Manufacturing
AG Engineering & Development Co. (Kennewick)
Agriculture is a big business inWashington, and so is the business of manufacturing equipment to help farmersincrease yields and reduce costs in producing their crops. AG Engineeringsproducts include the Dammer Diker, a soil-preparation and tillage implementthat digs individual reservoirs between crop rows, increasing each plantsaccess to water, nutrients, temperature and oxygen. (Click toreturn to the…
Cascade Quality Molding (Yakima)
If your customers are headed toChina, should you be, too? Doing so is a daunting proposition for smallcompanies, but Cascade Quality Molding, which makes plastic parts foreverything from medical devices to aircraft components, opened a Shanghaioffice and shifted commodity work there, allowing its Yakima plant toconcentrate on higher-end contracts. The result: a revived business with…
Digilent Inc. (Pullman)
Clint Cole, a professor atWSU, co-founded Digilent to help engineering students with hands-on learning. Its one thing to learn from atextbook or a chalkboard. Its another, much better, approach to learn by doingit yourself. That was the philosophy WashingtonState University electrical engineering professors Clint Cole and Gene Appersonhad in mind 10 years ago when they…
The Washington Manufacturing Awards
Manufacturer of the Year Small Companies winner: Digilent Inc.(Runners-up: Cascade Quality Molding, AG Engineering & Equipment Co.) Midsize Companies winner: CashmereMolding Inc. (Runners-up: The Bogert Group, Haskins Steel Co.) Large Companies winner: Kvichak MarineIndustries Inc. (Runners-up: Grays Harbor Paper, Cascade DAFO) Nonprofit Organizations winner:Lighthouse for the Blind (Runner-up: Bridgeways) Manufacturing Innovation of theYear Small Companies…
Making it Big
The Judges To select the winners of the first Washington Manufacturing Awards, we drew upon a panel of experts from business and academia. Ron BenoitPartnerMoss Adams Peter HaugProfessor, ManagementWestern Washington University Loren LyonCEOMagic Wheels Inc. Robert OlsenDirector, Harold Frank Engineering Entrepreneurship InstituteWashington State University Ted SpraguePresidentCowlitz Economic Development Council Richard Lee StorchChair, Industrial & Systems…
Natural Selection
Mice, glass, bones. Nails, snails, snake heads. Stems,sticks, slugs and bugs. Razor blades. They are among the debris gathered fromagricultural fields during the process of harvesting vegetables and fruits thathave ended up in production lines at large food processors that packageeverything from frozen french fries to fresh lettuce. Fortunately, high-technology sorting and inspectionequipment helped to…
Indias Inland Outpost
Marcelo Morales, CEO of HollisterStier, is ramping upcontract pharmaceutical production as the market for generics is growing. A plaque outside HollisterStier Laboratories LLCs year-oldoffice addition in northeast Spokane holds a message from India. Jubilant Organosys Ltd. dedicates these facilities to theemployees of Hollister-Stier, the plaque reads. May we continue to grow andflourish together. The names…
Pulp to Sawdust
A new maritime center inPort Townsend signals a possible future for the town if its pulp mill closes. Like countless other small towns across the nation, PortTownsend half expects to wake up one morning and learn that its oldest and largestprivate employer is shutting its doors. But this changing community, perched ona narrow peninsula at…
The Crew Crew
Crew has always been the ultimate team sport. Football has its star quarterbacks, basketball its Michael Jordans, but even the best athletes wont win at crew if they cant all row in synch. So its no surprise that when they graduate and move on to other pursuits, theres still a network of rowers connecting business,…
A Shell Game
Bill Tytus, president ofPocock Racing Shells in Everett, has led the company into becoming one of thetop suppliers of racing shells in the country. The first time he visited the crew boathouseat Syracuse University in 1992, John Tytussays he noticed something odd about the facilities. The men had a full lockerroom upstairs that was spacious…
Getting Religion on Globalism
Larry Kraft, owner ofCascade Quality Molding, found new opportunitiesand met his wife, ChenTingxue, his translatorin China. Chen now works for the company in Yakima. If necessity is the mother of invention, curiosity could bethe father, as the experience of Larry Kraft, owner of Yakima-based CascadeQuality Molding, attests. Seeing his business of supplying plastic products toBoeing…
Washington Manufacturing Awards
Join Seattle Business as we honor the2010 Washington Manufacturing Award Winners and crucial role they play in ourstate’s economy. For this reason, each year we will present awards to small(fewer than 20 employees), midsize (20-100 employees) and large (more than 100employees) manufacturers in each of four categories (see below). Award winnersare chosen by a panel…
A New Canadian Port Shows Strong Growth in a Down Economy
The Port of Prince Rupert, our new competitor northwestern Canada, is seeing strong growth in spite of weakness in the global economy. The port handled 12 million tons of cargo in 2009, up 15 percent from the year before, and the highest level since 1997. Its primary containter terminal handled 265,259 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units)…