Wanek Receives AHFA Distinguished Service Award

November 17, 2015  by in Industry, Special Events   

Wanek was just five years old when his father Ron Wanek joined with a group of investors and formed Arcadia Furniture Corp. in 1970. He began developing his manufacturing acumen in the mid-1980s, working in all aspects of the business throughout high school and college, including product design and engineering, production, machine maintenance, shipping, global sourcing and finance. 

By the time he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technologies, the family business was firmly established as Ashley Furniture and was already rapidly expanding its Asian operations. Wanek lived and worked in Asia from 1989 to 1993, establishing and managing Ashley’s business development in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia. He returned to the United States in 1994 and assumed responsibility for Ashley’s upholstery production, as well as the company’s growing international operations.

He was “relentless in his approach to making the business bigger, better and faster,” said Farooq Kathwari, chairman, president and CEO of Ethan Allen, in presenting the Distinguished Service Award, noting that Wanek served as “coach and mentor to thousands of (Ashley) employees and suppliers throughout the world.”

Through his leadership and vision, Wanek has been responsible for Ashley’s sustained growth since succeeding his father as CEO in 2002. He possesses “incomparable drive, passion, perseverance, dedication to detail and discipline,” Kathwari said, also pointing out Wanek’s admiration for W. Edwards Deming, the American industrial engineer best known for helping Japanese industry rise from the ashes of war in the 1950s to become the second most powerful economy in the world.

Today, 30 million pieces of Ashley furniture are delivered to homes in 123 countries annually. The company employs more than 23,000 workers in 13 locations and has 13 million square feet of manufacturing capacity. It supports some 9,000 U.S. vendors and contributes an estimated $2 billion to the U.S. economy in employee payroll and benefits, purchases and capital investments, taxes and utility expenses. 

In the midst of this success, Wanek recognizes that “to whom much is given, much is required,” Kathwari said. Wanek’s philanthropy includes support of healthcare research. He has been recognized as a Lead Advocate of Innovative Medical Research by the Mayo Clinic. He also received the City of Hope’s Spirit of Life Award in 2006. Additional interests include programs that support neighborhoods where his employees reside, as well as schools, children, disaster relief, environmental preservation and cultural growth. 

AHFA’s Distinguished Service Award has been presented annually for the past 49 years. Recipients are selected for their contributions to the home furnishings industry, to the AHFA and to their local communities.