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Tri-Tec move to Medford pays off By JOHN DARLING The big business decisions about relocating Tri-Tec Machining from Arizona to Medford have been almost entirely based on quality of life issues: what�s good for the children, how to escape crime and how to be near fabulous recreation, great climate and a thriving religious community. So far the move is proving to be a good one. Tri-Tec is having its best year ever and should clear $400,000 in gross revenues, said its president, Carlos Alcantara. An article in the Arizona Republic two years ago asserted that Alcantara needs to spend less time working in the business and more time managing and marketing it, if he wants to make the jump to big time. He doesn�t see it that way. "We operate on very low overhead," said Alcantara, a native Venezuelan who emigrated to Southern California at age 16 and learned machining from his uncle. "We�ve paid off all our equipment except one machine. We have four full-time employees and three part-time. We�re conservatives and we believe in slow, steady growth. We moved here to spend more time with family. God is No. 1, and getting heavier into business pulls away from that." Alcantara started the company five years ago on 20 shares of stock given him by McDonnell-Douglas for his work on the Notar helicopter. The stock doubled in a year and split three ways, then climbed to its original value, he said. Tri-Tec makes pins for heart surgery, airplane engine parts, electronic boards, parts for machines that make plastic cup lids, parts for the tiny Go-Ped motorized scooter, computer chip wafer cutters and high-voltage electronic components that end up in cars, clean rooms and McDonald�s frying machines, he said. The company�s client list includes Motorola, McDonnell-Douglas and other companies. Several huge, CNC (computer numerical controlled) mills and lathes, commonly called "screw machines," turn blocks of cold-rolled steel into parts with dimensions to the 10-thousandth of an inch, and tolerances of plus-zero and minus .0005. One of the machines might cost $165,000. It�s been "very difficult" to find employees, he said. "There�s nothing like us in Medford. It takes a lot of investment for schools to bring workers to this level. I searched seven months before hiring my first worker. We found the best potential in high school graduates who aren�t trained and who we can mold. They come in and see high tech, good pay and not labor intensive and they see they can grow very quickly. I�m very happy with the people we�ve got now." Shipping rates here are higher than in Arizona, he said, but these costs are offset by a lower cost of living and easier wage scales. These help him keep his "shop rate" low and get contracts, he added. Alcantara and his wife, Jenny, the firm�s bookkeeper, drove everywhere between Medford and Seattle looking for the right spot. "When we finished, we just looked at each other and said, �Medford,"� Alcantara said. "It�s got awesome weather and skiing 45 minutes away, rafting, fishing and jet-skiing." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA