SPOKANE NATIVE ANDY JOHNSTON BEGAN HIS CAREER EARLY, INSTALLING HVAC SYSTEMS DURING HIS TEEN YEARS THROUGH COLLEGE. He earned an engineering degree from Gonzaga University,
completed two engineering internships, and worked for companies serving harsh military environments, including desert heat and Arctic cold. He recalls in detail his years at Isothermal Systems Research Inc., which became Parker
Aerospace & Defense, a division of Parker Hannifin, where he stayed for about 11 years. That experience deepened his knowledge of aerospace and defense and shaped his approach to engineering and business ownership. Through his time at Parker, Johnston learned about physics-based simulation, fluid flow dynamics, and structural analysis, and eventually decided to start his own business.
Johnston dove into deep learning of these engineering systems, and he continues to do so today. When Parker Hannifin closed its Liberty Lake, Washington location in 2015, Andy was already in motion, closing down that business and collecting his first invoice from Johnston Engineering on the same day.
Foundational to starting the business, Johnston knew several things about how he wanted to operate it. He wanted to build the business debt-free and avoid loans. He knew he needed business coaching because he had
an engineering degree, but not a business degree. And he knew that to grow, he’ d need to trust others to help him run the business and“ focus on caring for the customer and providing the utmost service and products.”
In 2019, he hired Ted Schmidt of ActionCoach Northwest to help him develop the foundations of the business. Schmidt said that early on, Johnston was working out of his basement by himself and was focused on building, growing, and expanding the company into a multimilliondollar business. Schmidt described him as a visionary, a strong leader, very intelligent, and very driven.
Today, Johnston has a team of 23 employees, including a business partner. He credits much of his growth to Schmidt ' s guidance, but Schmidt said they began by building a foundation so the business could scale. Like most small business owners, they wear every hat in the company, and Johnston was no different. Schmidt
30 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS