Owl Furniture Receives Grant Funding

STONINGTON, ME (Jan. 6, 2020) — Owl Furniture, an ergonomic furniture company in Stonington, Maine, was awarded $15,000 in grant funding from the Maine Technology Institute in late-November. Maine Technology Institute (MTI), based out of Brunswick, ME, offers grants, loans, equity investments, and services to support Maine’s innovation economy.

Owl Furniture has created ergonomic furniture from sustainably harvested hardwood for over ten years and is looking to reach a broader audience in their next decade of business. This grant is the third that Owl Furniture has received from MTI, but the first in a plan to release their next furniture offering, the “ErgoPro Owl.” The innovative idea will use post-consumer plastic and an injection-mold process to create their patented seat, a more efficient manufacturing technique than the made-by-hand, wood seats they currently sell. “This project combines my passion for ergonomic solutions, with my growing concern for our environment,” says Geoffrey Warner, owner and designer of Owl Furniture. “For years, I’ve been working on a way to market the Owl stool’s revolutionary ergonomics to more customers at an affordable price point, by means of a scalable business model.” Warner has found a partner in G&G Products, Inc., based in Kennebunk, Maine, who can utilize CNC machining to produce the mold and recycled seats. The ErgoPro seat will be on an adjustable pedestal base. Warner intends to offer the ErgoPro on a stackable base in the future.

The signature “postural support holes” in the seats of Owl Furniture promote active sitting posture and core strengthening. The design creates a neutral position for the pelvis that supports healthy spinal alignment and is endorsed by leading health practitioners. Warner hopes that the ErgoPro will help bring active sitting solutions to the masses, from schools to libraries, and offices. Owl Furniture plans to bring the commercial, wholesale product to market in 2020. They will continue to design their handmade, wooden line of Owl Furniture from their Stonington studio.

ABOUT OWL FURNITURE AND THE DESIGNER: Owl Furniture is a furniture design/build studio located in the scenic fishing village of Stonington, Maine. Using innovative design and skilled craftsmanship, Owl creates furniture that is beautiful, durable, and ergonomic from sustainably harvested American hardwoods. Founder, Geoffrey Warner, studied furniture design at the Rhode Island School of Design under Danish master Tage Frid. Originally inspired by Scandinavian and Eastern influences, Warner’s designs have evolved over four decades. He continues to seek new design challenges while being “inspired by the edge, where craftsmanship and technology meet and create beauty.”