Northwest Aerospace News June | July 2019 Issue No. 9 | Page 47

Owner, Matt Roberts, pictured inside Apex’s new Powder Coatings shop that will be opening this summer. T he aerospace giant wanted to see Apex succeed so that its Oregon-based subcontractors would have a local resource for surface treatments. At that time, the closest certified anodizing shops were located in San Jose, California and Seattle, Washington and servicing companies doing business in the Portland metro area was not at the top of their priority list. Ultimately, Apex met the standard and opened itself up to an entirely new facet of the aviation industry. “Now, we can work on the mechanical parts of the airplane,” Olson explained. “We work on a lot of parts that go into the landing gear, and also the cockpit, like displays and instruments. Honestly, a lot of the parts we do end up in aircraft systems and we don’t know which ones they are. For example, we know it’s a rub strip and it’s going on a 777 or a 737, but that’s it.” To accommodate the increased demand, Apex moved again in 2015 — this time, to a 40,000-square-foot shop located near Portland International Airport, and focused on the aviation business. The company’s location in Sparks is responsible for carrying on most of the company’s work in the sporting goods sector, as well as treating parts used inside slot machines. Its latest addition, also located in Portland, is dedicated exclusively to powder coating. JUNE | JULY 2019 ISSUE NO. 9 47