Colby Eagles Alumni Association
Bob Holloway, Class of 2000, Craftsman
Copyright Colby Eagles Alumni Association @ 2014
Nominated by Alana Rogers Tubbs, Class of 1971
The story of Bob Holloway, a 2000 graduate of Colby High School & his love for woodworking really began while building a piece of furniture as a 4-H project at the age of 14. His grandfather encouraged Bob's interest & purchased some woodworking equipment for his grandson to use. While a student at Colby High School, he took every woodworking class he could fit into his schedule, then enrolled in an independent study program so he could spend more time in wood shop, where he created numerous benches, chests & an armoire. This led to a summer job for Holloway, creating custom pieces of furniture by request from people he knew.
Bob's sophomore year of high school his shop teacher, Donald Schaefer, entered him in a State Technology Students of America competition at Pittsburg State University. By the end of the day, Holloway had a first-place statewide win under his belt and earned a trip to the national competition, where he placed 9th. When he saw the wood technology labs of Pittsburg State, he knew what he would pursue as a vocation. After high school graduation, he left his small rural farm to further hone his already extraordinary woodworking abilities as a Dane G. Hansen scholar majoring in wood technology at Pittsburg State University. He graduated from Pittsburg State in 2004 as the number one student in Wood Project Manufacturing. When a piece of furniture Holloway created as a junior in college won an international competition, he was offered an internship with the Cleveland company where he did millwork for mansions for 3 years upon graduation.
An advertisement in a woodworking magazine led him to start his own company. At the advertised workshop, he learned about European window & door technology superior to anything typically available in the United States. Following that workshop, Holloway signed up for a 2-week tour of European window and door shops, culminating with a trade show in Nuremberg, Germany. Upon returning home to rural Levant, Bob built a 16,000 square foot shop, where he established his business, "Advantage Architectural Woodwork", and began producing the most efficient, high quality and hand-crafted energy efficient European wood window and door systems in the country. He utilizes hardware from Germany, finishes from Italy, glass from Spain, and lumber from the U.S. & Canada to create his masterpieces that he himself personally delivers all over the country.
Later, he partnered with smartwin, a German worldwide company, and now produces all windows, entrance doors, sliding doors and curtain walls that smartwin sells in the United States, Canada, & Mexico. Advantage Architectural Woodwork is one of smartwin's 14 partners in 10 countries and is the only manufacturer in the U.S. & Canada. Holloway's company makes smartwin solar windows as well as tilt and turn European windows in addition to interior and exterior doors, sunrooms, winter garden rooms, and other custom work. Products have gone all over the entire U.S. as well as the Yukon.
Some of Bob's current employees came to Advantage Architectural Woodwork after learning woodworking skills in the Colby High School wood shop. He also hopes to hire more graduates of Goodland's Northwest Technical College carpentry program. Holloway finds the work satisfying & hopes he can find young people in the Colby area who, like him, have a passion for woodworking.
A dream of Holloway's is to someday build a Passive House. A Passive House is designed to be airtight and take full advantage of passive energy from solar rays. All doors & windows built by Advantage Architectural Woodwork are energy efficient, and many are currently certified for use in passive houses. They also have the only certified entry door for a passive house in the U.S. Interest in passive house construction is now huge worldwide & is growing in the United States. Construction techniques that help substantially reduce heating & cooling costs & avoid harmful environmental effects are on the rise. Holloway wants to be a part of it with the construction of a Passive House, but currently it is not even an option for him as he is backlogged with orders from his handcrafted windows & doors.
Advantage Architectural Woodwork has been featured in AE Building Systems, Studio St. German, Northwest Kansas Today, as well as numerous architectural publications. Kansas senator, Roger Marshall, has also visited his facility along with numerous student tours. Bob sits on the Pittsburg State University advisory board for Wood Product Manufacturing, as well as the Fort Hays Northwest Tech Carpentry program.
Despite the recognition and accolades, Bob's pride is a quiet one. As a self-admitted perfectionist, he is a humble young craftsman from a small farm in rural Kansas who is now in his 12th year of business creating unique and awe- inspiring windows & doors to share with the world.
