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Business Spotlight: J.H. & C.S. Odell, Pipe Organ Builders

Started by KB7DQH, May 09, 2012, 05:43:16 PM

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KB7DQH

http://easthaddam.patch.com/articles/business-spotlight-j-h-c-s-odell-pipe-organ-builders

QuoteThe Vitals

Business name:  J.H. & C.S. Odell, Pipe Organ Builders

Owner: Edward Odell 

Business Address: PO Box 405, East Haddam CT 06423

Hours of Operation:  8 a.m. to 5 p.m., M-F

Phone: 860-365-8233

Webpage/Facebook/Twitter: odellorgans.com | facebook.com/odellorgans | Twitter: @odellorgans

Founding Date: 1859

QuoteFor over a century and a half, the Odell family has been building and restoring pipe organs. Edward Odell, owner of J.H. & C.S. Odell, Pipe Organ Builders, says "don't mind those who dwell on what can't be accomplished. People think of a business such as mine and often say the words 'dying art.' I believe the opposite is true."

Odell feels that organ building is a living art "because I consistently see people being touched by it, being drawn to it and appreciating its transcendent qualities."

In today's economic climate, Odell keeps his business going by "keeping an eye on costs without compromising quality." He refers to the old anecdote: "Mind your pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves."

Most important though, he says, "is to make sure the work we are doing in the present is the absolute best we are capable of. That, more than anything else, is what brings in new business."

We talked to Odell to learn a bit more about his business, this is what he said.

Going into business for yourself is incredibly hard. What made you take the leap?

This is actually a somewhat complicated question for me, because my family's business was originally established in 1859 in New York City. My family's firm built over 500 pipe organs in a factory on West 42nd Street in Manhattan between 1859 and 1927. However, by the time I was old enough to take over in the mid 1990s, the company had not built any new instruments in more than 30 years and was primarily doing maintenance.

One has to understand that in the postwar era the pipe organ business changed dramatically. There was a tremendous resurgence of interest in early music, historical styles of organbuilding and the development in skilled restoration of late 19th  and early 20th century organs. Many older firms were either adapting to the changing professional climate or losing business to others. Some never caught up, and by the late 1970s J.H. & C.S. Odell was among them.

Watching this decline, reorienting the family business and building new pipe organs was a dream of mine from an early age. After college I made a decision to develop outside experience working for another organbuilding firm, which was the reason I moved to Connecticut in 1995.

I took an entry-level position with a major national builder in Hartford and spent 7 years developing skills and experience before setting up my own shop at the end of 2002. At the time it was a fairly terrifying prospect; I had leased about 1,000 square feet in an old mill building in East Hampton, had no employees and just enough work to keep the lights on for the first year or so. I put a tremendous amount of effort into building the business up to where it is now.  80 hour work weeks and long periods on the road were common. Early profits were always put into expansion or reinvestment in order to grow the business.

Why did you start your business locally?

It simply made sense at the time; I was already living in central Connecticut. I truly enjoy living in a small town and it was a bonus for me that local commercial space was affordable. Thanks to Melissa Ziobron -- who I had the good fortune to work with as Chairman of the East Haddam EDC -- I learned of the availability of the building we are in now on Falls Road in Moodus. After 8 years on Summit Street in East Hampton we moved in last summer and are finally settling in and getting caught up. Overall it's a much better facility and location for us.

How long did it take to go from idea to first customer?

I actually started with a small amount of work under contract when I began.  One of the difficulties in organ building is that the bidding/acquisition process can sometimes take years. That and the process is almost entirely dependent on existing relationships. We do advertise in certain trade journals, but most of our business comes from professional referrals.

What do you find the most rewarding about what you do?

Working out solutions to design challenges – especially with new pipe organs -- is always something I relish, but by far what I find most rewarding is the opportunity to make a meaningful, uplifting impact in the lives in the religious communities we get to work with.

In the business we like to say that careful pipe organ restoration is the 'honor of joyful work.' Approached with an attitude of respect, the restoration process affords us the opportunity to explore and learn things about older methods of our craft in details we would likely not discover otherwise.  It is deeply rewarding and can be endlessly fascinating.

When people think of your business, what sets you apart from others?

Something that sets us apart from most people's everyday experience is that we make or restore things by hand in a trade where most of the basic techniques are hundreds of years old.  Some of the skills are very basic, but others are very complex and can only be developed over long periods of time by working alongside experienced mentors. 

Unfortunately there is no official school for pipe organ building (at least not right now, there are curriculums developing at colleges in Oklahoma and Rochester, NY), but the range of required knowledge is very broad: organ building involves woodworking, metallurgy, architectural design, mechanical and electrical engineering, musical theory, music history, understanding of musical liturgy and traditions, historical preservation practice and -- of course -- the basics of business ownership and operation.

I and others do a great deal of volunteer work on the Education Committee of the American Institute of Organbuilders so that our members have opportunities for professional enrichment, but some of these things can only be learned the hard way. Incidentally, I carry what is known as the Colleague Certification (CAIO) from the American Institute of Organbuilders. In order to attain that certification, I had to take examinations and demonstrate proficiency in all those areas of knowledge.

Something else that makes us unique is that this year we were invited to join the Associated Pipe Organ Builders of America. APOBA is a select group of organ builders who uphold stringent construction principles.

This is an important milestone for us, because it confers recognition of our work from people who know: our peers. Overall there are less than 33 member firms in North America and we are the only APOBA member firm in Connecticut. Also, APOBA is currently engaging in some new initiatives and we're excited to be involved in that.

What's the biggest challenge you face in your business today?

Educating our clients is critical. Most people have no idea what goes on behind the scenes and how large and complex the instrument is. We live in a culture where durable goods are things made to last a few years. Pipe organs, when built and maintained well, last for centuries. Most people need time to acclimate to the time scale and the scope of cost we work in.

Where would you like your business to be in five years?

Someone asked me this recently and what surprised me was that I didn't have a ready answer. Now I would say that I hope to be finishing an installation of a new mechanical action pipe organ at a major metropolitan church.

Eric
KB7DQH
The objective is to reach human immortality—that is, to create things which are necessary to mankind, necessary to the purpose of the existence of mankind, and which have become the fruit that drives the creation of a higher state of mankind than ever existed before."