Building a Legacy of Faith and Risk

Written By Danna Larson

Many people thought Ray Noonan was taking a risk in 1953 when he opened up a small lumberyard on some undeveloped land on the eastern edge of Cascade. 

Truth be told, perhaps the biggest risk was taken in 1947 by my mother Mary, who quit the job she took at the age of 17 as a secretary in Chicago to follow her husband, who at the time was self-employed as a Manufacturer’s Representative to small rural manufacturers. 

So, when our family is asked what the key to the success of our business was, the simple answer is faith. Ray and Mary’s priority was always their faith in God, their family, and their friends. Friends were defined as fellow employees, suppliers, and customers. 

A consummate optimist that really couldn’t know the difference between a 2x4 and a 2x8, Ray Noonan knew people. And he knew that the country was entering a post war economy boom. That fact combined with well-established farmers in the area as a customer base, he just needed to bring in people who had the technical knowledge and skills that he did not possess, and he would succeed. 

But he also knew in order to succeed his company had to be different. So, his first approach was to be a “One Stop Shop” where his customer could buy more than basic lumber, fence post, and barb wire, but hardware for the farm and home, paint, and eventually floor covering. 

Quoting Marshall Field, the great Chicago department store owner, “Give the lady what she wants,” he recognized that the housewife in most homes was often the decision maker in new homes or remodeling jobs. Radical thinking for the early 1960’s. 

Seeking to diversify and maintain the company’s carpenter crew, he initiated prebuilt wall panels and roof trusses to keep them busy during the winter and be ready to go in the spring and build homes. 

Structural components are now the standard for today’s job sites, but a new innovation in the early 1960’s. This led to the creation of what is now known as Cascade Manufacturing. 

Risk takers are good at taking risk but not always at predicting the future. A case in point was when the decision was made to expand greatly by erecting a large facility in 1980 and making a large investment in the manufacturing capability. 

This was one year before a national recession swept the country and the resulting “Farm Crisis” and forced Cascade Lumber to reexamine its future as a viable business. However that investment by the late 80's would prove to be a good one. Still there would be expansion and improvement in its retail operation as well. 

Through the 1970’s into the 1980’s Ray Sr. was joined by four sons, his daughter, and son-in-law. He never failed to stress the importance that a family business was built for future generations to pass on as well as improving the life of his fellow employees and their families.

A catastrophic fire on January 5, 1997 destroyed the truss manufacturing facility in about three hours. By then Cascade Manufacturing had become a major employer of over 100 people. There was never any doubt that the company would rebuild, and with the support of our customers, our employees, and the local city government, production returned to Cascade in less than a year. Again our faith in ourselves. as well as our Creator, was the guiding principle. 

Following up on the success of “give the customer what she wants,” an exclusive "Home Décor” store in the late 1990’s opened in neighboring Monticello, Iowa. 

Further diversifications led Cascade Manufacturing in 2000 to expand into the Commercial Construction arena with the production of light gauge steel trusses, which at the time was in its infancy. Today our facilities are the number one leading provider of structural steel components in the United States, shipping to 44 states and 7 foreign countries. 

In order to serve our markets in central Iowa, we opened our second wood manufacturing facility and rail siding location in Pleasantville, Iowa in 2005. It was a bold step to make considering the “Great Recession” would be just around the corner. While certainly not the best of times, our company survived by pulling together as friends and families need to do; trusting in each other that this too would pass. 

And it did. 

And on May 22, 2007, recalling the benefit of data storage as a crucial part of recovering from the fire of 1997, Infrastructure Technology Solutions opened in Monticello to provide IT solutions to K-12 schools and small businesses throughout Eastern Iowa. 

Our most recent expansion was opening steel truss facility in Tyler, Texas.

As of this writing our current employment has grown to 220. 

Currently there are two remaining second generation employees working at Cascade Lumber Company. But Ray and Mary would be proud to know that their faith has been rewarded as there are now six members of the third generation involved in our company.

As a note, our town's name is very much part of our brand across our customer base. 

In fact, our company is simply known as “Cascade” to our customers across the country. 

We are proud to call Cascade our home.

Danna Larson
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