Page 16 - April_2014

“One of the nice things about being
SUNAPEE, N.H. — Cortland Begor in a high school is I can go to each person
grew up with what he calls a “business
mindset,” selling lemonade and manag- who is good in a certain subject,” he says.
ing an online bookstore on eBay. He says “If it’s marketing or outsourcing, these
are all things that I need to learn.”
his entrepreneurship comes from his fam- As a way to master the basics of en-
ily.
“I always grew up with that kind trepreneurship, Begor meets twice a week
of discussion around the dining room with the academy’s CFO as part of an in-
table,” he says. “As I grew older, it was dependent study Begor designed himself.
It’s a one-on-one course that covers every-
something I aspired to and wanted to fol- thing from marketing strategy to produc-
low, but in my own way.”
That way has turned into a business tion and distribution.
manufacturing wooden lacrosse sticks.
“It’s my favorite block out of the
day,” he says. “I try and finish as much
Begor, 19, has been making ash la- homework as possible in my classes be-
crosse sticks in his family’s woodworking
shop since he was in junior high school, fore I go home and do TimberStix home-
and playing the sport since he can remem- work,”
Begor says he puts two hours of
ber. Today, he’s the owner and sole em- work into his company every day in ad-
ployee of TimberStix, a line of handmade
wooden lacrosse sticks that he says are dition to juggling a full schedule of class-
the next evolution in stick design.
es and, during winter, training for the
As a high school senior, playing at- school’s ski team.
“There’s a lot that I want to get
tack on Proctor (NH) Academy’s varsity done each day that I have to put off for
squad, he’s earned recognition not only Proctor student launches
for his performance on the field, but for the next day,” he says. “But I enjoy it.”
the lacrosse sticks he manufactures and His cell phone routinely rings with
lacrosse stick venture
calls from manufacturers, product am-
sells.
bassadors and clients while he’s in AP sta-
Growing up, he and his brothers
made their own lacrosse sticks in the fam- tistics or on the ski slope training for F.I.S
ily woodshop of their second home in By Evan Johnson super-g races.
Many people, he says, are surprised
Sunapee, N.H. Once they perfected their Photos by Cortland Begor
that a high school student is filling and
design, they started to use the handcraft-
ed sticks in games. When friends noticed shipping their orders.
the sticks and wanted to use them as well, “A lot of the people that call don’t
Begor saw an opportunity.
even know I’m in high school,” he says.
“Most people are really excited about a
Last spring, he increased produc- high school student starting a company
tion and packed a duffle bag with 50
sticks and brought them to a training and trying to make it big,” he says. “Be-
camp where recruiters from colleges look cause that’s ultimately what I’m trying to
do. I’m not trying to be a stagnant com-
for promising players. He sold them for pany.”
$37.99 each, and left at the end of the
week having turned a profit as well as Begor also calls industry profession-
gained attention from the recruiters.
als and the heads of companies for their
“People couldn’t get enough of advice.
This summer, he’ll be going back to
them,” he says.
the recruiting camps, but this time as a
When he first started out manu-
facturing the sticks in earnest, he had full-time vendor. When he heads to col-
straightforward goals: “I wanted to cre- lege in the fall, when he hopes to play
college lacrosse and major in business, he
ate the best possible lacrosse shaft, some- intends to outsource production to small
thing that was flexible and tougher than
the generic metal and composite lacrosse woodshops in Vermont or New Hamp-
shafts. Being a woodworker, I knew I shire while monitoring production from
college. The goal, he says, is to increase
could make a high-performance wooden supply and push into retail. With online
shaft just the way I wanted it and with my
own unique branding. That’s just what I and personal sales, he’s sold about 500
did.”
sticks and donated a portion of his profits
Today, Begor still keeps the hand- to One Percent for the Planet, a nonprofit
that connects funds with environmental
crafted process during manufacturing, preservation efforts.
but he’s stepped up production in the
woodshops at home and high school. For a high school student, Begor be replaced almost every year, he says. tages from the players’ perspective, Begor
When he was just making sticks for him- says, he’s off to a good start. Even though
he manages all phases of production and By comparison, he’s played on Proctor says. “A TimberStix shaft is light, versa-
self and a handful of friends, crafting a sales, he still catches himself saying “we” Academy’s lacrosse team using one of his tile and provides a menacing blow — all
single stick took 15 minutes. Begor now handmade sticks for three years. During characteristics of the highest performance
produces large batches of 100 or more when he talks about plans for TimberStix that time he’s only broken one.
shafts on the market. While many think
beginning by selecting ash from a local — as if he already has his own team and
one day it’ll be a bigger business, but that “I’ve worked tirelessly to create a superior of a wooden lacrosse shaft as purely a
lumberyard. He mills and sands every will have to wait for another day.
product,” he said in his business outline. novelty item, it is truly one of the highest
piece to regulation length and width be- “After testing various local woods, I se- performance shafts on the market.”
fore branding them with a hand-forged “There’s definitely a lot of knowl- lected ash, which is a wood that routinely
brand and applying three coats of Danish edge that’s aiding me in how I manage lends its strength and lightness to furni- more to leArN
oil with a light sanding between coats.
and run the company, but it’s just me —
doing the phone calls, the production, ture and baseball bats. Ash is also local to Being young, Begor recognizes he has a
The result, according to Begor, is packaging and shipping.”
New Hampshire and our ash is harvested lot to learn in the world of business. For-
a more durable stick with more torque. locally and processed sustainably.”
tunately, he says, he gets plenty of support
Composite or aluminum sticks have to
The wooden shaft also has advan-
from the faculty at his high school.

16 Vtsports.com
April 2014