Uttermost CEO Mac Cooper guesses he was about 8 years old the first time he traveled from Virginia to help set up his family's High Point Market showroom. Back then, it was for Cooper Wood Products, a business started by his grandfather around 1950. "In the old days we ate down at the volunteer kitchen, a cafeteria in the basement," Cooper recalled. "The hallways in the market buildings were always smoky and the elevators were busy and crowded."

Years later, when Cooper worked his first High Point showroom as an adult, the business had evolved from a division of Cooper Wood into Uttermost, a manufacturer of framed mirrors and art. "Our space was maybe 750 square feet, and I never worked harder in my life," he said. "We didn't have reps around to help customers, and I remember the first day we wrote $30,000. We were so tired. Now it's a whole different thing and, in a lot of ways, easier."

Thirty-two years later, the Rocky Mount, Va., company's product line of 2,800 items includes lamps, accessories and lighting fixtures. The line is updated by four teams of designers, manufactured in company-owned factories in Virginia and China, and delivered with the help of a new distribution center in Riverside, Calif. Nonetheless, Cooper says it all still feels new. "I don't see us as a 32-year-old company. I see our business as a young, hungry, ambitious entity that's just getting started."

Cooper credits his employees for the company's success. "We've been blessed with the ability to capitalize on the strengths of a wonderful, very diverse group of people with every personality you can imagine, while working together as a team." Uttermost operates on the biblical principles of honesty, fairness and mutual respect which, according to Cooper, are applied at every level within the company — from the guys running the saws in the plant to the sales reps to the customer.

Time, and the lack thereof, presents the biggest challenge. "Our management team is very lean and there are so many opportunities in front of us, but it's important we pursue the right ones." One of the company's more recent developments was marked by last year's opening of a new West Coast distribution center. "It's been very difficult to go from inventory and product shipping in one place to being 100% in stock in two places," Cooper said. "It took probably six to eight months to work out the major kinks, and we sent hundreds of containers back and forth across the country to balance things out. It hasn't come without cost, but we know it's the right move."

Cooper grew up in Rocky Mount, which is located in the same county as his current home on Smith Mountain Lake, where every day feels like a vacation. "My daughters are ages 7, 7, 7 and 10, and they all water ski and swim," he said. "But, like their mother, they're not too happy about my favorite water sport, one that has resulted in a few accidents." Cooper's passion is wakeboarding, a relatively new board sport in which the rider is pulled behind a motor boat on a short, broad water ski similar to a surfboard.

He remains close to his parents, who celebrate their 50th anniversary this year, and siblings, who also live nearby with their families. "My father is eternally optimistic, and that's something I've grown to treasure, plus I think it's helped me to be comfortable taking risks."

After college, Cooper spent a year in public accounting at a Roanoke branch of Peat Marwick before joining the family business at the urging of his father. "I studied accounting, and accountants by nature tend not to be super risk takers, but I believe in this business you have to be," he said. "If you do not constantly change and edit how you do business, it just won't work."

Cooper graduated from Virginia Tech, as did more than a half-dozen members of Uttermost's management team, and many of their spouses. He said he can't begin to express his shock following a gunman's recent rampage at the school, especially since he never felt safer than he did during his four years in Blacksburg. "For this tragedy to occur in Blacksburg proves that it can happen anywhere," he said. "Long term, I think the Tech alumni will only be more passionate and respectful of our school. It's a great institution, and the shooting will not take away from our years of great college experiences and memories."

Cooper, his children and wife, Inglath, whom he met in high school, also share their home with 10 dogs, most of which were rescued from the pound or roadside. "We have another seven dogs at the barn. Some are ours and some are fosters. My wife is heavily involved in animal rescue, and there's a high euthanasia rate in our county, so we're trying to raise money to build a shelter."

They have a special fondness for Nate, a dog rescued with a bladder infection, untreated broken leg and bad skin condition. Nate eventually had to have his leg amputated but now lives the good life in the Coopers' heated barn office — sitting in his favorite leather chair and going for daily golf cart rides. Cooper discusses Nate further on his blog, linked to Uttermost's Web site. "His trick that says the most about him is his 'hand' shake. If you hold out your hand to Nate, he raises his shoulder where his leg once was and shakes his shoulder up and down."