By Paul Post
John Haller never eases into anything.
Fresh out of RPI, he co-founded MapInfo, a tech-based company that quickly grew to 1,000 employees, went public and is now a division of Pitney-Bowes. Then he launched SportsSignUp, an online firm designed to help groups create, grow and manage youth sports programs. It was purchased by Time Inc. and is now called Sports Illustrated Play.
But upon moving to Saratoga Springs, Haller purchased a grand old Victorian home on Union Avenue, and while helping out with renovations he discovered a brand new passion for woodworking.
Leaving software development behind, he’s made an 180-degree about face by jumping into a more blue collar, hands-on type venture called Saratoga Joinery. Plans call for converting the former Saratoga Children’s Museum at 69 Caroline St., which he purchased for $2 million, into a full-scale community woodworking shop for people to gather, learn about this activity and work on projects of their own.
Much like tech development, Haller said woodworking involves great deal of creative problem solving, just the kind of challenge he enjoys tackling.
“In the end, with software, you have something that works, a program,” he said. “What’s cool with woodworking is that you have something you can actually show people they can understand, like a piece of furniture, something you built. You get to use your hands, feel things, smell things. I find that really super.”
If all goes according to plan, the nonprofit firm will open early next year, but it won’t be easy because converting a former museum into a machine shop is no easy task. Electrical systems must be upgraded to support large equipment and there are also strict requirements for dust collection and air quality.
“We have to come up with plans to meet code, submit them to the city and get them approved,” Haller said. “We’re at the mercy of so many people right now.”
The first floor will house a machine shop where people can use a table saw, planer, drill press and joiner. Then they’ll go upstairs to work on projects in a bench shop, with 12 to 15 individual stations.
“The equipment is very important,” he said. “The better and sharper the equipment is, the safer it is to use and the better your product comes out.”
Haller plans to hire full-time safety staff to monitor activity at all times, so no one is ever working alone.
Last winter, he took a three-month class at the renowned Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine, which allowed him to see how a first-class shop operates.
“It was amazing,” Haller said. “We showed up at 8:30 a.m. and stayed till 6:30 p.m. There was class work and shop time. Teachers roamed around and helped us out. That total immersion was really neat. I got to see what happens when you put people with a common interest together. It’s so much more than a YouTube video. It’s interactive, you’re getting feedback. You get to see what other people are doing. It was really great and I made a lot of friends.”
“I also got to see how a shop works with 12 people using it at the same time,” he said. “How to keep things safe; how to prevent bottlenecks when everybody wants to use a table saw.”
The Caroline Street location provides easy, walkable access to downtown, which he hopes will help integrate the Joinery into Saratoga’s arts community. He also sees possible synergies between the shop and the large Northeastern Woodworkers Association Showcase and Fine Woodworking Show, held each year in March at the Saratoga City Center.
Haller has actually created two different entities to get the enterprise up and running. One is called 69 Caroline LLC, which owns the building. Saratoga Joinery is a separate nonprofit firm, which will run the operation.
In essence, Haller is fronting costs during the venture’s early stages, with hopes that it will eventually be self-sustaining.
“We’re trying to give it the best chance of success by not having the burden of massive rent,” he said. “I’m buying the building and making it available for free to the non-profit until it gets some legs under it and can pay some rent. We need memberships. It’s going to take time before we get enough revenue to pay all the salaries, electricity and overhead.”
“I’ve had good business fortunes over the years,” he said. “It’s what I want to try to do for the community. So we’re giving it infusion to get it up and running properly. It’s going to be a neat place with great equipment. But at some point it’s got to make enough money to pay for its own expenses.”
Haller also envisions the shop as a place where woodworkers join forces on projects to benefit the community, such as park benches. His wife, Michelle, works for an Albany-based nonprofit called The Red Bookshelf, a literacy program that provides free children’s books on bright red bookshelves to ensure that all kids can own a book, regardless of income level.
Possibly, local companies will provide funding to buy lumber for such projects while the Joinery covers the expense of actual production, he said.
Whether building a birdhouse or nice furniture, Haller simply wants to provide a place where others can experience the joy of woodworking he’s found.
“I never thought of myself as artistic or creative, but everybody is,” he said. “It’s fun to be in an environment where you can express that. While up in Maine, away from my normal demands of home, I learned that I do have patience, that I can sand something for six hours because I’ve got nothing else to do. I was never willing to devote that amount of time to things before.
“Just like any hobby you get into, the more you dig into woodworking the more fascinating it gets in terms of wood grain and techniques for joining things. There are different magazines, lots of videos. There’s so much information and neat tools. It’s really just fun to learn more and push yourself.”