CedarWorks provides community rec centers a partner invested in getting play right through custom-crafted wooden playsets.
When Barrett Brown, the owner and president of CedarWorks, joined the family business, it was less about coming home and more of giving something new a shot. Brown spent roughly a decade in management consulting and business school before his father asked if he wanted to try working together. In 1997, Brown said yes and CedarWorks has been his focus ever since.
“That’s how I got started in the business,” said Brown. “And then, as the company grew and we developed commercial lines, I got much more involved in community rec centers and other commercial applications of our products.”
Nearly three decades later, Brown leads a company whose mission is straightforward: to be the leading direct-to-consumer and direct-to-business provider of premium wooden playground equipment.
For CedarWorks, “direct” isn’t a footnote — it’s the operating model.
“We do the manufacturing, design, all the marketing, sales and customer service,” said Brown. “When I say premium, it has everything to do with the quality of the product and the functional, aesthetic designs, but it equally applies to customization. We don’t believe it can really be custom if you’re providing cookie-cutter solutions for people.”
That philosophy extends past the sale itself. Brown said the level of service CedarWorks provides on the front-end matters just as much as the follow-up after a rec center’s equipment is installed and in use.
Ask Brown what he enjoys most about running CedarWorks, and he’ll point to variety. Aptitude testing he took as a teenager labeled him a generalist — someone without one standout skill — but with an interest in a little bit of everything. Decades later, that description still fits.
“As the owner of a small business, I’m involved in manufacturing, finance, marketing, sales, customer service, customer-facing work, and I’m also doing strategy work and sitting down with big spreadsheets trying to figure things out,” said Brown. “So, the best thing to me about the job is that I get to do a little bit of everything.”
But he’s quick to credit the people around him. CedarWorks’ longtime team shares a clear vision for the kind of company they want to be, which means the business runs smoothly whether Brown’s in the office or not.
What separates CedarWorks from other playground suppliers starts with the material the company users.
Because the products are made of wood, Brown acknowledges CedarWorks occupies a niche. Some rec centers — for legitimate reasons — don’t shop for a wood product. But for those that do, he believes CedarWorks delivers something distinct.
“The next thing that sets us apart is the design of our products,” said Brown. “They’re designed to be extraordinarily functional and to meet all the standards and requirements for commercial play. They’re also aesthetically pleasing. We believe something needs to be attractive, so it enhances a facility and attracts not just kids.”
Bright primary colors alone can draw children in, but a facility director also needs equipment that enhances the overall look of the space.
The third pillar Brown cited is customization — configuring equipment to fit a rec center’s age groups, expected number of users and the physical footprint available.
That customization shows up across CedarWorks’ product lines, which are built around the industry’s distinct age-range standards, each with indoor and outdoor options.
If there’s one solution Brown wants rec professionals to know more about, it’s play equipment for children under the age of 2. It’s a narrow age range, but a developmentally intense one.
“Probably sometime between six months and a year, kids are starting to pull up, they’re starting to crawl, they’re climbing, and then certainly the change that happens between 1 and 2 is extraordinary,” said Brown. “The industry a number of years ago had to create completely unique guidelines for that age group.”
Facilities with daycare or childcare programs are often already aware of the category, and CedarWorks offers customizable indoor and outdoor solutions built specifically for it. But this is a gap many suppliers leave unaddressed.
Brown’s perspective on play equipment isn’t purely commercial. He’s also served as board president of his local rec center, which combines indoor tennis, fitness and a community ice rink. That vantage point shaped the advice he offers other rec center leaders: know what you’re trying to achieve before you buy.
“The fact that somebody says, ‘Oh, wouldn’t this be nice?’ is probably not a real good solution long term,” said Brown. “Is this something that’s simply an additional amenity that you want your patrons to be able to use? If that’s the case, you’re probably going to need to make it quite visible. Otherwise, it’s going to get lost.”
Alternatively, if a rec center is investing in play equipment to drive revenue, the team may need to build programming around it. Either way, the decision should be strategic, not made simply because something looked appealing in a catalog.
Because CedarWorks sells direct rather than through dealers or distributors, staying current on industry needs takes deliberate effort. Brown said the company leans on direct customer conversations and trade shows rather than a broad distributor network.
“We get an extraordinary amount of very detailed feedback,” said Brown. “That’s because we’re working directly with the customer both before, during and after. So, we have a real good idea what the life-cycle use of the product is.”
That closeness shows up in the numbers. Brown points to referrals — which makes up 30% of CedarWorks’ sales — as the company’s clearest success story.
“With that number, we assume we’re doing something right for people to come forward on the good news about what CedarWorks can do for their facility,” said Brown.
With an eye toward the future, CedarWorks isn’t standing still. Because wooden playsets can’t be shipped to a customer’s office for a test look, the company is developing an augmented reality tool that lets customers use their phone to see a full 3D image of their custom equipment superimposed in the actual space where it will go — indoors or out.
The company is also preparing to launch a new line of indoor commercial products. Where CedarWorks’ current offerings lean toward active, climb-on play structures, the new line is designed around social play. This complementary category is something Brown expects many rec organizations will want alongside their existing equipment.
For industry leaders weighing a play equipment investment, Brown’s message comes back to the same idea that’s guided CedarWorks since 1997: work directly with the people who know the product best and insist on a solution built for your space — not someone else’s.
For further information on CedarWorks, visit cedarworks.com or email lindsay@cedarworks.
