Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 36

S
arah McKenna is a hydraulics technician at
Orion in Auburn, Washington, who works with
people that have had struggles in life. She could
work for any manufacturer but has chosen Orion
so that she can be a worker retraining mentor for
those that may be chronically unemployed; have a
disability or come from special education; have had
a life-changing event like an accident or stroke;
have been previously engaged in substance abuse;
are displaced; or are former military.
She came to Orion three years ago and was trained
as a technician, and as a mentor to others. Orion is
a three-time Boeing Supplier of the Year, and eight-
time winner of the Boeing Performance Excellence
Award. The company was founded by a group of
families in Renton, Washington, in 1957 to help
people with disabilities
Orion Works is the aerospace manufacturing
division of the company that produces high-quality
aerospace parts for the industry including structural
details for Boeing Commercial, Boeing Defense,
Bombardier, and other companies. They provide
assembly services for flight critical components
and fuel system components, machine and sheet
metal parts, and wiring harnesses and electrical
panels, according to Tom Brosius, vice president
and general manager.
At Orion, although they are a top-quality manufac-
turer, their mission is bigger than manufacturing.
McKenna is one of 65 mentors who are engaged in
working with about 200 people a year who come
through their department. She teaches the technical
and soft skills. She said the job includes equipment
training, and how to complete a task in manufac-
turing, but also “soft skills such as getting to work
on time, focusing on your work, and overall work
ethic development.” She added that many of the
program participants, who are hired as employees,
have been out of work for a while, or maybe hav-
en’t learned these skills. “Some have a hard time
with soft skills development,” but she said that they
do get there.
“You can tell they’ve been through life’s struggles,
but when they find a job that turns into a career, it
makes us happy,” McKenna said.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS