As the oldest of seven children and the grandson of Russian immigrants, Jared Manning learned the value of hard work from an early age. Raised a mile from the family farm, Manning assumed the role of patriarch of the family when his father passed away when Manning was 13. Working nights off of the farm for Schwan’s Sales Incorporated during college prompted the start of his career that took him to Los Angeles in route sales before he took a position at a small installation company in the furniture industry closer to home.
Within three years, Manning managed to double the sales volume of the company and increased the profit margin by double digits. With this experience, Manning branched out on his own to create The Manning Group LLC, in 2002.
The Manning Group LLC, is a commercial furniture services firm with a mission to be the most trusted service company in the furniture industry while providing consistent high-level service that will drive customers to partner with the firm regardless of affiliate, relationship or referral.
The Manning Group is now the largest installation company in the Southwest. With a current team of over 100 professionals, the company’s bench strength is the deepest in the Southwest with warehouse space that spans 180,000 square feet equipped with cameras, sprinkler systems and state-of-the-art tagging software.
Perseverance is what Manning relies on as a leader and when taking risks. “I think the most important risk or strategy I took was to operate with the least amount of debt possible,” he said. “Even though it was tough, it allowed us to survive 2008-2009 and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Citing networking as his biggest strength, Manning said handling complex problems is a group effort at his firm. “I have a great leadership team who is not afraid to challenge each other, I have a best practices group with hundreds of years of experience that I rely on, and I have a partner that will give me honest feedback,” he said. “With those tools, we work through complex problems from all angles.”
Networking has also helped to build the client base of The Manning Group, with 90% of new business stemming from referrals. The company works in partnership with major furniture dealers and the top five dealers in the United States use The Manning Group for their intermarket projects in the Valley of the Sun. “We have the resources and acumen to deliver standards that are required and expected of large corporations with immense geographic reach,” said Manning.