The answer is not very many.

But one business which can proudly make such a statement is Better Floor Systems in Wallace.

Family-owned by the fourth generation, LeAnn and Ken Evoniuik, BFS was transplanted into Calaveras County in the early 2000s from the East Bay, where it had operated since 1983.

How has BLS found success and been able to grow in the great recession?

“Flat out caring about our customers and the work we do,” LeAnn said. “We work very, very hard with our customers to make sure that they are served. It’s making sure when we walk away they are completely happy with their floors.”

LeAnn said that she and her husband make sure to stay up to date on cutting-edge products and technologies, and pass that knowledge on to their customers.

The Evoniuiks are committed to supporting their community in every way possible, and that includes living locally, buying locally and hiring locally.

Just last year, BLS was only employing three people.

“Now we’re up to seven,” LeAnn said. “They are all from the community. All the dollars spent here go right back into the community,” LeAnn said. “We live here, we shop here. Our employees live and shop here. The community has been great at supporting us. We do everything in our power to tell our vendors that this market will not stand high prices, and we pass any savings we get on to our customers.”

The company is run out of several buildings on the old Rocca Bella Olive Ranch, which allowed it to expand into a direct warehouse outlet and take advantage of container deals that are occasionally available from manufacturers.

When BFS first opened in Calaveras, it was in the front of a 100-year-old building with about a 900 square foot showroom.

The showroom now encompasses the entire first floor a large building on the Rocca Bella Ranch with more than 2,200 square feet of showroom space, containing thousands of products to choose from, including: hardwood, carpet, laminate, tile and linoleum.

BLS has more than 7,500 square feet of flooring in stock and ready to go.

“We estimate that we stock 25,000 to 35,000 square feet of flooring at any given time,” LeAnn said.

Whether home and business owners are seeking to replace one small room or redesign an entire home or office BLS offers the expertise at prices big box stores or liquidators can’t match, Evoniuik said.

“We tell our customers ‘You go buy flooring at Lowes, and when you have a problem with your floor, you talk to someone who basically just works there,’ LeAnn said. “That’s when you really need a flooring person. When you buy from us, you’re not dealing with an employee, you’re dealing with the ownership, whose heartstrings are tied to the work and reputation in the community.”

The Evoniuiks are not just about flooring. They have also been gearing up to enter the olive oil industry.

More than 2,000, 110-year-old, olive trees dot the landscape all around BLS’s new location.

“Right up into the 1970s our buildings were an olive canning plant,” LeAnn said. “It was one of Calaveras County’s largest employers. It ran very successfully under the Sammis Family for many years. Not only did Rocca Bella process its own olives here. Olives from all over, even as far as Corning, were processed here.

By the mid-1950s, the Rocca Bella label annually adorned almost five million cans of olives–nearly 2,000 tons and was sold on store shelves across the country, according to the Rocca Bella website.

In the 1960s, the plant was mismanaged and collapsed.

LeAnn was hesitant to endorse her husband’s desire to buy 40 acres of ancient olive trees surrounding the couple’s property in Wallace, but she finally got behind the idea and now she’s getting excited.

“I told him ‘You’re nuts,’” LeAnn said. “What do you want with olive trees? He eventually got his way. Two years ago in October, we bought the 40 acres of olives around us. Then we partnered up with Alan and Kris Mangini who live nearby. We’ve begun to produce olive oil. And the Stammos family has granted us the Rocca Bella name. Rocca Bella is coming back.”

Mission, Manzanillo and Sevillano olive trees make up the orchard, delivering exceptionally rich flavors.

The burgeoning olive oil producers pressed a small batch last year, and were quite pleased with the result.

“It came out wonderful,” LeAnn enthused. “We were so excited. This year will be our first big pick. We actually bought a crusher from Italy.”

“When we begin the olive processing season, there will be more jobs for the community. We hire out of the community. We hire either seniors in high school or just completed high school.”

Those jobs will be available in a couple weeks when picking begins, those LeAnn said that she thinks the crew is already in place for this year.

A small olive oil store is already in place near the BLS showroom, but the Evoniuik’s dreams are much bigger.

“We are going to turn into a tasting room eventually,” LeAnn said. “We would also like to feature Calaveras Grown products here. We are one of the first stops coming into Calaveras on Highway 12. What we’d like to have here is a representation of all of the items grown or made here in Calaveras County.”

To find out more information about BLS, visit www.betterfloors.com  or call 736-2402. For more on Rocca Bella Olive Oil, visit www.roccabellaolives.com or call 736-2676.

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Contact Joel Metzger at joel@calaverasenterprise.com.

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