Lunenburg Men Make Easy-To-Assemble Desks To Meet Remote Learning Demand
LUNENBURG (CBS) - Joshua Vicente and Cody Davis of Innovative Integration and We Create Cool Things do a little bit of everything - custom fabrication, design, graphics, audio, video and lighting.
"All our stuff is custom design, custom made. It's nothing you can buy off the shelves. We've done the sets for the Patriots, when you see all the haze and lights going crazy we did all that. We're kind of the go-to guys for something that needs to get done," Vicente told WBZ-TV.
At the beginning of September, Vicente and Davis' extended family reached out to them for help creating a home office.
"They said 'We can't get a desk anywhere,'" Vicente explained.
"No one has a desk or an office for their six-year-old, it's something that's unique to the times," Davis added.
The duo got to work on a heavy duty, Baltic Birch desk with lap joints, no hardware required. The desk can be put together, or taken apart, in under a minute.
"Parents don't want to deal with instructions, pieces everywhere, trying to screw together a desk. They can just put it together in a few seconds and it's done," Vicente said.
"My favorite thing is the size. It's not too big, not too small. It's really nice for my son to have a place to keep materials on top of the desk and inside the desk. Down the road if we return to in-person learning we can simply take the desk apart and put it under his bed and we can take it out later in life," Marilyn Robichaud, a 7th grade teacher & mom told WBZ-TV.
Only expecting to make about 25, Vicente and Davis have now built 150 desks with new orders coming in every day.
"I don't think I realized how important it was for other parents. They're excited that it comes apart and now I'm emotionally involved. That's when I knew it was important. A lot of people actually bring their children when they come and they go home and have a paint party. We've seen pink desks and blue ones so you can customize it to make your children feel like this is their space and their desk," Vicente said.
The "Jody Desk," named for both Josh and Cody, is standard height and fits both children and adults. A matching chair with an adjustable seat height was debuted this week.
"It feels a little bit like a hopeless time. You have folks who are trying to do their best day-to-day and so anything that can make that a little easier has been really rewarding with this project," Davis said.
The desk and a matching adjustable height chair cost $189.
Desks can be purchased and shipped online or picked up in person at the Innovate Integration shop at 954 Chase Road in Lunenburg.