Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 45

A
nd within the broader categories,
Silicon Forest tries to diversify as well.
In commercial aerospace, for example,
it has contracts covering components
from the nose of the plane to the tail:
fuel control systems, power systems
and in-flight entertainment compo-
nents, for example.
The company takes a similar approach
to the medical devices market. “We do
some stuff that’s brain related, we do
some stuff that’s related to cardiolo-
gy,” he said. “We do as best we can to
have a diversified portfolio.”
The goal of all that diversification is a
balanced portfolio of supply contracts,
which means more leverage.
“We’re trying to make ourselves not
rely so much on big companies having
such an impact on our company,”
Nichols said. “That gives you more
power to stick to your guns and say
‘The price is the price is the price.’
You run the risk of losing that work,
but if you make your portfolio of
companies broad enough, it’s not such
a big hit.”
Nichols said his other big issue is man-
aging growth. Silicon Forest grew its
revenues by 13 percent over the past
18 months, which has meant adding to
the workforce.
For him and other suppliers, that’s a
big challenge.
JUNE | JULY 2018 ISSUE NO. 3
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