Cabinet member

By Candace Doyle

December's the month for holiday parties, but little did Joan Shelley know that she'd be attending the holiday party of holiday parties.

Shelley, owner of KnobGallery with an office in Oconomowoc and showrooms in Brookfield and Milwaukee's Third Ward, was a guest of President Bush at the White House holiday party on Dec. 15.

Shelley figures the unique nature of her business piqued the interest of the president's staff, which likely learned of KnobGallery's recent honors. She said KnobGallery, a largely Internet-based business supplying cabinetry and door hardware, received the Emerging Small Business of the Year Award this year from the Small Business Administration, and she received the 2004 Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners.

"They read all about us and called me," said Shelley.

Bush's speechwriter told her that the president would like to feature her business in remarks he'd make on the campaign trail in Onalaska, where she was invited up on the platform.

Afterward, Shelley said, she gave the president doorknobs from Yale and Harvard, Bush's alma maters, as well as a Texas star.

But she didn't expect another encounter and was surprised to learn she was on the president's guest list for the D.C. gala.

"The social office of the White House called," she said.

So Shelley and family headed to the nation's capital, and she and her husband attended the party and toured the White House unrestrained.

"It was the whole East Wing of the White House," she said. "We went through all the rooms and saw all the antiques. We looked at all the hardware and furniture pieces."

And feasted on appetizers and desserts.

"They had an amazing hors d'oeuvres table," she said. "It must have been 40 feet long."

There was also a gingerbread house with windows molded out of white chocolate and miniature people, sleds and animals made out of candy.

"It was gorgeous," she said. "It was a model of the White House."

Still, Shelley, a Bush supporter, is not really sure how she and her business were selected.

"We weren't actually involved in any of the campaigns," she said.

But, she said, KnobGallery is quite progressive, with four of its 20 employees who are unable, because of physical difficulties or family obligations, to fit into a regular 9-to-5 job but are "great people and hard workers."

"Part of the reason he was interested in our business is we have very flexible opportunities for people," said Shelley. "We also have a phone system that allows people to work from home. I think that's why he was so impressed with us."

And since she got face time with the president, you can almost guess what the entrepreneur talked about with Bush.

"About small business and what types of changes he's done in tax cuts to encourage small business," she said.

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