The impact of a business isn't just in the people it employs and the taxes it pays.
It is also in the overarching reach it has on the community.
'Not only does Chandler Cabinets provide hundreds of quality jobs, they have continually reinvested and expanded their production facilities, and I love they’re a generational family business that continues to invest locally and supports the community with time and generosity,' said Denise Morris, the Pilot Point Municipal Development District executive director. '… There's a far-reaching impact.'
Their indirect impact, as a company with more than 300 employees, is multiplied through the way those employees spend money at other businesses in the community, as well, Morris said.
'I've seen them give so generously over the years, both from a parent perspective and in the professional job I have,' Morris said. '… I know they are quietly generous as well and have helped many, many families and businesses.'
That includes helping fledgling businesses find a home, equipment and connections, Morris said.
Pilot Point City Manager Britt Lusk expressed his appreciation for not only Chandler's role in the business community of Pilot Point, but also for its support of the first responders.
'They are very valuable partners to the city,' he said. 'They do a lot to support our fire and police departments.'
He hopes that the connection between Chandler Cabinets and Pilot Point will remain strong as they keep growing.
'We’re glad that this is home for them,' Lusk said. 'We want to continue to be good partners and support them in any way that we can.'
Mayor Chad Major agreed with that. 'They've got a really good culture there, and, just to me, it embodies the whole cabinet industry that we have here,' he said.
He added that Chandler 'really takes care of their employees.'
'That says a lot,' he said. He also expressed his appreciation for the way they support Shepherd's Storehouse.
'They really do breathe back into the community and our schools,' Major said. '… That's the homegrown Pilot Point people. That's what that means.'
Jodi Zambrano with Chapin Title spoke with love and appreciation for the Chandler family on a professional and personal level.
'Buster … always treated me like family,' she said. 'They all do.'
Any chance they had to have a closing for real estate transactions with Zambrano, they have, she said.
'I've done business with them for close to 25 years,' Zambrano said.
Mike Fritz, who worked with Buster as a custom home builder for about 15 years, shared that he sees the impact Chandler Cabinets and its founder have had on the Pilot Point community.
'For 50 years, they've been able to employ anywhere starting off [about] five people now up to [350] people,' Fritz said. 'If that's not a statement in itself.'
He said he believes they have made a lot of dreams happen, both through employing people and by helping behind the scenes.
'Buster would give the shirt off his back to anybody; he'd help anybody,' Fritz said. 'He did instill that in both those boys, without a doubt, and even into the grandkids.'
Buster was a straight shooter who did what he thought was right for the sake of doing what's right.
'He didn't ever want any gratitude about what he did,' Fritz said. 'He just did it. That's no different than this golf tournaments that they do and how much they give back.'
Fritz said he was grateful to know Buster so well.
'We had our ups and downs, but it was definitely a pleasure knowing the man and working with the man,' he said.
From her vantage point of the Pilot Point Florist shop, Lee Ann Ray got to see the soft and sweet side of Buster.
He would come purchase 'a single red rose for Vickie,' she said.
'That's what we remember so much,' Ray said. 'It wasn't about having to have something big and have something elaborate. It was the sentimental reason for that one single red rose for me. That was always so special.'
She said she admires the love Buster and Vickie shared and gave to their family.
Ray, who grew up in Pilot Point, has known the Chandlers her whole life.
Buster learned his work ethic from his mother, Ray said, and then he passed that on to his sons.
She described a horseshoe she had help from them on building that they insisted on finishing out fully.
'They didn't have to go to all that extra pain, but they did because they're so proud of their work, which goes back to Buster,' Ray said. 'He wasn't going to put something out halfway.'
That, too, shows up in how they help others, Ray said.
'They mean so much,' she said. 'They give back all the time to the community.'
That help extends to donating and putting together bicycles for the upcoming Back to School Bash.
'Which I know is making Buster very happy,' Ray said.
She also spoke with gratitude of the support they have given her business as well, saying 'the better they do, the better we do because they can support us and we can support them.'
'I feel quite sure that there's a lot of people in town that have been helped by Buster that no one knows about,' Ray said.
Buster worked closely with PointBank CEO Raymond David Sr., and David is grateful for the good they have done.
'They've really been a great business for Pilot Point for what they've done and all their civic work in Pilot Point,' he said. 'I just think that they are a big asset.'
He spoke about the way they focus on quality in their products and also in the way they affect their hometown.
'I just can't say enough good things about what Buster, and actually his whole family, [have done],' David said.
He also spoke about the love Buster had for his staff.
'He worked with them professionally, but yet they were like his children,' David said.
PointBank Pilot Point Branch Manager Lisa Cave described the business as crucial to Pilot Point.
'When you think of Pilot Point sometimes, you think of certain businesses, and they're one of them,' she said. '… You see them with the Bearcat flags.'
She, too, is grateful for her relationship with Chandler Cabinets.
She said she loves, too, that the proceeds from the Buster Chandler Foundation go to supporting entities including the Shepherd's Storehouse, the Tunnels to Towers Foundation and local first responders.
Volunteer Pete Henderson at the Shepherd's Storehouse spoke about the good that support does.
'It's really gotten us through some difficult times, given us the ability to help numerous people, both with food and with utility assistance as well, and when they come, we all end up crying, them and us together,' he said. 'It's just been a great blessing.'
The food pantry serves around 120 families each month, Henderson said.
'Without donations like this, we wouldn't have the food or the ability to be able to do that,' he said.
Pilot Point ISD, too, has benefited from the generosity of Chandler Cabinets.
'They are way more than just a local business,' Superintendent Dr. Shannon Fuller said. 'To me, they really define what true community partners are.'
She pointed to their willingness to answer the call when they are asked for support and their example of leadership.
'I have been so in awe of their commitment,” Fuller said. “It extends past just providing products and services and doing their business. They genuinely invest in our students, in the community, in our district, and they show up for everything.'
School board President Renee Polk echoed that.
'They have done many, many things for the district without any recognition, any fanfare, any applause,' she said. 'They never seek that. They're always just wanting to give back and to do whatever they can do to assist the district to be better, but always for the benefit of the students.'
One such instance was when they helped students build catapults for the spring 'A Day in Greece' celebration.
'People from Chandler Cabinets came and helped the children learn to cut wood, saw, how to drill wood, how to assemble catapults,' Polk said. 'They took time out of their workday to come do that for us. They're always helping hands. Always.'
