Altek, Inc., located in Liberty Lake, WA, is known for its aerospace work, culture, partnerships, and quality.
Altek, Inc. is a 147,000-square-foot manufacturing institution in Eastern Washington. “We are here for the quality of life,” said the COO and 40-year company employee, Rick Taylor. Taylor came to Liberty Lake from Southern California 40 years ago with CNC knowledge that had yet to hit the Inland Northwest. Al Marzetta, the founder of Altek, called Taylor to find out what he knew and if he could help them move into automated machining. The rest is history, as Taylor will celebrate 40 years on April 1, 2025, and semi-retire from the business. He said he will continue to work from home on special projects, “You don’t walk out of a company after 40 years and not go back.”
The family-owned and operated company includes a variety of siblings from the Marzetta family — from Dave Marzetta (the oldest) working in MINDS-I robot components, an Altek educational spin-off — to Mike Marzetta, president; Andrea Marzetta Larson, organizational development manager; Christopher Marzetta, program manager; Tony Marzetta, program manager; and Joe Marzetta, building superintendent.
Laura Suriano, production supervisor in the finishing department, has been with the company for 16 years. She enjoys the flexibility and encouragement she receives when managing her team and said it is a positive working environment with outstanding leadership. Regarding industry diversification, she said it is crucial because, “A diversified product mix is important to maintaining jobs for our employees. When there is a downturn in one business area, many other customers are thriving.” She added that surviving COVID was done through diversification.
Andrea Larson, organizational development manager, said effective communication, active listening, policies, accountability, job descriptions, collaboration, and training are essential for driving employee retention.
While an internal focus is critical, Taylor and others have formed external partnerships to build the business. Timo Lunceford, CEO of Liberty Lake-based Swiss Productions, is one of those partners — a customer and a supplier to Altek. He weighed in on diversification at Altek. He shared that Swiss Productions is a precision screw machine shop with tight tolerances for medical, aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor industries. “We are diversified,” he said of his own business. He explained that the medical sector is now buying less, but the military is buying rifle parts. He also shared that the irrigation parts made in Walla Walla, Washington, are doing well and have performed well for 40 years.
Lunceford said they provide 3,000 space washers a month to Altek, as a supplier for use in commercial aerospace cockpits. Conversely, Altek produces military parts for them. “We are cross-pollinating. There are niches we can do for each other,” Lunceford said. He added that although they’ve only worked with Altek for a couple years, it is a solid relationship. Rick Taylor told Lunceford about their partnership, “It’s perfect; we want Swiss Productions to be an extension of our company.”
Lunceford feels Altek is diversified and added, “You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. If something happens to one industry or customer, it changes the dynamics for your employees and customers.”
To that point, Taylor said they’ve been involved with the aerospace industry for 30 years, half of that time as a certified AS9100 supplier. They work indirectly with the defense industry on Tomahawk missiles through Rockwell and Raytheon International. They also support the space industry and have done so for about three years. He added that working in the medical industry is how the company began, with a small blood analysis company in Hillyard, Washington. He noted that they produce 10,000 assemblies a month for that industry, influencing their ability to employ many people, purchase equipment, and develop a strong business overall.
Building the business by ramping up sales and diversifying industries is only one side of the coin. As Organizational Development Manager, Larson said, “With 60 percent of our customers from the aerospace industry, Altek desires to continue developing our customer base in the four other industries,” referring to the space, medical, technology, and defense industries.
Altek plans to serve current customers “while simultaneously building our reputation in the sectors we serve where we are less known. The goal is to have a well-rounded, multi-industry base that will allow us the diversification we need to continue to grow, provide for our team, and overcome any individual industry downturns,” Larson said.
The other facet is hiring, skilling up employees, and ensuring company growth through company-wide efforts. Larson shared their approach to employee retention, which includes knowing everyone by name, providing conflict resolution, corrective action plans, and counseling as needed. They also offer tools to decompress from work physically and mentally, like fitness opportunities, food resources, and activities.
Taylor explains their diversification into different sectors and crossover work. He said, “The challenge is that our customers recognize us as a molder or machine shop; they don’t see the crossover. Getting a new customer in your facility takes a couple of years. They don’t look at marketing materials or the website; they only want to buy one part. Until they tour, they don’t see that we are a contract manufacturer, and we could do so much more for them.”
He elaborated, “Transitioning into complete systems, the customer comes with a device they want us to build from the ground up, do all assembly finish work, branding, and drop ship to customers.” He said they currently have two programs underway. One is a portable metal detection system for sporting events. “The owner has been here and has seen our capabilities.” He said they also are quoting other jobs in the medical industry wherein they will fully produce, assemble, and ship the product from their facility. One note Taylor made is that they offer prototyping but don’t provide engineering design. They will, however, consult on design for manufacturability. They work to drive out costs early in the process. They also encourage companies who invent or design products to manage the liability of engineering and producing the product.
While Altek has been known for aerospace for most of its business history, it is actively diversifying. Taylor concluded, “Most business is aerospace, but with over 20 different customers, we don’t like having that many eggs in one basket.” He said they are pushing on developing space and medical device work and that the laser industry has been a substantial lead. He said that, ultimately, they want to take great care of customers and employees and that diversification is healthy. “We live in uncertain times; diversification will help to maintain good business practices, the health of the organization, and keeping good people employed.
A Winning Culture
Altek takes great pride and effort in developing a winning culture that embraces camaraderie, accountability, a spirit of excellence, dedication, integrity, honesty, and continuous improvement. We strive to challenge conventional thinking as we quickly adapt to changes in the marketplace, provide meaningful work for our people, foster a sense of family, belonging, and community, and reward noteworthy accomplishments. – The Altek Team
Contacts
Altek, Inc.
CORPORATE OFFICE
22819 E. Appleway Ave.
Liberty Lake, WA 99019
Phone: 509.924.3731
CONTACT VIA E-MAIL
Rick: rtaylor@altek-inc.com
Gary: gforde@altek-inc.com
