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Don't you love it when a plan comes together? Sort of like the "A-Team!"
JC (my husband), and I took a 35 minute trip from
our home just South of the Hood Canal Bridge in Washington,
to Sequim, Washington this week to see the progress on a
brand new manufacturing facility. The facility has to do
with rod building - and I'm one of those women who find
hardware stores, lumber yards and manufacturing plants
absolutely fascinating.
The last time we were on the property, the building was
up, walls and roof, and we were told about what was coming.
Very cool. But seeing it up, operating, and getting a
personal tour was really special.
I've kept you guessing long enough, the facility is
Cascade Composites, a rod blank factory. The
sole purpose for this new manufacturing plant is to
supply Rainshadow blanks for Batson Enterprises.
We've known Bob Batson for some time, and have admired
what he has done to supply rod builders with quality
products. (Batson Enterprises is a Sponsor on FAOL,
and as with all our Sponsors is here by invitation.)
But Bob wasn't satisfied with what he was able to purchase
for blanks - and wanted an American-made blank which
was superior quality. His vision was to build a rod blank
factory. He began putting the parts together in 1995.
It lives.
With the help of engineering genius and visionary Don Mook,
the facility and each piece of equipment was developed on
site to make Cascade Composites the state-of-the-art facility.
The building is large, 9,760 square feet, and will by summer
employ 27 full-time people. The care of the employees was
very evident in our tour - as was their positive attitude.
We were allowed to see all of the steps and processes
taken to make the rods, and one of the things which was
especially impressive were the bake and coatings ovens.
A marvel of efficiency in design.
Bob mentioned one of the advantages of this facility as
compared to a plant which manufactures finished rods, is
they can and must give more attention to details in producing
the blanks. The blanks must be better than those produced as
'finished rods' because you can't cover anything up. They
are checked many times before the customer ever receives them,
anything faulty is discarded.
Bob can be very proud of the complex he has built within the
city limits of Sequim. The whole facility covers 30,000 sqaure
feet, with the distribution part of the business,
Batson Enterprises, employing 9 people.
But Bob isn't resting on a job well done - he has more
ideas, and new things for the rod builders. Stay tuned.
~ The LadyFisher
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