Conference Faculty

Sean Benetin

Sean Benetin is the founder and President of Millwork & More, LLC, a custom cabinet and millwork company serving one of the wealthiest residential and historic restoration markets in the NJ/NY metro area. He has dedicated his life to woodworking, starting his career path at the age of 14 in 1984. In 1996 he founded his company which is currently operating out of a 6,500-square-foot facility in New Jersey since purchasing it in 2001. Over the last six years he has completely stopped working in the shop and has focused all his experience and energy on refining his business operation to run without him. Sean is also currently President of the Cabinet Makers Association and enjoys sharing knowledge and networking with colleagues in the CMA.

Don Diamond

Don Diamond has been involved in the woodworking software arena for 20 years, starting as a sales representative for Cabinet Vision. He now works as a sales manager for the eastern U.S. sales team for Planit and as sales consultant for the southern half of the state of Florida. Don also owned and operated a successful woodworking company for 17 years in South Florida with a factory direct sales outlet showroom and two company-owned retail stores in the Miami-Dade area. Products included interior and exterior residential doors, custom cabinetry, architectural millwork, fixtures, lifestyle furniture and wood window treatments.

Jeffrey Ebel

Jeff Ebel is the founder and past president of Ebel Woodworking, Inc., an architectural woodworking company located in Scandinavia, Wisconsin. He has been in the woodworking and furniture industry for over 35 years and started Ebel Woodworking in 1989. After selling Ebel Woodworking in May of 2007, he took an eleven month sabbatical, working part time as a consultant and volunteering for a variety of non-profit organizations. As a volunteer, Jeff is active in the AWI, Architectural Woodwork Institute, serving a second two year term as a member of the development council, assists the Chapter Development Committee with leadership training, and recently completed a two year term as President of the Wisconsin Chapter of the AWI.

Dave Grulke

Dave Grulke, Big Dave's Service, has over 20 years of experience in advertising sales and sales management in print, direct mail and broadcast media. During that time, he rehabbed dozens of residential properties and opened his residential general contracting business in 2002. Having learned site built cabinetry and finish carpentry installations as college summer jobs over 30 years ago, he developed his business to specialize in turn key custom kitchens, baths and home offices. He currently serves on the CMA board of directors.

Joe Knobbe

Joe Knobbe is Senior Project Manager of Exclusive Woodworking, a Chicago-area manufacturer of high-end cabinetry and millwork. Joe has been Senior Project Manager for the $5 million plus company for more than 15 years. He has been instrumental in helping the company grow over the years and broaden its reach by finding and nurturing relationships in the design community. He has many years of experience in finding the people who best fit the business model Exclusive Woodworking promotes and has developed a knack for keeping and growing those relationships.

Helen Kuhl

Helen Kuhl has been an editor with Vance Publishing Corp. of Lincolnshire, IL, and now holds the title of editorial director. She was the founding editor of CLOSETS magazine and was the first editor-in-chief of Custom Woodworking Business. She is a member of the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals Board of Directors and plays an active role in woodworking education with the Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers, the Architectural Woodwork Institute and WoodLINKS USA.

Eric Lehmann

A family man, a businessman, a cabinetmaker and a general contractor are just a few of the many hats that Eric C. Lehmann wears from day to day. Eric has been in the cabinet business since 1975, beginning at the youthful age of 15. In 1985, he opened his own cabinet business in a three-car garage and has never looked back. Today his custom cabinet company Innovative Wholesaler Fabrications LLC operates out of a computerized facility. Eric's involvement with the Cabinet Makers Association is that of an educator. He presents powerful, motivational seminars that regularly draw exceptionally high evaluation scores. His goal is to force attendees to his programs to reevaluate their business practices from the office to the shop.

Scott Norris

Scott Norris is a Certified Solutions Provider for Planit Solutions. Norris worked in the industry for Closet Works for six and a half years, managing the IT and CADD department from 1999-2005. As a consultant for Planit Solutions from 2006-present, he has had a leading hand in the development of the Cabinet Vision Closet Module.

Richard Oedel

Richard Oedel has been working wood since he was a teenager, but only professionally in the past eight years. He is a graduate of the North Bennet Street School, interned with Jere Osgood and John LaGattuta (FW148), and moved his shop from Salem, Massachusetts to Boston, where he shares a new 5,000 sq ft space with the other six members of Fort Point Cabinetmakers. His work is sold and exhibited nationally. Federal furniture is one of his specialties. Before his furniture making career, he was president and CEO of Spir-it Inc, a manufacturer of customized food service disposables (think McDonald's coffee stirrers, which the company invented) and partner at a small venture capital partnership in Boston. He is currently on the board of the several businesses and educational institutions in the Boston area.

Tim Woolery

Tim is Vice President and Manager of Product Development for Gemini Coatings, where he has worked for the past 24 years. Gemini Coatings is a manufacturer of Wood Coatings primarily designed for interior wood finishes, kitchen cabinets, furniture and millwork. Tim has served many roles with Gemini including: industrial coating sales for 11 years, Technical Director for five years, Vice President of Direct Sales for six years and now in his current roles.