Copyright 2004 The Oregonian

February 26, 2004 Thursday SUNRISE EDITION

SECTION: SOUTHWEST ZONER; LAKE OSWEGO; Pg. 06

LENGTH: 826 words

HEADLINE: MAN RELISHES LEAP ONTO CUTTING EDGE

SOURCE: DANA TIMS - The Oregonian

BODY:
Summary: After leaving his post in Wilsonville, Brit Adams discovers adventure in manufacturing in Tualatin

A little more than one year ago, Brit Adams jumped from his job as executive director of the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce into an even more private-sector job as marketing director for his in-laws' laser-cutting company.

Since then, he's gained considerable insight into carbon-dioxide laser-cutting machines, the lay of Tualatin's sprawling industrial sector and the glimmers of a possible economic turnaround.

The company, Laser Cutting Services, covers 40,000 square feet of warehouse space in Tualatin, just east of Sherwood's city limits. Adams' mother- and father-in-law, Bobbi and Ron Duffy, moved the company to Tualatin six years ago from Northwest Portland when they outgrew their former space.

They asked Adams to join the company as an all-around administrator. In agreeing to the move, he left his Wilsonville chamber job, where he'd worked for about 3-1/2 years.

Recently, the Beaverton resident talked about his day-to-day duties and a world of manufacturing he never realized was so vibrant and complex.

How's the laser-cutting business these days? It's great. We're doing very well. December was somewhat slow due to the holidays, but January hit like a ton of bricks. We've been operating basically around the clock, which is very nice. It's good to get people back in the swing of things

Maybe you could explain just what the business does. We have three carbon-dioxide laser machines, which we use to cut an extensive inventory of metals. We cut parts for manufacturers, machine shops, job shops, do-it-yourselfers, artisans. All kinds of different folks who need anything from large-scale runs to one-of-a-kind cutting services.

How long has the company been around? My in-laws started it six years ago. They both had extensive backgrounds with local service centers. My mother-in-law, in fact, helped pioneer the use of lasers for industrial applications in the Portland area. We're now up to 14 employees and two shifts.

Why did they move from Portland to Tualatin? They simply needed more room, but it's been interesting. They didn't really save any money coming out here because they had to get more land than they had previously. And our access to our existing customer base is not as good as it was in Portland. At the same time, it introduced us to a whole new geographic group of customers on the west side of town. All in all, it's worked out very nicely.

So what prompted your own move from the Wilsonville chamber to helping lead a Tualatin business? It was too good an opportunity to pass up. They were looking for someone to help with marketing support and saw me as a good addition to the team. I really enjoyed my time in Wilsonville and wasn't looking to leave.

How big is your company's customer base? The bulk of it is in the Portland metro area. But we have customers in Southwest Washington down to Albany, with a few others spread out around the state. We have a couple of customers in Montana and just finished doing a job for folks doing some display work in Seattle.

So if I walk in off the street and need an inch-thick piece of steel cut to precision standards, you'll do that for me? Absolutely. We use state-of-the-art technology and can hold tolerances to a few thousandths of an inch. It's very precise work. A lot of companies building custom machinery need that high degree of accuracy. The advantage of a laser is that it can do beautiful cuts that are very precise. But it's also great for artisans, for folks who might do unique things as far as sculptures, displays, trade shows, signs, components that go into shelving.

Have you met most of your neighbors in Tualatin's industrial area? I've met a lot of them, and you'd be surprised by just how much manufacturing is going on out here. We don't do machining, for instance, so we need other companies to do that for us. In this area alone, we've found easily half a dozen vendors who can complete that work. It's really pretty amazing.

Do you have any thoughts, based on your own experience so far, on how the larger economic picture is shaping up these days? It seems like it's picking up. I'm closing in on one year here now, and we're hitting quantities of parts where some customers are filling their shelves with inventory rather than just buying the one or two pieces they need for a particular job. That's really a good sign. I think we're starting to see some real revival.

So it's your view that manufacturing is a driving force behind a successful economy? No question about it. I get preachy about businesses like this in a local community, but they are the economic backbone. If you don't have businesses making things and selling things, then you have no need for phone service and insurance and other things that service manufacturers.

Dana Tims: 503-294-5973; danatims@news.oregonian.com

GRAPHIC: Photo by Robert Bach - The Oregonian