A best-kept secret

No one would ever suspect that back a muddy unmarked road off Coal Hill Road there lies what could be one of Steubenville's best-kept secrets.

A hard left then a hard right leads to a tiny house next to another small building, both of which cry for an exterior makeover if not demolition. Nearby is a newer pole barn-type building, green and 200 feet long.

But there are no signs to suggest to the first-time visitor that there's anything here other than three unrelated structures back a road that could stand some asphalt at best, some gravel at least.

Inside, however, people are creating, designing and producing for customers all over the country.

This is all home to a thriving, flourishing small business that began out of no particular plan and continues to evolve as Nelson Woodcraft and Catholic to the Max, a division of it.

Thirty-seven-year-old Mark Nelson is the chief executive officer of this business founded in 1994 that predominantly produces on the premises religious objects relevant to the Catholic faith that he and his 15 to 18 employees embrace.

"We've gone from a basic woodworking company into manufacturing on many different levels," Nelson says as he sits in his office with friend and co-worker Kevin Jordan, vice president of operations. Nelson's older brother Mike also is involved in the business as vice president of production and is known as the television show "Macgyver" of the "Nelson creative group."

It's been a busy year, in particular the spring when the company landed the contract to be the official merchandiser for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Washington, D.C., part of the holy father's apostolic journey to the United States April 15-20.

"We found out about a week after Easter that we got the contract, so we had about two weeks to produce about 200,000 items," Nelson recalled of what was an especially busy period involving much to do in not much time.

"We had to make it happen," Nelson said of the Archdiocese of Washington's last-minute decision to use their services after the Archdiocese of New York had opted not to.

It was on these business premises off Coal Hill Road where 20,000 assorted T-shirts were made with a folding machine purchased from eBay, rebuilt and tweaked to facilitate their folding - 1,100 of them an hour.

The business also made 6,000 plaques and thousands of key chains, coffee mugs and post cards.

"We were the official merchandiser so we sold over the Internet through mail order for the Archdiocese of D.C. We sold at the stadium (the new Nationals Park in D.C. where Mass was celebrated.)" It was attended by an estimated 58,000 people.

It was also Nelson's company that did much of the graphic work for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic Church in the United States and North America.

"We helped them produce a 70-foot tall banner that hung on the bell tower of the basilica, and we also created products for the basilica and handled all the retail sales outside during the actual visit," Nelson said.

"From what we can gather, we were chosen because of the quality and content of our products. It wasn't just a souvenir. It was encouraging people to have a deeper respect for the holy father, to pray for the holy father or for a deeper love of Christ through the Catholic Church, so it wasn't just a souvenir to take home," Nelson said.

Jordan said the company created a Web site from scratch in less than a week "and we don't know anything about making Web sites. That's the kind of challenges we had. We had a war room downstairs with maps and things. You'd have thought we were going to battle. We're a small company to handle something like that," Jordan added.

But Nelson doesn't single all that out as "the" highlight the business has experienced since its humble beginnings of selling its religious products to its then lone customer, the Franciscan University of Steubenville bookstore, and doing custom woodworking for different needs on campus such as altars, kneelers and podiums.

There have been others.

There was the 2004 release of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." "We supplied the Catholic market with products for the movie," Nelson said.

"When Pope John Paul passed away, we had more products in our warehouse than anywhere else in the country, and with the outpouring of love from Catholics for John Paul and the desire to have something to remember him by, we were able to provide that," Nelson said.

Pope Benedict's election brought contracts for pictures and holy cards.

Nelson admits surprise in how the business has evolved and grown but doesn't dwell on it.

"We are what we are. We're trying to feed our families and evangelize and trying to use the gifts God has given us and what we know to do. When I started this, I thought I'd work for myself and have more time to spend with the family and more time to do missionary work," he said of an effort that has involved its share of sweat and blood.

Today, 10 percent of the business is Internet sales, the rest is wholesale to customers running the gamut from Eternal World Television Network to Christian bookstores.

"I'm a woodworker by learning, but woodworking is now 30 percent of our business, apparel is another 30 percent and gift imprinting is another 30 percent," Nelson said. "If I had only stayed simply making San Damiano crucifixes, I would not have stayed in business today. You have to be open to evolving. The secret is to not keep a closed mind, to have an open mind about expansion."

That it has.

The business offers a line of framed art for the Catholic and Christian market; does digital publishing and printing for Catholic companies and universities all over the country; works with the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., selling to their gift stores and doing framing for them; and has developed a line of equestrian products for the Kentucky Derby Museum. The business is working on products for the U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton.

Then there's the plaque work, coffee mugs, ornaments, T-shirts and apparel, key chains, dog tags, refrigerator magnets, cutouts, large posters, banners, kneelers, altars, podiums, kitchen cabinets and commercial cabinetry.

His goal is to "provide traditional imagery in contemporary settings. We're molding contemporary gift items to encourage a deeper devotion to faith," Nelson said, noting the idea is to consider other markets without compromising core values.

But ironically, a mention of the sister businesses likely wouldn't be greeted locally with a sense of familiarity.

"Unless you go to the university bookstore, you won't see much of our products here, but we're all over the country. You say Catholic to the Max in Catholic circles, they'll be wearing our products," he said.

The business could have more of a visible public presence in Steubenville as it attempts to emerge from its turtle shell and expand into the former Lincoln Elementary School. A move of all its operations and state-of-the-art equipment there also would include a showroom for custom framing and a retail outlet which doesn't exist at the current facilities.

"We've outgrown where we are," he said.

So far the city Planning and Zoning Commission has formally accepted Nelson's request to rezone the property to a general commercial and industrial district. A public hearing on the request is scheduled Dec. 5.

Nelson is a native of Kansas City, Mo., living there until he was a high school sophomore. He and his siblings and parents, Dave and Mary Nelson, moved to West Virginia to do mission work. They moved to Steubenville in 1987, and Nelson graduated from Catholic Central High School two years later.

By then his interest in woodworking had taken root, self taught in carpentry like his father, who worked at the university, retiring this past June as groundskeeper.

"Basically in high school I was making crafts in my dad's basement. I sold wooden dinosaurs, puzzles, locker shelves and crafts, and when Bishop (Albert) Ottenweller was installed as bishop, I went around and collected all of the programs afterwards and cut out all the pictures of Pope John Paul and pasted them on plaques and sold those to Franciscan University's bookstore," he said.

Nelson briefly attended classes there to study business but quit, his heart more into missionary work.

It was through that effort when he met his wife Gretchen. They married in 1992, and Nelson's job search led him to do the only thing he knew to do - woodworking. "I basically started making more religious pictures, frame art," Nelson said, apologizing for his story being involved and drawn out.

The house they initially lived in is now the business' office headquarters with the other two buildings devoted to the production end.

As the business has expanded so has the Nelson family - seven children, the eldest 14, the youngest 1.

"All I wanted to do was work and have a family," Nelson notes. "I'm doing what my dream was."

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)