T-Squared employees hard at work. The company was Commerce Chenango's Manufacturer of the Year in 2019. (Submitted photo)

OXFORD – This week, Commerce Chenango would like to highlight T-Squared Custom Millwork, a small business located in Oxford that specializes in custom casework, cabinets, countertops, and interior trim work.

Recognized by Commerce Chenango as Manufacturer of the Year award in 2019, T-Squared is an award-winning business that makes valuable contributions to the local community, here in Chenango County and beyond.

T-squared has done work in various places in New York, as well as surrounding East Coast states such as Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

T-Squared Custom Millwork was formed in 2010 after Tracy Tarbell, who recently passed away, bought TER Cabinet Work. Tracy and his wife Tamara owned the business and worked together for nearly 13 years. Now, Tamara Tarbell is the sole owner and is looking forward to bringing Bryan Tarbell on as a co-owner.

The location on 127 Russel Lane in Oxford contains a main workshop/office and a newly constructed storage building. The building contains 3,456 square feet of storage space for large panels of wood and other materials T-Squared needs to hone their craft. This addition affords them extra space in the main shop area to bring in a CNC machine, which Tamara described as a high-tech replacement for a traditional panel saw.

“Over the years as computers get better and more complex, it becomes easier to use them than to do it yourself. With the CNC Machine, we will be able to send the design to the computer, have one of our employees load a (wood) panel into the machine, and it will be able to do complicated designs that we were never able to do on a panel saw. It’s just a step above and beyond.”

Tamara is excited to have this piece of machinery in house soon and is looking forward to the new possibilities it opens for the rest of this year. As far as next year, she hopes to hire a couple more employees in the wood shop and to help man this new machine.

With five office staff and 8-10 shop workers, this small business provides services within a large price range. According to Tamara, the shop will take on projects of a few hundred dollars, from replacing a cabinet in Chenango Memorial Hospital or local office buildings, to nearly half a million-dollar projects. A recent project T-Squared took on was about $35k, the MADE Market area of the Hilton DoubleTree in Binghamton.

Tamara enjoys being a business owner in a small community where there is more space to do things, such as build a new storage building, and less competition. She is glad that the company has many local allies, including frequent customers and fellow craftsmen that she can outsource to. Tamara said that she likes the local help.

“Aside from our workers, one of our most important resources is the help we get from local businesses,” she said. “There are some local guys we partner with, some just up the road, that will help us with sourcing countertops or stainless steel. It’s nice to have local businesses that can work for you.”

Not only does T-Squared conduct business that stimulates the local economy, but they give back to their community as well. Tamara cites her business’ propensity to give back via donations and said that they like to give when they are asked. They participate in the community by donating to non-profits like Chenango Memorial Hospital, and events like the Canoe Regatta in Bainbridge. T-Squared has provided winners plaques for the annual community event. T-Squared is a valued member of Commerce Chenango.

To learn more about T-Squared or to inquire about employment, the shop is open 6 AM-3PM and the office is open for customers from 8AM-5PM. Stop in or contact Tamara at tamarat@t2millwork.com or call at (607) 843-2442.

Visit their website at https://t2millwork.com/ to see photos of their impressive projects.