Woolsey Monument Receives Small Business Award

We are honored to present the February Small Business Award to Woolsey Monument, owned and operated by Tim Woolsey.
Tim started working on headstone restorations and resetting headstones as a side business to help a small cemetery in Attica, Kansas after it was hit by a tornado. The side business continued to grow as more cemeteries needed restoration. After 10 years doing his side business, Woolsey Monument opened their Main Street store front in 2017. In the beginning, Tim was setting headstones and his mother ran the sales office. In April of 2022, they opened a second location in Wichita and expanded their production facility. In 2023, Tim and Janet officially became a husband-and-wife team, when his wife joined the business full time.

Woolsey Monument has grown significantly by bringing all the stages of headstone production in-house. To do that, Tim taught himself to run the design software, cut stencils, sandblast headstones, and all other final customizations. Making this even more incredible is when working with something as unforgiving as stone, there is no room for error as materials can add up with any mistake.

They are a family-owned business that takes great pride in supporting their customers like they would their own family, especially when the people they serve are in a very difficult time of their life. They know how important it is to deliver on the expectations of their customers. Monuments are designed to memorialize a person’s life – that’s not an easy task and not a task they take lightly.

Their competitive edge includes: offering full color renderings when a customer designs the stone, taking the time to get to know the loved one that has passed and what is important to the family to memorialize their loved one’s life.

Like many businesses, one of their biggest challenges is staffing – setting headstones is labor intensive. They currently have 5 full-time and 2 part-time employees. They offer health and dental insurance, with Aflac insurance supplement options. They also provide Christmas bonuses and recognize their staff at a year-end celebration dinner. They believe their employees are their family (some actually are) and they know the staff are vital to their success.

Woolsey Monument supports the community by being a Chamber Member and donating to several youth groups and local non-profits including: Cancer Council of Reno County, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Pheasants Forever, and Special Olympics.  

In Janet’s words - “Being a business owner is NOT for the faint of heart. It is NOT just about sales or money (or ironically enough, recognition). We have poured our heart and soul into this business. Our families and employees depend on us. Our business is successful because of our family, our team, and our community. We have grown our business through years of hard work and dedication to the customers we serve. Hutchinson is full of small, family-owned businesses that are making an impact. It is great to see our community grow and support their neighbors and friends. We are truly lucky to raise our family where there are examples of community and support everywhere”.