J Lawrence Industries of North Lakewood, Washington, stands out for its extensive network of engineers and manufacturers, successfully securing government contracts through tailored partnerships.
By Jennifer Ferrero
A business rainmaker actively seeks out opportunities and builds relationships that drive revenue for everyone involved.
Jeff Tomson of J Lawrence Industries (JLI) exemplifies this by leveraging his engineering leadership experience to match the right contractors to each project, resulting in more than 90 collaborations across government and private industry. His expertise lies in strategically placing contractors on complex government contracts, which sets his company apart.
The brunt of their work today is for the Department of War (DOW), née Department of Defense (DoD). Their approach is part of the gig worker economy for engineers and manufacturers, which provides them with the opportunity to bid out the project to those best suited to the project scope. Tomson’s ability to define and manage the roles needed for each proposed project enables him to assemble the best team for the job.
He started the company in 2009 as a supplemental engineering organization to support manufacturers and help them develop projects and products. With his long-term background in engineering and manufacturing, he said, “The creation of J Lawrence industries turned into a complete design/build company.”
Today, a big piece of their pie comes from government contracts, but they also work for manufacturers.
Working alongside him is his son, Michael Tomson, who has experience in manufacturing, fabrication, and site management. He started as a journeyman machinist, with training provided by the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee (AJAC) and South Seattle Community College, and Project Management Professional (PMP) training, and now works as a project manager.
He said their core skill at J Lawrence is, “Providing solutions that best fit our customers’ needs — whether that’s tooling for commercial aerospace, design and build support for ADPs and the space industry, or commodities for the DOW.” Most of their work comes from the Navy and ship ports, but they also collaborate with Air Force bases. J Lawrence leverages contractors effectively, using their knowledge of suppliers’ strengths to award projects to the right partners.
Another component of the business is international growth in the United Kingdom through their business partner, Dr. Raymond Davies, with DJR Space Limited. Davies is building their capacity in the U.K., including production work for space, aerospace, and defense. Davies, a U.K. native, lived in the Seattle area for many years and developed deep connections and an affinity for the industry. He’s worked with JLI as well as with the Washington State Department of Commerce. At present, he’s building the pipeline for industry growth in his backyard.
“The U.K. is a little behind the curve, and I saw this happening. The ambitions of the space industry are unfolding.” His overseas connections, combined with Jeff’s domestic connections, have them well positioned for future business focused on international growth. “Working with Jeff Tomson is a delight, (due to their) American design and production expertise.”
One of their customers is Hien Nguyen of Bender CCP of Vernon, California, with a location in Kent, Washington. Nguyen has worked with Jeff Tomson for 10+ years, starting with his previous company, which was bought by Bender CCP. His employer doesn’t provide engineering services, so they turn to JLI. He said they hire them for engineering support, often for structural work, calculation, analysis, and design. “If a customer comes with a concept, they bring it to reality, meeting all requirements and standards.” JLI offers necessary and trustworthy engineering support. He also shared that, because of Jeff’s extensive network of contractors, he can point Nguyen to the right engineering subcontractors for projects.
Nguyen said that JLI’s biggest service is engineering. “We have a common goal of getting the customer what they need.” He appreciates JLI’s ability to be both flexible and supportive of the customer’s time and needs. He said they are approachable and willing to work with the team and the end customer. He said Jeff is both knowledgeable and an adept communicator.
While JLI conducts engineering work for the space industry, Jeff said they haven’t yet sent any products into space. But in commercial aerospace, they have had several direct projects with Boeing and with Tier 1 Boeing contractors. Currently, they are working on process improvements and equipment-related projects with Boeing. He cited that much of their equipment needs to be updated or refreshed. One item in particular, a jack tester, was built in 1998 and contains an old programmable logic controller (PLC) — “It is five stories tall and thousands of pounds,” he said. But they’ve also looked at a dozen projects with Boeing, focusing on quality and repeatability in manufacturing.
Due to the flexibility of the JLI workforce, they can review the project scope and determine whether they will be a direct contractor or manage subcontractors on the project. Jeff said he has a modest manufacturing facility and that they can conduct manufacturing there. But through their network of over 90 contractors, they can also manufacture at different locations. He said sometimes he bids on the project, manages staffing, and has purchase orders go through him; in others, he plays a direct role in designing and manufacturing. He said, “No matter the project, you must build trust and understanding. I spend a lot of time on the phone.”
They’ve had an extensive relationship with NASA for tooling programs and DOW work.
While JLI works with the newest technologies in space and aerospace, one of their new services is 3D scanning for reverse engineering. They’ve had calls to reverse engineer a handrail system at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, originally manufactured in the early 1900s. “In my opinion, it’s easier to work with things that are older,” Jeff said. Both he and Michael shared that early engineers left many building blocks.
Their business thrives on word of mouth and repeat customers, often working for years as either prime or subcontractor. While competition exists, with major clients like Boeing or the Navy, many industry players form overlapping teams.
Since JLI does so much work with the government, Jeff said they have become good at “managing the projects through us to the supplier base, and back to the customers. It is seamless to the customers how we do the work, and we take full responsibility for the project.” He said they currently have several government, NASA and Boeing contracts.
When responding to RFPs and writing proposals, he said there can be time savings as “many of them ask similar questions or are firm fixed price quotes with a clear statement of work.” He did say they have support paperwork regarding capabilities or past performance documentation, “I’ve put together various PowerPoint presentations that support this effort, and I can do a fairly quick edit to support a statement of work.” He said he’s talked to a lot of government contractors, and he said, “You have to really want to do it.” He’s figured out how to approach government contracting most effectively and said it is worth his time.
He loves working with all of the contractors and subcontractors and creating a healthy work environment for them. He said, “Communication is key; you are always sharing issues with contractors and customers, making sure everyone knows what’s going on. There is a high level of communication about changes. The best communication when you need something is to go talk to the person doing the work and find out what’s going on — management by walking around.”
While the business model trends to a modern approach of the gig economy and autonomy of contractors, Jeff’s direct approach of strong communication, contract management, and fulfillment, working with contractors and subcontractors, portends old-school business principles, and it works in this modern world.
