Office Furniture Manufacturer Wins Industry Appreciation Award
Studio TK an award-winning designer and manufacturer of contemporary office furnishings is the recipient of this month’s Industry Appreciation Award. Johnston County Commissioners honored the 65-employee company at their meeting held on Monday.
“Johnston County’s success as a destination for foreign direct investment and jobs extends beyond bio-pharma,” said Jeff Carver, chairman of the board of commissioners. “The global dimension to our economy includes to the design and production of award-winning office furnishings at Studio TK.”
Studio TK is a division of Teknion, the privately-held Canadian company headquartered in Toronto. The firm arrived here in 2012, taking over a 55,000-square-foot building on US70 between Clayton and Smithfield once owned by Girsberger, a Swiss furniture manufacturer that had operated there for the prior 30 years.
Studio TK and Teknion have invested heavily in upgrades and improvements to the building in the last five years. They have also grown their local workforce from an initial 12 employees to 65, working closely with Johnston Community College on training needs.
“Studio TK and Teknion have made a commitment to Johnston County that has resulted in job growth and new investment,” Chairman Carver said. “We are very grateful for the company’s role in bringing an exciting element of diversification to our community and manufacturing economy.”
The company’s facility recently became ISO 14001 certified, an environmental management system that measures and improves environmental impact. Recent improvements to its facility include replacing 55 skylights and the installation of LED lighting. “It’s very sustainable,” says Charlie Bell, president of Studio TK.
Bell, a graduate of Clayton High School, worked in the furniture industry in Hickory prior to returning to Johnston County to join Teknion. “This was like coming home for me,” Bell says. “And today’s honor from the county commissioners, in addition to being an acknowledgement for the company, was very meaningful to me personally. We appreciate the support and collaboration with Johnston County and are excited about our future here.”
Studio TK designs and manufactures products that are helping transform today’s workplace – from spaces that enable individual focus to those facilitating creative collaboration. Among the numerous industry awards the company has received were two given at NeoCon 2017 in June in Chicago. Sponsored by Interior Design magazine, the awards honor leadership and innovation in commercial interiors. Studio TK’s work also has a global reach. It is, for example, a licensee of B&B Italia SpA, the prominent Italian furniture maker. “We do final upholstery for their product here in Clayton,” Bell says. “This is the only facility outside of Italy that does that.”
The Johnston County Economic Development Office (JCEDO) facilitates value-added interaction between government, education and the private sector in encouraging and promoting job creation and economic investment in Johnston County. A unit of county government, JCEDO collaborates with local, regional and statewide partners and allies in providing confidential location assistance to businesses and technical support to the county’s 11 municipalities.
