WILLSBORO — Cedar lawn chairs and garden benches were comfortable seats for an uneasy conversation.

The showroom at Old Adirondack Furniture Co. became a meeting room for a few hours recently as members of the Local Government Review Board, a public-policy group representing towns within the Adirondack Park, discussed economics with Adirondack Park Agency Chairman Curt Stiles and Economic Affairs Staff Planner Steve Erman.

It’s discussion Stiles has stirred in recent months, seeking productive discourse as APA looks at long-term policy revision.

THREAT FROM OVERSEAS

Strict regulation and a compulsory rural market are often considered leading causes of business lost in the Adirondacks.

But Steve Maselli, president of Old Adirondack, said overseas manufacturing tenders the real challenge to economics here.

Moved from Keeseville over a decade ago, Maselli said he was able to expand a failing plant into the 100-acre industrial complex in Willsboro with a permit that took only 36 days to obtain and economic-development funding.

“Our biggest challenge now is the macroeconomic market,” he said of globalization and overseas manufacturing.

It’s the same concern that pulled Jarden Plastics and 68 jobs from Tupper Lake in April.

Fluctuating between 25 and 50 employees, manufacturing at Old Adirondack Furniture Co. shifts with the seasons, Maselli said, indicating a downturn in showroom sales during winter, though products move online year-round.

COPYCATS

But even catalog sales suffer offshore threats.

One catalog company that distributed Old Adirondack furniture was sold recently, and the new owners asked Maselli how quickly they could “go offshore.”