Some companies buck the bad-news blues
Companies in fields from food processing to pharmaceuticals are expanding their work forces

Tom Sowa
Staff writer

At a glance Interview with Anthony Bonanzino

Not every Inland Northwest company laid off workers or slashed its budget in 2002.

Dozens of area companies caught fire, using a combination of good marketing and survival skills to generate sales.

The success of these front-runners is one standard that other companies in the region will measure themselves against in 2003.

For example, Schweitzer Engineering Labs Inc., based in Pullman, grew by more than 100 workers last year. The manufacturing company predicts steady demand in 2003 for its innovative power-relay units used by electric utilities and large industrial customers around the world.

In Spokane, Hollister-Stier Laboratories added a second shift of workers last year to handle increased orders from drug companies nationwide.

The company's best-known contract is to fill more than a million vials of anthrax vaccine annually for the U.S. government. By the end of last year, that contract plus several others with major pharmaceutical companies expanded Hollister-Stier from 250 to 300 employees. The north Spokane company expects to add more workers over the next 12 months.

"We've worked hard at it," said Hollister-Stier CEO Anthony Bonanzino. "The (success last year) was the fruition of our ongoing efforts. We've been developing these contracts over time."

At Isothermal Systems Research, which is relocating from Clarkston to Liberty Lake, the number of employees has grown to more than 75, most of the hires added during 2002.

ISR is developing and selling high-end cooling systems for computers and circuit boards. Executives expect the company to grow 30 percent this year.

Also in Liberty Lake, Purcell Systems Inc. has grown from 10 to 34 employees in the past 12 months, fueled by a $35 million order from T-Mobile Wireless for power-supply cabinets, which it designs and builds.

In Sandpoint, food processor Litehouse Inc. recorded double-digit revenue growth last year as its salad dressings, sauces and dips enticed new customers across the country.

The privately held company grew to 375 workers; 20 added in the past year.

Litehouse President Doug Hawkins predicts 2003 will be another good year. "We've got plans for a very strong year. We'll see at least 15 percent revenue growth" with the addition of about 10 more jobs in Sandpoint.

Some of the region's call centers also performed well last year.

ICT Group, a Pennsylvania-based call center corporation, operates one of the largest facilities in Eastern Washington. ICT's Spokane Valley offices, in the U-City Mall, grew from 480 employees at the start of 2002 to 880 in December, a company spokesman said.

ICT Group provides customer-support for AOL Time Warner and Virgin Mobile, a wireless phone service provider.

North Idaho's largest call center, Center Partners Inc., also grew by 400 new jobs in 2002. The company's two offices in Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene now employ about 1,400 people. Center Partners' largest client is AT&T Broadband.

The success of these companies and others, such as Itron Inc., Itronix and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories, has inspired others to look for ways to cut costs, cultivate new customers and simplify business practices.

Pete Chase, CEO of Purcell Systems, said the use of a production-process consultant helped his company succeed last year. The consultants evaluated how Purcell's production system performed tasks, then showed executives numerous ways to cut costs and eliminate redundant labor, said Chase.

The review helped eliminate the need to expand the company into another building. Although some of the company's growth is due to its innovative, patent-pending power cabinets, Chase said consultants helped the company lower production costs.

News moves quickly in the manufacturing and technology sectors, especially in a down economy, said Tom Stoeser, who sits on Purcell's board of directors but also helps numerous other companies in the region.

"There's a network out there with people looking for answers in this kind of economy," said Stoeser, who is a managing partner of Bighorn Ventures, a venture capital firm in Post Falls.

It wasn't long before managers of other companies called Chase for the name of his consultant. One manager even asked Chase to hire the workers he was about to lay off, because he knew Purcell was looking to expand.

The manager wanted Chase to hire the workers "so they stayed in this area and didn't get away," said Stoeser.

Employment facts

In 2002, about 3,000 people in Eastern Washington and North Idaho attended 300 classes through the Small Business Administration on how to operate or start a business.