by Janet O’Mara
Jerry Welch and David Addie, founders of International
Aero, Inc., an airline support company in the Bayview Business and
Industrial Park, found a viable industry niche in airline interiors
14 years ago and their company quickly took off. A flexible operation,
allowing them to supply smaller orders quickly, has kept the company
profitable, enabling it to successfully weather storms inherent in
the aircraft industry.
“Some years it’s booming,” explains Ronald Walquist,
chief financial officer, “and some years it’s not quite so booming.”
Even so, the privately held company — number 25 on this year’s Top
50 list — has maintained a steady flight pattern, however, reporting
in excess of $13 million in gross sales last year. This kind of tenacious
success is no small feat in the often unpredictable, even capricious,
aircraft industry.
International Aero provides interiors for large passenger
aircraft all over the world, specializing in manufacturing, reconfiguring
and modifying interiors for Boeing commercial planes, old and new.
From one end of the inside of an airplane to another, International
Aero either has the parts or can make them. “We’re a ‘let’s do it’
type of organization,” comments Walquist. “If we don’t have it, we’ll
build it.”
In 1988, Welch and Addie opened their first office
and small shop near Everett’s Paine Field. They knew from experience
that when airlines scheduled downtime for engine maintenance it is
also cost effective to do other jobs, such as refurbish interiors,
which helped them grow the company quickly over the next three years.
In 1991, the company moved to its current, 93,000-square-foot facility
near the Skagit Regional Airport and now ships its products all over
the globe.
The process and demand for airline interiors can be
compared to fixing up or maintaining an older automobile. The first
order of business is usually engine maintenance or repair, tire replacement
or maybe adding a new coat of paint. If the automobile then needs
new upholstery or a new stereo system — or perhaps a safety feature
not originally supplied, such as seat belts — another expert is called
in, one with interior expertise and the parts at hand.
Expert in its field
In the case of airplanes, that expert is International
Aero, Inc., one of few in the country specializing in Boeing interiors.
“What makes airline interiors such a niche business
is that airlines use it as a marketing tool, an indicator of the quality
of the airline,” clarifies Carlos A. Herrera, vice president of operations.
“Interiors must be clean, comfortable, soothing and safe, but within
that dress-up, there are other issues as well, such as weight and
safety.
“Airlines, therefore, are very interested in finding
a certified, reliable company, with good turnaround and good prices,”
he adds. “They want to minimize their downtime. We have to be high-quality,
cost-effective and fast, or we lose business.”
As one might expect, there also is a pile of regulations
governing airline repairs and supplies — the company is a certified
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) repair station, as required
by law.
And unlike automobiles, the much-larger interior of
an airplane can accommodate endless variety and reconfiguration. For
example, more seats in first class, more or less space in business
class or different galley arrangements, depending on the length of
the scheduled flights. “
We can supply everything inside an airplane,” notes
Herrera, “from the cockpit door all the way to the back.” This includes,
in part, “passenger service units,” those panels with the oxygen,
lights and speakers above the seats; side panels with the sliding
windows; overhead storage bins; seats; ovens; and lavatories. And,
yes, International Aero is teaming up with a design firm to manufacture
a bulletproof cockpit door.
Staying flexible
Because the company must be prepared to respond to
rush or otherwise challenging orders, yet maintain its profitable
edge, Herrera maintains a “lean operation,” which is at the same time
flexible and able to expand almost at a moment’s notice. From a core
of about 85 employees currently, the company can increase the number
of workers and go from one shift to three almost immediately, using
well-trained, temporary employees.
“Every morning, we look at all the jobs and identify
what might be the bottlenecks or constraints,” he remarks. “We want
to have speed to and through the possible constraints — realize what
they are and identify how to get around them.”
As part of his business philosophy, Herrera also believes
in empowering his staff and honoring their judgment. “I never make
a decision by myself,” he declares. “I always get input — I strongly
believe that it’s important to drive the decision making to the lowest
level of management that has the information to make that decision.”
“A lot of the members of the management team here are
ex-military,” he adds. “We’ve found they work well under pressure
and have an impressive work ethic. When we provide a target, they
go for it.”
But Herrera gives the lion’s share of the credit to
those he calls “the mechanics,” the hands-on workers. “We’re all a
team, but they’re the most important,” he exclaims.
SeaBear Is a
Bullish Business
Anacortes Smoked Salmon Company Savors Success
Stepping into the SeaBear Outlet Store on T Avenue
in Anacortes is like standing in a smokehouse full of curing salmon.
In fact, that’s just about what it is.
SeaBear has been around, in one form or other, since
1957, and today, it and its seven Made In Washington outlets make
it the 39th-largest privately held company in Skagit County. The company
buys more than 350,000 pounds of fresh-frozen salmon from Alaska,
smokes and packages it in retort pouches in its T Avenue facility
and sells it through direct marketing distribution that includes catalog
and Internet sales.
The outlet store, which is open to the public and a
popular stop on the tourist itinerary, also sells a variety of gifts
and accessories, as well as the different-size pouches of salmon,
individually wrapped in their distinct gold foil.
“As a company, SeaBear continues to thrive because
it stays proactive in an ever-changing economy,” says Sue Jenkins,
the outlet-store manager and a marketing person for the store.
“One of SeaBear’s secrets to success is to take calculated
risks while empowering its employees,” she continues. “The creation
of Salmon Chowder and Chili, Smoked Salmon Pasta Sauce, Patty T’s
Salmon and Bones, Nova-style Pinwheels and Puget Soundwiches are examples
of what a small, privately owned company can achieve when it captivates
on its employees’ passions.”
Lately, too, SeaBear has been helping the community
it serves. The outlet store is featuring through May note cards, posters
and watercolor and oil portraits and landscapes by Mary Gregg Byrne,
creator of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival poster for 1999 and last
year’s Berry Dairy Days poster. Proceeds from the sale of her art,
called Changing Light Art Works, go to benefit Skagitonians to Preserve
Farmland.
Auspicious beginnings
The business got its start 45 years ago when Tom Savidge,
who caught and sold smoked fish out of his home, invented a means
of keeping it fresh in gold, retortable, foil pouches. With the help
of his wife, Marie, he built the business up considerably, selling
out of their store on 12th Street, but he died before he could fulfill
all of his dreams.
In 1978, Pete Cleland came along and took the business,
now called Specialty Seafoods, another step higher, turning the foil,
boxed fish into gift items and marketing them through a catalog. Next
came Theo McCulloch, who acquired the company with help from others
in 1984. Marketing and distribution when a little further with help
from specialty retail companies such as Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom and
Harry and David. And the new owners turned Made In Washington stores
into their own for another means of distribution.
The company today has 70 to 150 employees, depending
on the season, and is run by Michael Mondello, president. Its wholesale
division sells directly to airport gift shops, grocery chains including
Food Pavilion, Larry’s Markets, QFC and Simply Seattle as well as
gift-basket lines.
Made In Washington stores, located throughout the Greater
Seattle area, sell products — many of them exclusive to the stores
— unique to the state. And many of those items are also available
at the SeaBear Outlet Store, T Avenue and 30th Street.
“Consider yourself invited to come to our island and
experience what we do here in the SeaBear store,” says Jenkins.
Yes, things have changed since Tom Savidge steamed
his troller, The Messenger, into Anacortes harbor and converted his
salmon catch into something very special.
— Michael Barrett
Greek Treats
Moussaka and More at Olympia Restaurant
by Michael Barrett
If you’ve ever been to Greece, you know that one of
the most memorable aspects of your stay was the food. Few places on
earth have fare as unique or tasty.
Greek restaurants can be found in many towns of Western
Washington — there are two in Whatcom and three in Skagit counties,
including one in Anacortes that celebrated its fourth anniversary,
inauspiciously, last Sept. 11. It’s the New Olympia — in the building
formerly occupied by Ye Olde Cobbler restaurant — at 2001 Commercial
Ave.
John Zografos and his wife, Antigoni, have spent more
than 30 years in North America, operating and owning Greek and Italian
restaurants from coast to coast.
“I have a brother in Bellingham and I came here on
vacation in 1993 and liked it,” Zografos recalls. “A friend in Everson
was trying to buy Ye Olde Cobbler for his son, who went to Canada.
We stepped in.”
Zografos, from Western Greece, chose a cousin’s restaurant,
the Athena, to start his overseas career in Brantford, Ontario, Canada,
about 60 miles southwest of Toronto. After five years, he went to
the nearby, Zorba restaurant for another five years before trying
his luck in Philadelphia, where he owned a small breakfast shop downtown
and later a pizza parlor. In 1993, he started a pizzeria at the Taj
Mahal in Atlantic City and ran it for four years before selling and
moving to the Northwest.
“We offer breakfast, lunch and dinner American, Greek
and Italian specialties,” John Zografos says of the New Olympia.The
breakfast menu is strictly the omelettes-to-waffles American variety.
Pasta includes spaghetti, fettuccinis, raviolis, lasagna, manicotti
and more. Greek dinners include souvlaki, moussaka, pastitsio, spanakopita,
gyros and a variety of lamb, chicken and beef specialties.
The restaurant is spacious, with plenty of tables and
booths for small and large group, even on “Pasta Night,” Mondays and
Wednesdays. The open kitchen is small but spotless. The service is
friendly and accommodating.
For reservations or more information, call 293-6911.