(Photo Above: Smith Brothers Pushrods President Scott Mills | Photo by Steve Kadel)
Manufacturing muscle was celebrated Friday, October 7 during Redmond Economic Development Inc.’s (REDI) fourth annual Made in Redmond Tour.
Dozens of local leaders got glimpses inside Aircraft Rubber Manufacturing Inc., Central Composites LLC, RDD Enterprises and Smith Brothers Pushrods in addition to hearing details from company owners.
REDI’s Senior Manager Jon Stark said the people invited to attend the six-hour tour were chosen based on the likelihood they will spread the word about the four firms to others who are influential in Central Oregon. He added that “we try to have a variance of size of firms” as well as focusing on a different industry during each year’s tour.
Automotive and aviation were well represented on this month’s tour, with Central Composites active in both fields while RDD has serviced certified and experimental aircraft since its start-up days in 2006. Stark said there’s a simple reason that aviation has found a home in Central Oregon.
“We have 300 sunny days and 350 days of flight availability each year,” he said. “More experimental aircraft have come out of Central Oregon than any other place in the world.”
RDD
He added that RDD, located adjacent to the Redmond Airport, has been doing well financially despite a somewhat flat aviation market nationally these days.
At RDD, those on the tour walked into a huge open-doored work space housing nine airplanes in final states of assembly or upgrade. The company has 23 employees during this, its tenth anniversary year. Co-owner David McRae said RDD used to attract qualified applicants simply through the local area’s lifestyle perks.
“Now we have to provide wages as well as a view,” he said. “It used to be just a view.”
In response to a question, McRae said RDD employees’ wages range from $35,000 to $120,000. “We invest heavily in our employees,” he said.
The company has customers across the U.S., in Europe and Asia. Three clients keep their airplanes in Central Oregon full-time while other fly to Redmond when they need work to be done. Some work is done on company-owned planes in addition to private ones.
“All the revenue comes from somewhere else,” McRae said. “It’s not from Bend or Redmond, but all over the world. We probably have 100 customers a year and only two or three are from Central Oregon.”
RDD’s products include aircraft instrument panels, airframe pressurization conversions, aircraft interior finishing, painting, and engine conversions among other things. The firm’s staff conducts airplane inspections, plus flight training and flight testing.
Assistance in building an experimental plane provides a significant part of RDD’s income. They specialize in LX7 aircraft conversions costing $550,000, McRae said.
Jeff Hallbeck of Hudson, Wisconsin, is one of RDD’s customers, and he was in the shop when the Made in Redmond Tour stopped by. Hallbeck told Cascade Business News the company had just finished building his experimental aircraft and he would fly it home in a day or two. Picking RDD was an easy choice, he said.
“They are the premier builders,” Hallbeck said. “I wanted someone who knows these things inside and out, and has built hundreds of them rather than just two or three.”
McRae said the LX7 kits used to take a year to assemble, but thanks to innovative techniques the time has been cut to three months.
“That’s a big time-frame for an owner,” he said of a one-year turnaround. “Nobody wants to wait.”
RDD has a flight simulator that teaches customers how to fly the plane they are buying. Made in Redmond Tour members enjoyed taking a peek as an employee demonstrated how the simulator works.
CENTRAL COMPOSITES
At Central Composites, founder Marcus Falhgren opened the doors in 2010 with the goal of providing more practical and affordable options in the composite manufacturing industry. Central Composites, at 4626 SW 21st St., has grown over the years thanks to Falhgren’s engineering background and the resin infusion production process. The business began by occupying 2,250 square feet, moved to a shop twice that large, then doubled its size again by moving into the current 9,000-square-foot space.
Central Composites fabricates products ranging from wheelchair parts to accessories for aviation, automotive and outdoor recreation purposes.
“We have three big companies that buy wheelchair parts from us,” Falhgren said.
The idea for a start-up company sprang to his mind at a party while talking to someone in a wheelchair who complained about the high price of many composite parts on the chair. Falhgren was just 23 years old at the time, and now at age 29 has perfected a way to make sturdy, high-quality parts at lower costs. His first big sale was in China.
“A lot of our products end up in Europe,” he added.
Central Composites now turns out 200 wheelchair backrests per month, using lighter and more affordable materials. Other products with the firm’s components range from knives to drift boats and occasionally aircraft parts.
Falhgren started his company with one other person. They occupied a single rental work bay to begin, but growth now includes a staff of 7.5 employees.
Showing a work-in-progress drift boat in the company shop, Falhgren explained they can make it lighter than the normal type because Central Composites uses a lower percentage of resin in laminates. It’s not only stronger than traditional boats, but is “much, much lighter,” Falhgren said.
The company has a blend of customers locally and nationally, with sales to those in Washington, California, Wisconsin, Virginia, Utah, Montana and Texas in addition to Oregon. Annual sales figures rose consistently from $100,000 to $250,000 to $400,000 in the company’s third year.
“It plateaued for a while but I’m optimistic we’ll grow,” Falhgren said. “We are debt-free.”
Mobility equipment, such as wheelchairs, accounts for sixty percent of Central Composites’ business, he said, with one of their eight clients providing thirty percent of sales.
AIRCRAFT RUBBER / FUEL SAFE SYSTEMS
Aircraft Rubber Manufacturing Inc., doing business as Fuel Safe Systems, has designed and produced fuel and fluid containment systems for almost three decades. Its fuel cells provide a safe way to store or transport fuel, water, gases and hazardous materials. The company at 1550 NE Kingwood Ave. has global sales of products for industries such as aerospace, motor sports, marine use, military, chemical containment, mining and oil and gas exploration.
The crash-resistant fuel cells made in Redmond are a staple on the NASCAR racing circuit because of their level of safety, Aircraft Rubber Manufacturing President Bill Hare said. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit into different types of vehicles.
The company has fourty employees, including some who live in Bend and Prineville and one worker who commutes from Christmas Valley. Seventy percent of its business is with the automobile racing world.
“We build cardboard and fiberglas forms to make bladder containers,” Hare said. “We have a lot of the top (NASCAR) teams and they want the bladders to fit absolutely perfectly.”
A product called the “Pro Barrel” allows up to 500 gallons of fuel to be transported to remote operations for such purposes as mining, Hare said. No matter what type or size of bladder, he said, Aircraft Rubber does its own in-house puncture testing.
Wages at Aircraft Rubber begin at $12 to $15 per hour for entry level employees up to $50,000 to $70,000 for engineers. “We want the best employees we can find,” Hare said.
Aircraft Rubber’s Sales Engineer Jason McGee, who has a car racing background, said the goal is to boost the firm’s sales from 25 percent in industrial markets to 50 percent of overall sales. He noted that clients for fuel containment systems include AT&T, which has facilities in far-flung areas of Alaska.
“It is amazing how remote some people are operating,” McGee said.
Uses of the company’s “Ranger” line of marine fuel bladders include yachting, workboat and fishing vessels where convenient, safe onboard transport
is necessary.
SMITH BROTHERS PUSHRODS
Smith Brothers Pushrods relocated to Central Oregon in 1996 from Southern California. There are now 25 employees at the leased 32,000-square-foot facility at 2895 SW 13th St. Pushrods aren’t common in mainstream cars these days because overhead cam engines have replaced rods in most traditional vehicles. However, President Scott Mills said pushrods are very important in racing engines for NASCAR drivers, and other pursuits such as drag racing, tractor pulling, diesel engines, restarting projects, and motorcycles.
The firm’s pushrods come in several varieties — straight wall, tapered, adjustable and one-piece. They keep the most accurate tolerances in the industry, Mills said.
“Pushrods is a niche market,” he said. “We are projected to grow (sales) a little this year, but it’s mostly a flat market.”
Despite that, Smith Brothers produces 1,000 rods daily in sets that range in price from $100 to $500 or $600, Mills said. The company augments that with specialty engine components including rocker screws, pushrod length checkers, and LS engine trunnion upgrade kits. Smith Brothers promises to repair or replace, at its discretion, anything it manufactured that has defective workmanship or design.
“Fast turnaround time is a real competitive advantage for us,” he said, adding that the company’s competitors are a firm in Southern California and another
in Detroit.
Machinists at Smith Brothers make from $25 to $35 per hour, Mills said.
The company has relied on word-of-mouth among NASCAR teams to build sales. Now, though, Smith Brothers is beginning some online advertising.
“We’re trying to think of other ways we can utilize our machines and machinists,” Mills said.
Helicopters represent one potential new market due to a move to require safety fuel bladders on civilian helicopters, according to Mills. Military helicopters already are equipped with safety bladders.
Before embarking on the bus tour, REDI President Rob Kennard spoke briefly about the event. He called it “an opportunity to see behind the scenes of some Redmond manufacturing companies.”
The head of each company visited on the tour received a plaque proclaiming October 7 National Manufacturing Day. The plaques served as a thank-you for the contributions each firm makes to the local community and its economy, REDI’s Stark said.
Stark added that one purpose of the tour “is to remind people that these companies bring wealth to our community.”
The tour and lunch at the Central Oregon Community College Tech Ed Center were free to the participants. Besides REDI, other sponsors were Columbia Bank, lunch; High Country Disposal, transportation and EarthH20, water.
