In Bucovina, with well-crafted wood, cherry cakes and an unscheduled off road

From Suceava Humoreni can be reached in 20 minutes .... if you take the right way! We took the way the GPS told us, but it seems that it doesn't know what's going on in the area.🙂 We left the DN17, the road connecting Moldova to Ardeal and entered a county road. After a few kilometers of somewhat good road, with a few potholes and many cracks, the asphalt ran out and we found ourselves in front of a water filled pothole the width of the road.

Convinced that it was just a fluke, we went around the trees on the side of the road and continued on. Big mistake! Before long we ended up in the hills where the road was washed out by tractors. I repeat, for anyone who wasn't paying attention 🙂 We were on a county road, "sent" there by GPS. When the slate ridges started scratching the "belly" of the car we stopped, not knowing what to do. I admit I had 10 seconds of panic, being convinced we were staying there, especially since the road was deserted. I could just see myself getting out to push the car, knee-deep in mud and splattered and in my eyes from the rear wheels.

As luck would have it, we were downhill and after the moment of panic had passed, I let the car slide through the ruts. The courage also came from the fact that a car had appeared in the back that seemed to know where it was and why it was there. We slowly made our way to the bottom of the hill and then into Humoreni. We were to find out later that there was another, much better road, but the GPS thought it would be quicker. It was quite a traumatizing experience, but the meeting that followed made us not sorry that we had made it there.

Meeting Mihai Constantinescu and his father

The Constantinescu family works in solid wood and produces gazebos, terraces, balustrades, paneling. They have decorated restaurants and cafes in Suceava, done various works in Iași, Cluj and Bucharest, made garden furniture which they have sent to Vienna and Frankfurt or small church furniture for Romanian communities in Italy and Portugal, where most of the young people from the village have gone. They work well and word is spreading and bringing them new customers.

Having safely escaped the off road adventure, we met Mihai Constantinescu who was waiting for us in front of the workshop gate. He is 37 and has a relaxed, friendly face, all smiles. After the experience we were not exactly cheerful, but it quickly passed and his good mood overtook us. That's Mihai, he smiles all the time, even when he says less pleasant things. It's very hard not to like him, even impossible.

We entered the workshop, not very large, but well divided into areas of activity. It has a machining area, a finishing area - totally separate from the other areas - and an assembly and packaging area. The separation of where varnishes and paints are applied allows him to achieve very high quality finishes.

Before long, Mihai's father showed up, the man who started all this woodworking. He's as friendly as Mihai, so it wasn't hard to start the stories.

The "way" to the wood

Mihai majored in public administration, but came to woodworking thanks to his father, who has been working with wood for as long as he can remember. In the past, his father worked at a carpentry workshop in Cacica, which belonged to IFET Suceava. He left there and set up a family association, working various wooden objects for people in the village and the surrounding area.

Mihai was a customs commissioner in Siret and in 2008, because he didn't agree with some things there, he left with his wife to Germany. He worked in a restaurant and earned money, but he didn't really like Germany and dreamed of going back home. When his wife got pregnant he decided to return.

That was in January 2011. As soon as he came back he turned the company into a sole proprietorship and started woodworking with his father. People discouraged him, telling him he wouldn't make it. It was just after the recession and demand had dropped sharply. But he didn't give up and the results started to show because he was doing well and the word started to spread. In 2016, he switched from sole proprietorship to an LLC and that's how it came about Wood Art Bucovina.

The Start-Up Nation project, born out of a barbecue discussion

In 2017, in June, at a barbecue with friends, she learned about Start-Up Nation. One of them encouraged him to do the project. He decided to apply for woodworking machinery and started to make the application. He did almost everything himself, without a consultant. Only his friend helped him with the financial side of the project. He supported him until the end. In 3 weeks everything was ready, with a 25-page business plan, offers for machinery and a new company - Holț Art Design - with 2 employees. He submitted the file (95 points) online, and in September came the approval for €44,000, also online. He borrowed the difference up to €50,000, the cost of all 4 woodworking machines in the project, from friends. But now the hard work was starting.

After the approval he had to go 3 times to Iasi, to AIPPIMM, to sign the financing contract and 2 more trips for the 2 additional acts, one for the bank from which he took the bridge loan and another for the extension of the deadline (there had been postponements and the project was to be launched in 2018). Then he went to the Guarantee Fund and Counter Guarantee. He had heard there were high expectations for the Counter Guarantee. One day he called to ask what was going on, but the lady there was busy and said she would call back.

"She made the mistake of calling me on my personal cell phone. From then on I called her every day to ask if it was approved. After a month she gave me the okay to get rid of me. I got rid of her faster than most. Some even waited three months," she laughs.

The loan was approved in February and by August, when the bridge loan closed, he had to pay the interest to the bank out of his own pocket. That's why he rushed to get the machinery, changing the supplier from the original project.

Wood IQ machines.

He thought about finding a supplier who had them in stock. He went to Brasov, but found only two of them. On the way back, he decided to stop by Dan Pruteanu in Comănești. He had known him for some time and asked him for a quotation for the other two woodworking machines in the project, a 4-sided machining machine and a calibrating machine. Initially he wanted to bring them himself, directly from Germany, but he said to see the offer Wood IQ. She was good and after doing all the math, she chose to go with Dan. It was the best option so he wouldn't lose the warranty, and transportation and installation would be left to him Wood IQ. There was no point in getting unnecessarily complicated.

They weren't in stock, but they arrived pretty quickly. In May they arrived and immediately Dan Pruteanu scheduled the installation visit. Everything was taken care of in a day. They arrived in the morning (Dan with 2 colleagues) and by the evening the machines were in place, with the tests done, ready to work.

"They are serious people you can recommend to others. Dan is the kind of man who inspires confidence and you gain courage after talking to him about machinery. About 2-3 weeks after commissioning I called him. I knew it was his birthday and I wanted to tell him Happy Birthday! He couldn't believe it! He told me that he was dreaming of this moment, when the phone call would not have a technical subject, but he didn't think it would happen until he retired."

He is satisfied with both the machines and the cooperation. The 4-sided machining machine is very robust, has 4 adjustable spindles and a chrome-plated work table. The calibrating machine is Italian and has a patented system for the oscillating system. The equipment has proven to be very reliable and easy to adjust. Those interested in more details on the machines can enter here.

Closing the bridging loan

Because he changed the machinery supplier I had to go to Iasi again for clarification. Nobody is forcing him to take the machines from the first supplier, because in the Start-Up Nation case you make the award yourself. They just had to be the same type of woodworking machines. He didn't rely on knowledge or other means and the fact that he did the project himself was helpful.

"I honestly tell you, I put my hand on my heart, I didn't give anything to anyone, I didn't have a coffee with anyone. I walked and talked. When it was with the award minutes I sat there for 3 hours. I answered until they didn't know what to ask me".

In the end they found everything was in order and transferred the money. The bridge loan was closed in August 2018.

It could take more work, but labor is an issue

Now they have work until September already. The problem is lack of skilled labor. There are 4 of them and they could always hire someone, but they can't find people.

Mihai is very resourceful, intelligent and eager to find solutions, but not desperate to succeed at any cost. He also wants to do other things (for example, grow 1 hectare of raspberries), but without the stress.

In addition to the wooden objects they make entirely, they also recondition old furniture. Mihai has a friend who brings second-hand furniture from Germany, very cheap and good. He refurbishes it, if necessary makes other pieces to complete the set and sells it.

From small pieces of wood left over from other jobs he makes variously stained and antiqued cladding panels, which he sells on eMag. He also sells pinewood armchairs for patios and gardens and mirror frames decorated with Lichtenberg process (high-voltage electrical burning of wood).

The orders come in all the time, from people referred by satisfied customers or on Facebook. In a very short time you will also have website and they will certainly come from there. It's not a lack of work, it's a lack of people. What's more, they need skilled and responsible people, because they make quality things and they don't want to disappoint customers. Unfortunately, the vast majority of young people in the village are out in the world, with little hope of ever returning.

In the gazebo in the courtyard

We chatted a lot with Mihai and his father and even though we were expected in Vatra Dornei, we didn't give up. From the workshop we went out to the gazebo in the courtyard (still under construction) where a wonderful cherry cake made by Mihai's wife was waiting for us (thank you again, ma'am!). We went on to talk about relatives gone all over the world, about the neighbor who lived in the UK for 20 years, married a Welsh woman there and came back with her, although he can still take jobs there. His wife, who has fallen irretrievably in love with Romania and doesn't want to go back, won't let him. Her father, who visits for two months in the summer, spends hours in the garden listening to the crickets.

We talked about woods, about the beauty of pear wood and wicker wood, and I was amazed to learn (I admit, I didn't know) that walnut wood is of two kinds, female and male. Woman's walnut is much lighter in color, similar to chestnut. The rustic kitchen furniture in the gazebo is made from such wood.

We also talked about the hardships, the investments made in that place we bought in 2012, the loans taken out with banks or relatives, all of which have been paid back. About plans to invest in a knife sharpening machine to stop wasting precious time, about refusing to work PAL even though they have an old knife-sharpening machine brought from France.

It was almost dark when we parted. We left behind friends we would dearly like to see again. Serious, hard-working and clever people, whom we are glad we had the chance to know. We left with cakes "to have on the road" and with a handmade towel made by Mihai's grandmother, who at 80 years of age recently celebrated (Happy birthday, grandma!), still sews traditional shirts. Bucovina is so beautiful!