Northwest Aerospace News April | May 2019 Issue No. 8 | Page 28

“R
ight now, we have a machinist
here on a trial basis from Missouri, and
another from Wisconsin who is going to
be starting in a couple of weeks,” he said.
When it comes to finding qualified
machinists, Grim says the most important
qualification is hands-on experience at
the machine making complex parts.
“We just hired a machinist who started
machining when he was 17 years old,” he
said. “His dad had a machine shop and he
just jumped in and started cutting. Now,
he’s in his 20s and we offered him a job
that starts at $32 an hour.”
Of course, not everyone grows up in
a household with a machine shop, so
Grim is actively engaged with programs
that help young people gain hands-on
experience.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
One such program is Core Plus (core-plus.org), which provides high school
students with the opportunity to train in skilled trades, including as machinists,
welders and assembly technicians.
“Another pretty good program that we have here in the Seattle area is AJAC: the
Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee,” said Grim. “If we find somebody
who has the things that you can’t teach — the work ethic, the drive, the passion
— then we’ll put them through that program, and if we see someone who has
been through it come through our doors looking for a job, that definitely counts
for something.”
Craftsmanship
With its diverse and ever-changing list of projects that literally span the breadth
of time and space, steady leadership from Hugh LaBossier — the grandson
of the company’s founder, who works every day at the shop — and its base of
operations in the South Puget Sound, Machinists Inc. is ideally positioned to
reach its 100th year in business, and beyond.
It’s a combination of factors that Grim knows will appeal to the sorts of workers
he is looking to employ: “If you’re a true craftsman who is looking to take on
new projects on a daily basis, that’s what we do here.