Fire-door company named top small business in Oregon

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Oct 4, 2004 by Justin Stranzl

A Warm Springs fire-door manufacturer has been named Oregon Minority Small Business of the Year.

Warm Springs Composite Products, a tribally owned enterprise, received the award Friday at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. The award was presented by the Portland district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration as part of its Minority Enterprise Development Week.

Warm Springs Composite Products opened 11 years ago with five employees, limited technical support, no trained personnel and limited capital; the company will end 2004 with 34 employees and sales exceeding $4 million.

American Indians or their partners in marriage constitute 80 percent of the company's workforce.

The company is one of two in the United States that currently produces fire-rated and certified products for fire doors. Through its research and development department and fire-testing facility, Warm Springs Composite Products has developed a patented fire-rated doorjamb system, pre-banded door cores, pre-coating applications and special products for its fire door systems, each of which require special machinery and specific employee training.

The Oregon Minority Small Business of the Year award was accepted by Warm Springs Composite Products Chairman of the Board Robert Macy, an owner and operator of a family grocery store in Warm Springs and the former general manager of Warm Springs Forest Products.