MAY 2007: PBA TOP 10 GROWTH AWARDS
The winners of this year’s Portland Business
Alliance’s Growth Awards share the strategies, struggles
and secrets of getting to the top.
ON THE WAY UP
Stories by Jon Bell
NO. 1 LARGE COMPANY
Oregon Iron Works
Oregon Iron Works is not a company to be pigeonholed.
Beal
|
Over the past few years, the Clackamas complex-metals
fabricator has broadened its scope to focus on a wide range of
industries, from hydroelectric, aerospace and nuclear to
marine, bridges and even missile defense. OIW also has several
irons in the streetcar industry fire and a few heating up in
wave energy.
“I think our diversity of capabilities in various
industries is our No. 1 one asset,” says CEO Robert Beal.
“It’s been growing and I think it will continue to
do so.”
The company has experienced significant growth over the last
few years. OIW’s workforce grew to 405 in 2006, up from
298 in 2005, and sales over the same period grew 37%.
GROWTH STRATEGY:
Forging that growth for the 62-year-old company, according to
Beal, has been a conscious effort to empower OIW employees,
particularly a set of young, creative workers Beal calls the
“young lions.”
“Empowering them, helping them catch part of the vision
and then assisting them in participating in it, has led to
growth,” he says.
Developing long-term relationships with customers and industry
partners has also played a key role.
REVENUE STOKER: Having
such diverse capabilities across so many industries has helped
OIW realize the strong revenue numbers it has rung up over the
past few years. Beal says OIW has seen growth across the board
but particularly in hydroelectricity, nuclear and bridges.
“One huge advantage for us is that we’re not
locked into one geographic area or one single
marketplace,” he says.
OIW’s revenue has also been boosted via the efforts of
Oregon’s congressional delegation, which has helped level
the playing field, according to Beal.
“Our delegation has done an excellent job of making sure
that Oregon is allowed to be competitive for federal
dollars,” he says.
GROWING PAINS: An
issue taxing the metals industry in general is a lack of
qualified workers. Beal says that’s been tough on OIW as
the company has grown.
“That’s probably the No. 1 problem that every
business in this industry is experiencing,” he says.
“It’s a constant search because we’re in such
a competitive market.”
And like any growing company, Beal says OIW has felt the
strain on its infrastructure — even down to phone and
computer systems — as it has added employees and new
business.
THE SECRET: Beal
returns to employee empowerment when asked for OIW’s
secret to success. He also says the company’s ability to
take a solution from one industry — say hydroelectric
— and apply it to another, like nuclear or marine,
has been a key to success.
ON THE HORIZON:
At this point, Beal says, the future looks solid for OIW. The
country’s infrastructure is growing and always in need of
repair, so OIW should find consistent business.
Growing demand for alternative fuels also will help guide the
company’s work in the nuclear and wave energy industries,
and the defense sector remains strong. OIW’s streetcar
line — the first prototype is under construction —
is also promising and could lead to new jobs if all goes
well.
“We see a bright future,” says Beal, “but
it’s going to take a lot of work.”
NO. 1 MEDIUM COMPANY
Miles Fiberglass & Composites
Talk about humble beginnings.
Miles
|
Lowell Miles was just 21 when he found himself smitten by, of
all things, fiberglass, after visiting a boat show in 1958.
So the young machinist did some reading, built a workshop
behind his father’s cabinet shop and set off on what
would become the four-decades-and-counting story of Miles
Fiberglass & Composites.
Today, the fiberglass product manufacturing company employs 95
people — up from 54 in 2005 — at its Portland and
Clackamas facilities. The firm produces component parts for
recreational vehicles and railroad cars, equipment covers,
storage tanks and custom products. It counts among its past and
present clients Microsoft, Freightliner and Dark Horse
Comics.
MFC saw sales in 2006 rise 263% over those of 2005.
GROWTH STRATEGY: In lieu of a traditional sales force, Miles
says his family and a few senior staff members drive new sales
by conveying the personal touches embodied in a typical
family-owned business.
Diversifying markets hasn’t hurt, either. The company
for years focused almost entirely on the RV business. Although
lucrative and steady, the single-market approach had its
limitations.
Over the past few years, the company has branched into light
and heavy rail, military products and other markets.
“We decided to real-ly look at diversifying what we do
and go after other markets,” Miles says. “Our
strategy has worked and we’re going to continue using
it.”
REVENUE STOKER: Diversification is also what’s driving
MFC’s revenue of late.
For example, Miles says expanding into the heavy rail market
— MFC produces parts for refrigeration cars — has
provided “considerable business.” So, too, has
MFC’s EnviroLube product, a drive-through service bay for
the likes of truck-servicing facilities and car dealerships.
MFC touts its fiberglass EnviroLube as a quicker, more
cost-effective and environmentally sound alternative to
traditional concrete bays.
Growing pains: Accommodating the growth that MFC has
experienced hasn’t been easy.
Miles says there are always challenges when adding new
employees and shifts to cover increased orders. The company
also has had to work closely with its bank and suppliers to
keep on top of its cash flow; taking inventory for some of its
new markets has taken extra effort.
“We’ve had to build ahead,” Miles says,
“but so far we’ve worked through those without a
lot of problems.”
THE SECRET: The secret to MFC’s success, according to
Miles, is really no secret.
“It’s just having a good family group that works
together,” he says, “and having good management
people who we feel are part of the family. It’s treating
those folks right and treating the employees on the floor right
so they’re willing to get in and get the job
done.”
ON THE HORIZON: Looking ahead, Miles says MFC will continue
its focus on existing markets while also expanding the
EnviroLube line. In addition, MFC is in the process of
installing equipment to enter the field of vacuum-formed
thermoplastics, a more efficient option for some of MFC’s
component parts.
“We’re looking for good, substantial growth this
year,” Miles says, “and for years to
come.”
NO. 1 SMALL COMPANY
Tri-Star Search & Staffing
Like many industries, the recruiting and staffing sector took a
dive after Sept. 11, 2001.
Bellinazzo
|
“Recruiters were dropping like crazy,” says Rudi
Bellinazzo, who at the time worked for a specialized staffing
service. “There was probably a 50% hit in recruiters
leaving the industry. It was a tough marketplace.”
You’d think that starting your own staffing service
during such instability might not be the best idea.
But that’s just what Bellinazzo did back in 2002, and
today his company, Tri-Star Search & Staffing, is growing
strong.
“I felt I could do it better,” says Bellinazzo,
“so I took the jump and it’s worked out.”
Tri-Star specializes in recruiting and staffing temporary,
contract and direct-hire employees for businesses. Its areas of
specialty include accounting, finance, information technology
and engineering.
The Tigard company’s 2006 sales were up 150% over
2005’s numbers, and it also tripled its workforce in 2006
to 15 employees.
GROWTH STRATEGY: For Bellinazzo, the key to solid growth is
hiring qualified staff with industry experience. A glance at
Tri-Star’s roster finds 30-plus years of combined
experience in accounting, an engineering veteran of 15 years
and several IT specialists.
“I have always said that the people in this company will
actually be the ones to make it happen,” says
Bellinazzo.
He also says that solidifying infrastructure — Tri-Star
moved from a 1,500-square-foot space into its own, larger
building last year — and working to be more vertically
integrated are part of the company’s strategy for
growth.
REVENUE STOKER: Demand for talented IT professionals has
helped power Tri-Star’s recent revenue bulge. “That
was a division we had played around with,” Bellinazzo
says, “but it just kind of took off last year.”
In addition, adding more staff members has allowed Tri-Star to
expand its coverage and garner a larger chunk of market share
in Oregon and beyond. The company not only recruits workers for
firms locally, but it’s also done virtual
recruiting around the country.
GROWING PAINS: Although Bellinazzo’s gamble to start
Tri-Star in 2002 paid off, he says that, like building any
small company, it’s not been easy.
Along the way, the company outgrew its space, which posed its
own problems. As Tri-Star’s client database grew, the
structure supporting it didn’t keep pace, so the company
has had to upgrade its management software.
THE SECRET: Tri-Star’s secret to success has been having
a good strategy executed by a good team. Bellinazzo evokes a
sporting metaphor of a cohesive team playing a game — to
win.
“We’ve been successful because we’ve got a
strong team that collaborates,” he says. “Now we
are poised to make our strategic objectives come to
reality.”
ON THE HORIZON: Plowing through 2007, Bellinazzo says Tri-Star
is looking to expand its national presence. The company will
add another 10 employees within six months, and it may open a
second office in Seattle.
He says Tri-Star will continue to focus on diversity and
long-term client relationships, which is just “all part
of growing up.”
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