1 million, and still cutting
<p>Buck Knives employees with knife number 1,000,000, a Model 100 Folding Hunter. From left are Mitch Konell, Crystal Bostwick, Jeff Hubbard and Bill Keys.</p>
POST FALLS - Buck Knives is on the cutting edge this year. A million times, already.
The Post Falls factory produced knife No. 1 million of 2010 on Friday - and there are still two months left in the year.
"We're breaking records," said Phil Duckett, Buck Knives chief operating officer. "It's awesome."
He said that several years ago, the company made a commitment to produce more domestic products at its Idaho plant - and it worked.
Buck Knives added about 40 employees this year, bringing its workforce to 250 in Post Falls.
"That's a testament to our commitment to making products in America," Duckett said. "The troops on the floor have worked extremely hard to get us to these numbers."
Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin said Buck Knives has been everything he hoped when the company moved there from San Diego in 2005.
"We're very proud that they just rolled out their one millionth knife this year," Larkin said. "In a somewhat depressed economy, they're looking for a record production this year."
He said Buck Knives is a 108-year-old family operated business that "stayed the course in some pretty tough times."
"We're grateful to have them in our community," he said.
Duckett said the company worked hard and made "some tough business adjustments" in the economic slowdown to maintain its edge.
Buck usually has between $35 million and $50 million in annual sales.
"A lot of credit goes to all the employees who beared with us. We all made sacrifices," he said.
The blade of the special knife was engraved with the date, Oct. 29, 2010, and also with "1,000,000th knife."