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Blog posts tagged with 'small business'

Albina Co., Inc. Virtual & Aerial Tour 2020
Albina Co., Inc. Virtual & Aerial Tour 2020

Take a journey in, above and around our production shop and office with this high resolution virtual and aerial tour of Albina Co, Inc. See our state of the art roll bending machines in action from a plan view, soar through our bays, watch our certified welders in action, and take a peek into our office and newly renovated lunch and conference rooms.

Grand Opening! State Of the Art Lunchroom at Albina Co., Inc.
Grand Opening! State Of the Art Lunchroom at Albina Co., Inc.

As we near the end of our 80th Anniversary celebration, and during this holiday season of Thanksgiving, we wanted to give a special "Thank You" to our employees and provide them with a modern, state of the art, relaxing place for them to enjoy breaks and lunch together. We decided to create an elevated lunchroom up on our mezzanine level, giving the employees a retreat away from the production floor and opening up more production space below the mezzanine. This new production space opens up many opportunities for new equipment and capacities, just like the DAVI MAV K30 Plate Roll we just purchased! More information to come on that next month.
Jackson-Barrett Construction did an amazing job on the project! They were professional and efficient and produced an extremely high quality room for us. With their help, we also commissioned a local company called PDX Wraps to create custom wall wraps for both the exterior and interior of the room. Such a cool product!
In addition, we surveyed our crew to find out what was most important to them when creating this new space. Items included cell phone and laptop charging stations, multiple microwaves and refrigerators, and ergonomic chairs.

State of the Art Lunchroom at Albina Co., Inc. Wall wraps by PDX Wraps

View out the lunchroom window down on shop floor at Albina Co., Inc.

Refrigerator and Microwave Wall in Lunchroom at Albina Co., Inc.

Lockers and custom painted doors in lunchroom at Albina Co., Inc.
Best Crew in the Steel Business!
Best Crew in the Steel Business!
A shout out to these awesome guys for all their hard work and dedication! The shop is super busy right now and they are churning through the work creating top quality steel bends for our customers! We are so busy that we are looking for qualified candidates that want to join us in our steel bending adventures. If you are interested in learning more about the available positions in our shop, please contact HR dwilson@albinaco.com.

The "Springfield Flame" Graces the Cover of the West Coast Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine!
The "Springfield Flame" Graces the Cover of the West Coast Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine!

Check out the cover spot and three page feature article on Albina Co., Inc. in the June/July West Coast Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine. Pages 24-26! Portland artist Devin Laurence Field produced the laser-­cut stainless steel flame sculpture and Albina Co., Inc. bent 18" STD A53B ERW 10 lens x 40 ft down to a 42 ft radius for the sculpture.

A2Z Manufacturing Curved Steel Artwork "Springfield Flame"

We had such a great time working with Linda and Kim to highlight and showcase all of the amazing curved steel projects we have done in Oregon, Washington, and California. Some projects featured in the article include:

Portland International Airport Curved Steel Canopy
Portland International Airport Canopy

Daly Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum  Curved Steel Roof
Dale Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum- Seattle, WA.

The Spheres Curved Steel Roof Supports
"The Spheres" Seattle, WA.
Happy Father's Day

I'm proud of my hard work. Working hard won't always lead to the exact things we desire. There are many things I've wanted that I haven't always gotten. But, I have a great satisfaction in the blessings from my mother and father, who instilled a great work ethic in me both personally and professionally. -Tamron Hall

Father's Day is upon us! Father's Day is particularly important to me as I lost my father, Bill, over 8 years ago, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him or get a reminder of him while at work. It can be a phone call from someone in the industry who used to work with him, it can be an old quote I see come across my desk with his name on it, it can be my daily rounds through the shop where I can still see him problem solving with a machine operator on a particularly challenging job. Whatever it may be, I always remind myself that I am a representative of the Smith Family and the steel bending business that my grandfather and father helped to build. Jaime and I have been building on their values for many, many years now and feel great about where we have been able to take the business. All three generations have worked in both the shop and office during our careers. A fourth generation spends their summers pulling weeds, washing windows and doing database entry in their spare time. We have four generations of family who believe in the steel industry and believe in the value of hard work. I have no idea if my son and daughter will be interested in taking over the family business some day, but if they do, I am confident that they will work hard, be honest and carry on the traditions we have lived by for the last 80 years! I am a proud business owner and a proud Father. Happy Father's Day to all you Father's out there!

Bill & Brian Smith-2001
Utah District Courthouse Spiral Staircase Graces Cover of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine in June!
Utah District Courthouse Spiral Staircase Graces Cover of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine in June!

Check out the cover spot and three page feature article on Albina Co., Inc. in the June Rocky Mountain Edition of A2Z Manufacturing Magazine. Pages 18-20! We had such a great time working with Linda and Kim to highlight and showcase all of the amazing curved steel projects we have done in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Some projects featured in the article include:

Sun Valley Music Pavillion in Sun Valley, ID. 220,000# of pipe rolled ranging from 10" Sch80 to 10" XXH
Sun Valley Music Pavillion in Sun Valley, ID. 220,000# of pipe rolled ranging from 10" Sch80 to 10" XXH

Curved Steel Signage at Entrance to Yellow Stone National Park Attraction "Buffalo Bill Cody Stampede Park"
Custom Signage at Entrance to Yellow Stone National Park Attraction "Buffalo Bill Cody Stampede Park"

Ellie Caulkins Opera House Denver, CO. 210 lengths 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 3/16" angle rolled to numerous compound radii
Ellie Caulkins Opera House Denver, CO. 210 lengths 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 3/16" angle rolled to numerous compound radii
We Can Save You Money! (How to Read a Quote)

Have you ever had trouble reading one of our quotes? I hope the answer to that questions is "No", but if for any reason it is not, we have put together a brief video to show you "How to Read Our Quotes." If quotes are not being read accurately, it is possible you are not comparing apples to apples when analyzing our quote against our competitor's quote. You could actually end of paying more if you do not understand what the quote consists of.  The biggest thing is material. More often than not, we quote material on our bid, so our TOTAL number is more because material is included. You may look at the TOTAL number and think we are too high. BUT, instead of  being "high" we were actually the LOW PRICE, once you compare apples to apples. Our quotes will consist of one or all of the following 3 elements: Material, Labor and/or Freight. Both the email you receive and the attached quote will clearly identify which of those 3 elements are included in the quote. Please take the time to watch this brief video so that you can understand what our quotes consist of and avoid the mistake of paying too much for a project. 

How to Read Our Quotes
LINK TO VIDEO: HOW TO READ OUR QUOTES
Picture Vault Getting Rave Reviews from Customers!
Our new "Picture Vault" has been live for almost two weeks and our customers are loving it! We have sent picture links to dozens of customers and have gotten extremely positive feedback. Customers think the vault is "cool", "informative" and "a great way to learn about the steel bending process." If you haven't heard about the vault yet, here is a recap! We recently added a new bar coding system to our shop orders which allow our operators to take pictures during various stages of a bending project. Customers can now login to a secure portion of the Albina Co., Inc. website to see their jobs in four various phases of the steel bending process: raw material, in-process, in quality control and ready to ship.The objective is to offer yet another value-added service for our customers and to keep them well informed throughout their project. Once pictures are taken and uploaded to Albina’s internal picture vault, the project manager at the customer site will receive an email with a secure login username and password, as well as a link letting them know that they have new pictures ready to view. Pictures will be categorized based on Purchase Order Number and Project Name and will remain available for viewing indefinitely. If customers like the pictures posted in the vault, they are welcome to contact us and we will provide a JPEG image for both internal or external use. The secure site is also useful for ordering Standard Duct & Component Parts online! So quick and easy! If you haven't ordered online yet, call us today and we will get you set-up immediately to start ordering online. Picture Vault This is just the first phase of the secure site. Our plan is to provide a resource for customers to view and track other items including invoices, packing slips, order confirmations, etc.
"Hey Siri" Who Do I Call When I Have a Labor Shortage and Am Struggling to Keep Up With the Flow of Work? ANSWER: Albina Co., Inc. Can Help Service Your Needs!

Our industry is faced with a labor shortage right now and we know that many shops are struggling to keep up with the flow of work. In this case, don't ask "Siri" for help, ask us! Albina Co., Inc. is fortunate to have a strong union labor force behind us with workers that are available to meet your IMMEDIATE NEEDS. If you have a rush project that you need to get done-WE CAN HELP! If you have spillover work you need assistance getting to your customer- WE CAN HELP! Why hire temporary workers that you need to train? Why not team up with Albina Co., Inc.? We can be an extension of your shop. Let us partner with you on such projects as: Small Parts Bending Handrails Bike Racks Supplemental Fabrication (cutting, trimming, coping, end finishing, drilling, small part welding, etc.) WE CAN WORK TO YOUR BUDGET NEEDS....you tell us where our price needs to be to meet your budget requirements and we will figure out a way to get it done at that price. IF LEAD-TIME IS A CONCERN, HAVE NO FEAR....you tell us when you need it and we will allocate the crew required to meet your needs. Supplemental Steel Fabrication Supplemental Steel Fabrication Supplemental Steel Fabrication

Meet Brian and Jaime Smith-March Madness...Size Doesn't Matter, Big or Small!
We are basketball junkies in our family and we love watching March Madness! We love it because all scenarios are represented: big history-rich dominating schools vs. small underdog first timers, big boisterous coaches vs. the silent tactical types, and big 7-footers vs. small point guards. This last scenario is true in our family as I stand at 6'6" and Jaime almost a foot shorter. You can see below why Jaime, who actually played D1 college basketball, implemented a "no shot blocking rule" when we first started dating!! Meet Brian and Jaime Smith We think that this big vs. small comparison carries over so well into our business because we have the capability to bend steel for many different scenarios as well: big high-profile structural steel projects vs. small precision parts for manufacturing and industrial applications, large projects with mass quantities of bends vs. small one-piece bends for a one-time job and we are also a small, family owned business, yet we are the premier bending expert in the entire nation. No matter the job, big or small, we would love the opportunity to be Your Bending Expert.