An Oregon contractor is making a significant investment in Whatcom County that could mean up to 100 local jobs.
Greenberry Industrial of Corvallis has purchased a 46,000 square foot facility in Ferndale and is in negotiations with the Port of Bellingham to lease 45,000 square feet of space on the Bellingham waterfront.
The company recently landed a major contract with Houston-based Superior Energy to build modules for Alaska drilling operations. Some of the fabrication will be done in Whatcom County, said Chris Murray, vice president of regional operations.
The project will result in about 100 new jobs in Whatcom County for the duration of the project, which is around 12 months. Murray expects between 40 and 50 of those jobs to be permanent after the project, as the company works to establish itself in this part of the Pacific Northwest. Along with companies like Superior Energy, Greenberry has worked with Boeing, Xerox and a variety of oil refineries.
The type of job positions the company is looking to fill are in the metal trades, including pipefitters and welders, Murray said.
Greenberry purchased the Ferndale facility for $3.3 million, and moved its operations to the facility from Burlington earlier this month. The company originally came to Skagit County in 2008, leasing a space while determining whether to have a permanent facility in this part of the state. Once it had determined it wanted to stay in the area, the company did some research before settling on the former Tree Island facility at 6980 Salashan Parkway, which has heavy power and bridge cranes.
“(This facility) was made-to-order for us,” said Murray, noting that the company also made about $500,000 in tenant improvements to the building. “We’re here to stay.”
The Port of Bellingham space the company plans on leasing space at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal off of Cornwall Avenue. The port commissioners will be meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 4 to vote on whether to authorize the commercial lease agreement. The proposed lease contract is for one year for about $164,000, but Murray said the company is interested in establishing a long-term lease contract.
The company moved into its Ferndale facility on Friday, Sept. 23 and is currently operating with 15 employees. Design work on its module project is underway, with fabrication work expected to begin in the third week of October, he said.
Greenberry currently gets more than 60 percent of its revenue from Washington state projects. It recently worked with the Port of Everett to build a cement distribution facility, putting in 175,000 hours without a single lost workday due to injury. It also recently established its own waterfront fabrication facility in Vancouver, Wash.
In Oregon, the company received awards for its renovation work on a cement company processing complex in Portland and Xerox’s color ink production site in Wilsonville.
For details about the company, click this (link) .
Great news for all the trades that now won’t need to find work at the SSA coal piles fouling their own nest.
There’s a small detail about the suitability of drilling in the Arctic,
but hey, that’s not our problem, is it.
We just want the money.