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MOSES LAKE — The last three years have been good for Genie Industries, and administrators anticipate continued growth.

Genie vice president of operations Matt Fearon said that the market became "real strong" in late 2003, and has been going strong ever since, meaning really good years at his company's locations in Moses Lake and in Redmond.

"We still see it continuing on for another couple years," Fearon said, noting that the Redmond facility is close to capacity. "That means that we will be looking to Moses Lake, and we have been. We're going to continue to do what we have been doing in Moses Lake, which is using them to help us get to the ramp-up rates that we need to keep our customers happy."

In June 2005, George Santiago took over as Moses Lake plant manager. Fearon called the year under Santiago outstanding.

"George brought in a lot of experience from prior jobs," he said. "He has a very strong Toyota production system understanding, which is what Genie is trying to implement. George brought in a lot of experience which has been beneficial to the team out there. I think he's got a gregarious personality, he has a real positive influence on the team and he's been able to help us grow that business tremendously in the time that he's been here."

For his part, Santiago attributed the success to the work ethic of Genie team members in grasping change and moving forward. People don't stop him to complain about personal issues, he said, they always want to make something better in their own work area, which is really key to moving forward.

"I think the organization has a philosophy; we don't hire just people's hands, we really need their minds," he said, calling the ability to leverage improvement ideas that surface an edge in the competitive marketplace. "We don't have to be better than the competition, we have to be better than the best competition, and to do that, we need the best and brightest, and I think we've got that here in this community. I've been very blessed that I got the opportunity to lead this plant."

The number of employees at the Moses Lake facility is also on the rise, Santiago said, with about 560 and climbing at present, up from 370 in 2005.

That's due to the demand for products taking off, not only in the domestic market, Fearon and Santiago said, but also in European and Asia Pacific markets.

"What you've got is an entire global appetite for aerial work platforms that has all taken off simultaneously, so that's why we're seeing such tremendous growth right now," Fearon said. "We feel like we're in the fourth year of a seven- to 10-year cycle."

Both execs feel the Moses Lake community is willing to partner with the company, including a program with Big Bend Community College and the Columbia Basin Job Corps.

"The idea there is as we continue to grow and add jobs to the community, we would like to be able to have local talent," Santiago said. He noted that with the community college's technical skills program from which to draw employees, the company is working with BBCC to develop a curriculum to help students be better prepared for employment at Genie. In addition, the program helps Genie's own team members gain additional skill sets. The company is taking internal applicants, who would attend the college, work through the program and re-enter the work force in a new role.

"All the other manufacturers in this area are strained when it comes to creating, refining and identifying technical resources, and we're no different," Santiago said. "This gives us an opportunity to leverage and partner with the skills that the college can offer. It's a great partnership, and I think it's going to yield us exactly what we want."

Fearon said the Moses Lake facility is fully utilizing two and a half to four bays in its facility, with some space subleased to some key suppliers, but he sees the possibility of filling out another bay completely, noting that the company is in the process of adding a paint system, which increases capacity.

Fearon called the experience of operating in Moses Lake for nearly eight years a positive one.

"We've been able to basically open a facility from scratch and turn it into a world-class boom manufacturing facility, and we've been able to consistently grow that business," he said. "The community has supported us, and so that gives it a real positive outlook."