Employee profile: Meet Chris Plante

One doesn’t always have to go to college to become a success. Sometimes the strongest careers, and the fullest lives, are built through skill, passion, and the willingness to show up and learn a trade.

Chris Plante is proof of that.

Growing up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass., Chris stepped straight into the workforce after high school, working construction in Boston. He poured concrete, built houses, worked long days, and learned what hard work really meant. Deep down, however, he knew he wanted something different; he wanted to create with his hands.

That pull led him to woodworking.

What started as a career shift became a calling. From early roles at Manchester Woodworking and Carpenter Associates to running his own cabinetry business for seven years, Chris developed not just skill, but pride, discipline, and a deep respect for the craft.

Then in 1993, his mom told him about a small millwork company in Essex, Mass. When Chris walked through the door of Mark Richey Woodworking, he met Mark Richey and Greg Porfido – two young leaders with a vision. The shop and team were small, but Chris saw something bigger.

He trusted that instinct.

More than three decades later, that decision has turned into a 33-year career and a legacy.

Today, as production manager and shop foreman for a now much larger Mark Richey Woodworking in Newburyport, Mass., Chris helps lead a team of more than 50 woodworkers. His impact goes far beyond operations. He hires, mentors, and develops the next generation, passing down knowledge, building confidence, and helping others grow into skilled craftspeople.

Because to Chris, this work is about more than the finished product; it’s about people, pride, and building something that lasts.

“They rely on me to make good decisions,” Chris says, but he’s quick to add, “It takes a village. I may lead, but I’m one of the worker bees.”

That humility defines him.

One of his proudest accomplishments is helping to build the company’s Apprenticeship Program, a pathway for others, just like him, to learn a trade and create a future without taking a college route.

And the work itself has grown beyond anything he could have imagined. From nearby Boston projects to large-scale corporate, museum, and performance spaces across the country, the craftsmanship has reached a national stage. Some projects even pulled him away from home for years at a time, but the pride in the work remains.

Mark Richey Woodworking has been a constant in Chris' life for more than three decades, but no matter how far the work has taken him or how much the company has grown, home has always remained his anchor. It’s the foundation beneath everything he’s built, and where everything comes back into focus.

Chris has been married for 32 years, has raised two children who are his greatest source of pride, and built a life rooted in family, the outdoors, and craftsmanship. At his home in Gloucester, Mass., he has his own woodshop, because this isn’t just what he does, it’s who he is.

There is more than one path to success. There is more than one way to build a life.

Chris Plante didn’t follow the expected road. He built his own.

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