Economy's not all doom and gloom for Hudson entrepreneur

It’s no secret that times are tough and the local economy is struggling, but if you look in the right places you’ll find some local companies flourishing in these tough times.

One example is Carolina Base-Pac.

It’s a pallet-making company headquartered in Hudson and owned by Newton native Weidner Abernethy.

Abernethy, 45, bought Carolina Base-Pac about 11 years ago.

“It was a small company when I bought it,” Abernethy said. “It had 17 employees. It now has 41. We run two shifts.”

Carolina Base-Pac gets 13 to 15 tractor trailer loads of raw lumber delivered each week and turns all of it into pallets.

“We own our own trucks. We have two drivers, and we keep them busy 5½ days a week,” Abernethy said.

Carolina Base-Pac’s niche is custom orders and short production runs.

“If it’s made out of wood and nails – we’ll build it,” Abernethy said. “The customization of what we do here has kept our business strong during this economy.”

The company builds pallets for a wide variety of clients including the auto industry, furniture companies and the U.S. military.

Abernethy takes pride in the wooden crates he’s been contracted to build, so rugged that they can be dropped out of a helicopter and survive the impact.

The company’s motto is “Whatever it takes.” As Carolina Base-Pac’s sole sales representative, Abernethy takes the motto seriously and he’s focused on quick production and high quality.

While he’s out in the field making sales in a 200-mile radius from the plant, he counts on his employees to produce work that conforms to his standards.

“Our employees are the backbone of our company,” he said. “We have awesome teamwork at the plant.”

Abernethy wasn’t born into the pallet business. He went the long way to get where he is.

After Abernethy graduated from Newton-Conover High School, he attended Lees-McRae College then transferred to Catawba College. He studied business and marketing and graduated in 1989.

He played tennis in college, but gave it up when he finished school. Golf became his sport when he began his sales career with Klingspor, a company that specializes in industrial abrasives.

He rose though the ranks to become a regional sales manager. When the company started up an automotive division, Abernethy became the division’s sales manager.

The company’s owner, Christoph Klingspor, became a mentor for Abernethy. When it was time for a change, he supported Abernethy’s decision.

“I asked a lot of questions. He encouraged me to start my own business,” he said. “He has been and still is my mentor.”

Going from a career in sales for an established company to owning his own company was a leap of faith.

“I just wanted to do something on my own. I wanted to have control of my own destiny,” Abernethy said. “Knowing other successful business leaders, I’ve seen the challenges that they have been faced with and I was eager to try out my own entrepreneurship.”

It was a big risk that paid off well, not just for Abernethy and his family, but for his employees and their families.