About Us
Contact
Offices in Chattanooga
Shop space on Cate Ave
(423) 225-1980
info@encraftinc.com
Shop Hours
Mon – Friday: 9:00am – 4:00pm
Sat & Sun: Closed
Jim LaMance
Co-Founder and CEO
In his 27-year career, Jim LaMance has been a leader in positional technology (GPS/GNSS, inertial nav., cell phones, WIFI etc.) designing and developing systems for land, maritime, missile and aircraft navigation. Founder and CEO of Constell, Inc., he began his career as a Senior Systems Analyst for NAVSYS, before quickly moving to Broadcom (formerly Global Locate, Inc) where he served as Director of GPS Algorithm Development…
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From there, he became CTO of Locata (2002-2008); a positioning technology start-up based in Canberra Australia. Locata provides innovative solutions to the wireless location market by filling the performance gap left by GPS in demanding environments. The Locata system, which can be thought of as one’s own local version of GPS, is currently providing high precision positioning for autonomous vehicles in various GNSS challenged or denied environments including ports, open cut mines, and various military and research facilities. LaMance continues his work with Locata as consultant.
As Founder, CEO and Chief Scientist of Constell, Inc, LaMance has developed custom data products and satellite constellation engineering services for GPS in satellites, rockets, and aircraft, including the NASA X-34 vehicle; a single stage, auto-land, spaceplane.
LaMance has accumulated 49 published WIPO patents and 11 granted US patents in mobile, positioning, and signal processing. Additionally, he is the developer of the leading GPS simulation software package, the Constellation Toolbox for MATLAB. The Toolbox is used extensively in industry and academia for simulation and modeling of GPS systems and applications.
Jimmy’s woodworking career began in the summer of 1989 when — much to Senior’s dismay — he turned down an internship at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (as a research assistant computing orbits for satellite altimetry) to accept a position as a Master Carpenter at Charlotte Shakespeare Theatre. His love affair with woodworking has never wavered.
He has a Ph.D in Aerospace Engineering science from the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO. and a garage shop (in addition to the EnCraft shop)
Sara Sharpe LaMance
Co-Founder & Chief Storyteller
Sara Sharpe LaMance is EnCraft’s chief storyteller — founder of Festive Evolution: Art & Activist in the 21st Century, STILL/WILD: Contemplative Practice for Change-makers, and THE LETTERS PROJECT: Letters Across the (political) Divide. She is an award-winning actress, writer, and Trauma-Sensitive Wellness coach.
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Through STILL/WILD, she helps activists, artists, caregivers, and other change-makers build the physical, emotional, and contemplative practices that keep them in meaningful work without burning out, drawing on trauma-sensitive mindfulness, movement, and resilience-based coaching. She’s a certified Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness practitioner and is completing NASM certifications as a Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach. She remains convinced our biggest social challenges aren’t solved by better arguments — they’re transformed by better stories, deeper relationships, and healthier people.
That belief runs through her work as an artist, too: the documentary/stage production FAIRVIEW: An American Conversation, which reconciled liberal and conservative residents of a rural Tennessee town; her years as co-founder and Artistic Director of Nashville’s BroadAxe Theatre (Best New Theatre Company, 2001 Nashville Scene) and her Tennie-winning turn as Karla in Steve Earle’s Karla; the play Voices of Nashville, co-written with Christine Mather for the Tennessee Women’s Theatre Project; and her time as Communication Coordinator at the Nashville Public Defender’s Office, where she built the DEFEND NASHVILLE campaign.
At EnCraft, that same instinct — finding the human story inside a bigger issue — shapes the voice behind everything the shop puts into the world: the belief that a cabinet shop can be a real community, and that how something is built matters as much as the piece itself.
Jack Noonan
VP of Production
Jack has been part of EnCraft since the earliest days, working alongside Jim after hours to help bring the shop to life.
Before EnCraft, Jack’s path wound through a handful of different worlds. He started right out of high school with Walter A. Wood, then spent time with the Adventure Guild, followed by a stretch of service work with kids in the city. From there, he worked as a mechanic at Southern Champion Tray — all while helping get EnCraft off the ground on the side.
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Jack is also a well-known figure in Chattanooga’s climbing community — well-known enough that it occasionally precedes him. In EnCraft’s early days, a group from the shop attended a home show at the convention center, and fell deep in conversation with a lumberjack and tree-service vendor. About twenty minutes in, the guy mentioned he was a rock climber — which, given that he clearly wasn’t afraid of heights, tracked. It wasn’t until introductions finally came around that Jack said his name, and the guy’s eyes went wide. He took a step back and said, “Jack Noonan? You’re a living legend in the climbing world!” Nobody at EnCraft has let him live it down since.
Carlene West
Director of Operations
Carlene West joined EnCraft in June 2026, proving that thirty years of teaching middle school English and theater is transferable experience for wrangling carpenters and keeping a custom cabinetry shop on schedule. Mostly. As the company’s forward-facing customer liaison, she brings the same blend of patience and gentle authority she once used on eighth graders to the slightly more cooperative adults who build amazing cabinets.
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Carlene’s connection to EnCraft runs deep: she went to high school with Jim and Sara. She and Sara cemented their friendship in college, which means she’s had decades of practice being the organized one.
Outside the office, Carlene is a devoted parent to her adult children and to Groot, a 140-pound Mastiff mix who is, despite his size, convinced he is a lap dog. She spends her free time traveling, reading (obviously), and silently correcting the grammar on restaurant menus, road signs, and the occasional email, because retirement from teaching English doesn’t mean retirement from noticing an error in subject-verb agreement.
James LaMance Sr.
Shop Steward
Jim LaMance Sr. (known as “Senior” in the shop) had a long and illustrious career at DuPont here in Chattanooga. Once retired, he spent years traveling the country with his beloved wife, Helen, in their RV. He’s been in the shop since the very beginning, and is the only person who comes in every Saturday to handle the chores that can’t be done when the shop is full of people. He has two sons, Jimmy and Jay, two daughters-in-law, Sara and Debbie, and two grandchildren, Lorcan and Haden.
Brooke Fowler
Shop Operations Lead
Brooke has been on the EnCraft team for about a year now. Making the transition into cabinet making and finishing work has been a fun, gratifying experience for her, and she’s grateful to have found her way into this maker space — and even more grateful she gets to keep growing in it.
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Her role on the team is essentially to make sure anything coming out of the build phase is prepped and ready to enter the finishing phase. She loves this position because it requires a lot of attention to detail (a superpower of hers) and a lot of grace (a constant lesson of hers). So much of the job is about getting curious and slowing down, which she thinks is really beautiful — and where the magic happens. The more she learns, the more she wants to master this craft.
Brooke also helps with organizational tasks around the shop, lends a hand with social media, and generally pitches in wherever she’s needed. If you need support at the shop, she’s got your back!
Outside of work, she loves laughing, being outdoors — riding her bike, fishing, general frolicking — and spending time with her wonderful community of friends.
Michael Clark
Craftsman & Furniture Maker
Michael Clark hails from Memphis, TN. He came to Chattanooga to attend the Chattanooga Woodworking Academy, a four-year program during which he was fortunate enough to study under nationally recognized woodworker Bill Carney. While there, he won the Mayor… for his ___ table. Outside of work, Michael loves to hike.
Kiersten Noonan
Lead Finisher
Kiersten is a finisher and detailer here at EnCraft — she takes the cabinets from built to shiny, sparkly, and pretty. Just like her.
She loves her job, the people she works with, and having, in her words, the world’s best boss. The vibe at EnCraft means a lot to her, and she believes it really just takes showing up with a good, can-do attitude. She feels empowered in her work and finds it genuinely gratifying. She’s proud to work for EnCraft and grateful to be part of the team.
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Outside of the shop, Kiersten is a watercolor artist with some experience in sculpture, and a former stay-at-home mom of 6+ years. She loves photography, traveling, and catching critters — lizards, frogs, whatever she can find. She’s got the two best kids in the world, and she’s been married to her best friend for 9 years. She’s got a witch’s cackle of a laugh and is always trying to hype up the vibe. She loves the beach, singing and dancing (she’s a huge Bad Bunny fan), and making people laugh — and making sure people feel heard and loved.