Date: 13 May 2014
We may not be a large company but we are lean and fast, manufacturing coatings for use all over the globe, able to produce things that would leave many dizzy.
Watching the company grow has been fun. From the early stages of being a startup to over the last fifteen years as an actual employee, and now CEO, I’ve gotten to see all the ups and downs. We went from a small commercial office (read garage) warehouse to a new building about sixteen years ago. At that time, everyone was in shock that we would even get to a point we needed a new facility. Yet, we kept growing, innovating, creating, being curious, turned over more stones than I can remember, and we just tried to be better than the day before.
The Vockler family isn’t much for fanfare. What we do as a company for our community is personal, we don’t choose to tell the world. However, yesterday was different. Yesterday we broke ground on the next new ICD facility in Ridgefield, Washington. Just a few minutes north of where we are today but double the size of our current facility. With even a little more room to expand on that.
Our R&D capabilities will be over double what they are today. Manufacturing will get a much-needed LEAN overhaul to make an already efficient production, vastly more efficient. We will have room for newly expanding products lines, such as CeramiGlass.
We may shy away from the fanfare but we are proud of what we have built and what we have yet to do. The most fun aspect of the ground breaking was including all the employees in Vancouver. The folks who do outstanding work and make this company as great as it is. It’s also very fun to share the light with Robertson & Olson Contractors, another local family who built our first building fifteen years ago. Where we operate is my stomping ground. It’s where I grew up; it’s also where my folks grew up. Which made the day even more fun to share with Ridgefield’s new City Manager, Steve Stuart. Who prior to this job was one of the best County Commissioners we have ever had. Steve and I also met at about the third grade and were friends through High School and beyond.
Lastly, it’s fun to be part of a community. We were very happy to have the Port of Ridgefield, the Ridgefield City Council, and Mayor Ron Onslow help mark our new growth point. Which, funny enough, most of them are either neighbors of our employees or have known us as a family for over sixty years. We thank everyone who came out, from the community to our trusted counsel, accountants, bankers and the like.
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Robertson & Olson Construction
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