Climax Portable Machine Tools Seeks to Show Value of Manufacturing

Geoff Gilmore's company is showing all the signs of positive growth.
The CEO of Climax Portable Machine Tools Inc. can boast of 22 percent annual revenue growth, a growing presence in Europe, and a 14,000-square-foot addition to his manufacturing plant in Newberg to take care of an ever-growing backlog of orders for the company's portable fix-it machines.
Now if he could only find some machinists.
"A building and a bunch of machines don't produce anything," Gilmore said. "We're finding the machinists aren't there."
To solve the problem, the company is heading to the classrooms -- whether the rooms be filled with third graders or community college students. The idea is to change the way students think of manufacturing and simultaneously recharge Climax's long-term talent pool.

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