called on to provide 100 to 150 sets of stairs for entire subdivisions at one time in the U.S.
