Oregon is one of the strongest building markets in the country, and Oregon Truss is preparing for the next chapter of our future. Thanks to our founder Wayne Beebe’s foresight to plan for expansion, we have a brand new factory that enables us to maintain normal lead times while our competitors are struggling to meet customer expectations. All investments are being carefully planned to enhance safety, efficiency, and productivity per employee. Soon we will complete our spacious, efficient, and comfortable offices. Our state-of-the-art office building includes SIPs walls and roof, along with ground water/in-floor heating cooling systems, and we are looking forward to moving in. The new office is attached to a new, innovative manufacturing plant which was put on-line in early 2016. A highly-automated floor truss line was developed for us by Square 1 – it will be installed upon completion of the new building that will house the expanded saw, jack table along with the floor truss lines.
We are rethinking every aspect of the business including our business model, organizational structure, and all aspects of manufacturing and logistics. Sales increased significantly in 2016 and look to be even higher in 2017. We are growing quickly and looking for good people to grow with us. We are currently recruiting for Estimators, Designers, and Production Managers to join our team. As good designers are scarce and take years to develop, we are developing the facilitation of remote designers as a core competency. We need good people in many areas to support our growth, so if you know of anyone near, or wanting to move to, the Pacific Northwest, please give them my name.
To help with the transition from survival mode necessitated by the recent recession and take advantage of growth opportunities, Wayne Beebe approached me to join Oregon Truss last year. Although I had recently retired to the Oregon Coast after 34 years with Simpson Strong-Tie, I was ready for the right challenge so I agreed to explore ways to help Wayne achieve his vision. I had never been part of a truss manufacturing operation, but I’ve had extensive exposure to the truss industry and the wonderful people who have committed their careers to improving this unique aspect of light-frame construction around the world. Initially I was brought on as a consultant to help refine business plans, explore company structure, and help evolve the company culture. But soon I realized the potential of this company. The timing, location, company life cycle stage, and potential for me to add significant value all aligned to make this a perfect fit. The opportunity to grow something great excited me so much that I bought in as a minority partner.