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Utility item of the past, present and future built by local companyBy Rebecca MurphyThomas Jefferson had them, the old Bayley House in Pilot Hill still has one, and Dr. Irene Sakaishi is putting one in her Black Oak Animal Hospital addition in Georgetown. What is it? A dumbwaiter, and in the case of Dr. Irene, it is made right here in Georgetown by Powerlift Dumbwaiters, Inc.The business is by no means new. It was started by Reite family patriarch, John Reite in 1972. Two types of dumbwaiters - a patented shaft design and a frameless patent pending design - keep the coming jumping and family members in business selling 225-275 a year. Since going online in 1998, Powerlift increased their sales from three per month to more than 20 dumbwaiter orders per month.The shaft design consists of stackable units made of metal tube framing. The inside is lined with 26-guage galvanized sheet metal and backed with 1-inch insulation. Sections are stacked in place and surrounded with standard construction.The frame-only design with patent-pending requires an existing shaft at the job site lined with sheet rock and backing. Sections also are stackable."I started in Santa Cruz doing elevators and garage doors," said Reite, 78, who is originally from Oakland. "Both of my parents are originally from Norway. My granddad and dad were both contractors. I guess I'm what they call an entrepreneur."In 1957, Reite operated Santa Cruz Overhead Door, perhaps an easy segue into dumbwaiter design using similar motor and chain mechanisms. Before landing in Garden Valley in 1980, the Reite family - John and Arlene along with their four sons - moved around the state from Santa Cruz to Arnold and Castro Valley, then back to Santa Cruz. After finding Garden Valley, however, the family became stationary."When we first moved here, we had a carport (at their home on Blackberry Lane) we built sides around," said youngest son and partner in the business, David. "Then we built a garage and a barn" where the family's business began to take shape and grow, primarily by word of mouth."They were originally made of wood," said John of his Powerlift Dumbwaiters, adding that he always has a woodshop where he lives. "Everything was clamped together" and installed in one large piece.After coming up with the patented shaft idea, Powerlift began welding the pieces together, but total height - sometimes more than 16-feet - became an issue, so they came up with the idea to break it down into two-to-three or more pieces."They stack together," said John. "Anybody can put one together. The good Lord gives you ideas and you just do it."Starting out with a 1Ú2 horsepower motor, Powerlift Dumbwaiters went to a 3Ú4 horsepower increasing performance and durability. The cab or cargo-holding unit of the dumbwaiter design has been tested at 225 pounds, and they are made in various sizes for laundry, groceries and firewood, or anything else that may need moving from one floor to another in a home or business."We primarily do residential," said David, who, as the youngest son, got into the business on the ground floor. "We were doing commercial work, but that's another ball of wax. We do a lot of three-story structures" including one in Glen Falls, N.Y., where the customer was so excited about the ease of installation that he was on the phone with John a couple of times during this interview.Eventually needing more space than their small barn workshop provided, Reite moved his company from his home to the commercial area on Eaton Road in Georgetown for just a couple of years, and finally to their current home of eight acres off Georgia Slide approximately five-to-six years ago. Two 2,500 square-foot shops provide space for fabrication, painting, assembly and shipping, and another 1,500 square-foot building provides plenty of office and additional assembly space.Five family members - John, Arlene, Larry, Jim, and David - work for the company creating ideas, taking care of the books, building and welding the structures, and marketing the product. Two other employees - Wayne Gibson and Dan Weckner - round out the company, which ultimately went online in 1998."Two weeks after going online, the first one sold to a lady in Oregon," said David, who was just two years old when the company first started in 1972. He works with the electronic-end of the business as well as helping with the books and marketing."We deliver and install in Northern California from Monterey and the Bay area to Reno, Nev.," he said. "Everywhere else, we ship to" including Antarctica, Aruba, Australia, and Hawaii. The company also has contacts in various parts of the states and the world who buy from them and sell through their own businesses.Historically, a dumbwaiter was merely a small, freestanding table with several shelves that was placed by individual dinner guests. They held the food, dishes and silver needed for a meal back in the 18th Century making the attendance of servants entirely unnecessary. The industrial revolution created the mechanism for change, powering the way toward elevators, moving staircases, and yes, dumbwaiters. Today, they are a homeowners helper, providing the means of moving items from one story to the next with ease.For more information, call 333-1953, (800) 409-5438, or go online to www.dumbwaiters.com. Their motto is "It's the smart way to buy a dumbwaiter."
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