By ERIC W. NORRIS, Hays Daily News
PLAINVILLE — “Crescit Eundo,” the Latin phrase meaning “it grows as it goes,” best describes the Dessin Fournir Co. that grew out of the Kansas plains all the way to the oceans. The style, flair and tenacious business skill Dessin Fournir employs has attracted quite a lot of attention to the big company in a little town.
Some of that attention came from Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who toured Dessin Fournir companies owned by Chuck Comeau in Plainville on Wednesday.
Comeau's business, though home-based in Plainville, touches both coasts with innovative furniture designs and interior decorations. The flair that Comeau gives his productions has received national attention. Dessin Fournir has repeatedly been recognized for competing in a national and international business environment.
This year, Dessin Fournir was selected as a finalist for the Governor's Award of Excellence, the highest honor a business can receive in the state. The award goes to a business the reflects Kansas values and contributes economically to the quality of life in its community.
Though Dessin Fournir did not win the award, it was honored even to have been considered.
Comeau extended an invitation to the governor last year for a tour of his company whenever she had some time when back in this part of the state. Sebelius was in the area for a Wednesday evening fund-raiser for Democratic Sen. Janis Lee at C.S. Post and Co. in Hays.
“It is one thing to hear about a company in a sterile environment such as an awards ceremony,” Sebelius said. “It is another to experience the atmosphere of a place first-hand, especially after hearing so much about it.”
The tour of the Dessin Fournir Co. included Classic Cloth, a high-end quality fabric and textile distributor, and the Palmer Hargrave prototype shop that designs and fabricates lighting fixtures.
“Chuck is a role model for other people with great ideas who are looking to open up new businesses or move their business to rural Kansas,” Sebelius said.
“We create products for basically 1 percent of the population who, subsequently, control 44 percent of the wealth in the country,” Comeau said.
He credits this success with a little bit of luck and a tremendous amount of marketing.
Sebelius said that she was struck by not only the quality of the Dessin Fournir productions but also by the overall concept Comeau employs in the buildings housing his businesses.
Instead of building complete new structures to house his companies, Comeau has taken a recycled approach. Stripping existing buildings back to their original structures, Comeau relies on the history of a building and its industrial look to create a contemporary style and unique personality for every space he uses.
“When you begin a renovation project,” Comeau told the governor, “you never know what you might find. It is a process of discovery.”
Comeau said uncovering the original form of a structure adds to the process of creating an outstanding space.
“The way that he has made use of his buildings is very inventive,” Sebelius said. “It embodies the idea of revitalization.”
Comeau also is applying this approach in the Chestnut Street District in downtown Hays.
Comeau also told Sebelius the same attitude applies to his business philosophy.
“People generally underestimate this state,” Comeau said. “Rural Kansas offers invaluable resources that are not readily available elsewhere.”
Comeau said that it is the people who run the business that make it what it is and nowhere can a business find finer people than in Kansas. Employees create the personality of his companies.
“After that,” Comeau said, “it is a matter of marketing. With technology as it is, all you really need is a computer screen and you can work from anywhere.”
“All of the people you met,” Comeau told Sebelius at the conclusion of the tour, “they make it happen.”
Reporter Eric Norris can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 143, or by e-mail at enorris@dailynews.net.