High-tech firm glad to be in Raymond
Sunday, October 15, 2006 12:16 AM PDT
By Associated Press
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E-mail this articleRAYMOND, Wash. -- Employees at HaloSource Inc. in Raymond leave views of the picturesque Willapa River behind as they enter a sterile workplace to produce the company's newest product, a pad to control bleeding.
They must go through a series of steps. They carefully wash their hands, step on a sticky pad to remove residue from their shoes and don white booties, hairnets and lab coats before entering new controlled environment rooms that ensure strict guidelines are met for air quality control.
The air in the building is filtered to reduce particles in both the walkways and the "clean" rooms. A particle counting machine monitors double checks the internal environment.
This sterile world is in stark contrast to the prior function of the building and it represents exciting improvements for the global, Washington-based health science technologies company.
"It's nice to have all those quality controls that ensure you're going to have clean air," said Danny Perry, the Raymond plant's project manager. "It locks us into a level of quality that is, frankly, what it takes to do that kind of work."
Previously, the blue building -- one of five the company has leased from the Port of Willapa Harbor since the early 1980s -- was used to grind crustacean shells that are used in the company's chitin and chitosan-based products, according to Devon Brown, the plant manager.
HaloSource Inc., and its predecessor companies have operated in Raymond for 25 years, but its products are breaking new ground.
"It used to be very dusty in there," he said. "To make biomedical products, we have to have a very clean environment."
HaloSource completed improvements to the buildings in June. They began construction a year ago.
The company, which creates new technology and manufactures products for the water treatment, infection control and wound-healing industries, is based in Redmond, where a majority of the company's research and development activities are conducted. Besides the Raymond facility, it has a manufacturing plant in Florida.
The 30,000-square-foot Raymond facility has a pilot plant that does some development work and produces potential new products on a larger scale, Brown said. The site is also used to manufacture the company's biomedical products, pool and spa products and water treatment products. One of the buildings, which used to be mainly a warehouse, now consists of a large manufacturing space.
While the new facilities didn't create a need for new employees, the improvements to the biomedical facility have the potential to increase the production of the company's HemoHalt product -- the medical pad that stops bleeding quickly -- four times over, according to Brown.
Perry said the changes have not only improved the quality of the environment that the company's products are produced in, but the greater capacity will increase production output and keep the company competitive. He said the improvements will keep the plant flexible for future product development.
"I think the improvements were good and necessary in order to be competitive in business," he said. "They are an indicator of the company's intention to continue with Raymond as their location of choice for this type of work to be done. It's a better plant."
The Raymond plant, with 28 employees, is one of the largest employers in North Pacific County.
Overall, the company continues to experience tremendous growth, said John Kaestle, the president of HaloSource Inc.
"We are happy to be in Raymond," Kaestle said. "Our business is growing and our folks are excited about the future. We are committed to the community and we are proud of the people we have working at the facility."
Kaestle said the company decided to invest in the improvements because HaloSource is confident in the employees at Raymond. The employees earned the improvements.
"So much is written and said about outsourcing jobs, but the business and products in Raymond today are all about the people out there," he said. "It's about the quality of the people and the quality of the product they produce and the support of the Port."
Other new developments for the company include the upcoming launch of a major product line in Wal-Mart stores and the launch of a global water purification business in India, according to Kaestle.
The company has two technology platforms, Brown said.
One is based on chitin and chitosan, which are used for biomedical products, pool and spa products, and wastewater and stormwater treatment products.
The other is N-halamine technology, which is used in products that bind chlorine and bromine, prolonging and localizing the chemicals' germ-killing effects in targeted areas and aiding in water purification.
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