NC Furniture Maker Hailed as US Job Creator Closes A start-up North Carolina furniture company once celebrated as a sign of America's manufacturing rebound has closed, a year after its head was hosted by President Barack Obama. Lincolnton Furniture Company was silent Friday, a day after shutting down. President Bruce Cochrane and other company officers did not return messages to The Associated Press. Company financial officer Ben Causey said manufacturing operations were stopped indefinitely because orders were insufficient. He told The Charlotte Observer that only a few people would remain employed and the next steps were uncertain. Lincolnton Furniture opened in December 2011 with 60 employees and plans to grow. Obama last year invited Cochrane to a White House event on bringing overseas job back to America and he was a guest at the State of the Union address.