WINNER Windfall Lumber Tumwater | windfalllumber.com If naure has already done the work of felling trees, why cut down more in search of lumber? If lumber can have a second life in a new application, why not use it? Thats the operating premise behind Windfall Lumber, which uses salvaged, reclaimed and Forestry Sustainability Council-certified wood…

WINNER Sahale Snacks Seattle | sahalesnacks.com The snack category is a crowded one with lots of big, established players. But in just shy of a decade, Sahale Snacks has managed to get its gourmet products into major retailers like Costco, Whole Foods, REI and Walmart and on board Alaska and Delta flights. Sales have grown…

WINNER Darigold Seattle | darigold.com Consumers know Darigold from the array of products on grocery shelves. Its also a huge processor and exporter of powdered milk and related products to places as far afield as Asia and Africa. But the producers cooperative has devoted considerable effort to improving how it makes those products and gets…

WINNER Pioneer Human Services Seattle | pioneerhumanservices.org A tough job market is even tougher for those trying to reenter society after being in prison or trying to overcome drug or alcohol addiction. Pioneer Human Services mission is to help them, and one way it does so is through its manufacturing subsidiary, Pioneer Industries. The diversified…

WINNER The Gear Works Seattle | thegearworks.com The Gear Works has been around since 1946, with the company now in its second generation of family ownership and thoroughly modern in its development of a new market: wind turbines. The Gear Works brought on employees, equipment and technology to make the components for maintaining and repairing…

WINNER Electric Mirror Everett | electricmirror.com By putting a TV screen inside a mirror, Electric Mirror has turned the stuff of science fiction into a real-world technology and a business with more than 200 employees. It reported a 51 percent year-over-year sales increase in 2013, fueled by the addition of customers, markets and new products….

Washingtons manufacturing sector makes products that people see, use and consume every day. It also makes a lot that they dont. Each type of manufacturer is vital to Washingtons economy, which is why the 2014 Washington Manufacturing Awards recognize both types. Award winners this year include household names and those that arent likely to be…

Every time the states biggest private employer has gone into one of its periodic slumps, the Puget Sound region has reassured itself with this comforting mantra: Were not as dependent on Boeing as we used to be. For several decades, it has proven to be true. While the last person out of Seattle Boeing bust…

The latest effort to restart a manufacturing operation is in Omak, in north-central Washington, where Wood Resources LLC is working to revive a plywood mill that has been idle since 2009. The Omak plywood mill has had a rocky existence. Formerly known as Olympic Wood Products and then as Quality Veneer & Lumber, the mill…

When SEATTLEs Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) announced two years ago that Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos was donating $10 million to create the Bezos Center for Innovation at its new home in Lake Union Park, you could appreciate the novelty. It was the largest gift MOHAI had ever received. It was Bezoss most visible…