Manufacturing 2019 Manufacturing Week Bus Tour

Pasco The employee-owned UniWest (United Western Technologies Corporation) creates custom diagnostic equipment to look for cracks and anomalies in jet engines, rail axles, auto parts and other safety-critical materials. It’s a second-generation spin-off from Battelle and now employs 58 people in downtown Pasco. Lesa Halka started working in electronics at age 16, building printed circuit boards as a summer job. She went on to work at UniWest. After 15 years at the company, she is the floor supervisor and handles quality control. “The work environment here is awesome,” she said. “The people are great. Fifteen years probably says it all. I wouldn’t really want to work anywhere else.” “We started this thing to keep a small business in the community that would provide high- compensation jobs and be here for a long time,” said CEO and Chairman of the Board Mark Gehlen, who describes the job as a “get-rich- slow” opportunity for its employee-owners. Mike Setbacken has worked 30 years at UniWest, starting five years after the company was formed. He handles assembly and design for the company, and invented a probe that can examine jet turbines for a safety-critical flaw without requiring them to be torn apart — a solution that saves $100,000 each time they are tested. Setbacken is an artist on the side, making copper jewelry and water features. Having that artistic mindset is important, he said, when it comes to coming up with novel solutions to mechanical problems. “There’s a little bit of art involved, not just technical, but art,” he said.

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