Blake Lackey’s coworkers have described him as upbeat, courteous, and a “genuinely kind and conscientious young man.” Unsurprisingly, Blake—a product engineering technician at Ethan Allen’s Pine Valley plant in Old Fort, North Carolina—doesn’t take himself too seriously.
The work that Blake does is an integral part of the Ethan Allen story. He says he’s a “middleman,” but his role is more complex than that. It’s his job to deconstruct a product idea and plan out its manufacture. “We take a model from the design group at our corporate headquarters and break it into manufactured pieces,” he explains. “We then create the machinery necessary to make those pieces.” Once manufactured, the furniture parts are also assembled at the plant, so Blake and his associates witness the entire process as it unfolds—“from design plan to finished piece.”
Joining the company as a furniture assembler in 2010 was an unexpected turn in Blake’s career. He had studied computer networking in school and had worked as an electronics technician. As it happened, he was soon offered the first of several promotions that brought him closer to the kind of work he loves. “After a year, I was moved into the machine room as an operator,” says Blake. “After another year, I became the lead person for the operators.” Three years into the lead job, Blake took on more CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machines as a programmer, and now, he is a key player in the engineering/design operation.
One of his favorite responsibilities is training others. “When you’re working with someone, it can take a while for them to catch on,” says Blake, “but I love it when they have that ‘aha moment’ and really get it. It makes me proud to pass along know-how that someone else took the time to teach me.”
Blake, 32, grew up in Old Fort. He and Nicole, his wife of 10 years, have two children: Ava Ruby, 7, and Peyton Blake, 3. He loves to play guitar whenever he can find the time.
Over the years at Ethan Allen, Blake says he has gained a lot of respect for the “older generations of furniture makers.” He adds, “Sure, we can make complex pieces with the machines we have now—but they did it all without the technology. They are truly the skilled craftsmen, and it’s a privilege to work with them.”
Looks like his coworkers were right about the kind and courteous part!
