Author: mvmiller

company

STRIKE UP THE BAND

news_band_082815_@2xQuestion: What do three welders, a fitter, a Certified Weld Inspector, a parts guy, a project coordinator, and a safety/EPA administrator have in common (apart from employment at Metals Fab, that is)?

Answer: They’re all connected in some way to music.

Adrian Teeter plays guitar in a country/rock band; Dan Gottberg, who once turned down a career in music, still sings at local karaoke bars; Paul Muir builds guitars; Trevor Dietzen started playing rock guitar back in seventh grade; Hunter Brook White, who clearly has too much time on his hands, plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, cello, drums, and violin – and also sings; Matt Leon has been a DJ for 16 years (and the owner of Soundwave Entertainment for 14); Delbert Williams has been playing guitar for nearly 40 years; and, somewhat fittingly, Cameron Johnson plays rhythm guitar and writes music for a local metal band.

community

DONEY GIVES BACK

news_doney_082815_@2xWhen Metals Fab welder and fitter Alicia Doney was serving time at Pine Lodge women’s prison in Medical Lake, she could see Martin Hall, a juvenile detention facility, nearby. And she’d wonder about the kids inside. After her release in 2010, she couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe – just maybe – she could do something to help them. So Doney and some friends from church founded an organization called “The Landing” to do just that.

What began as the simple act of providing Christmas presents five years ago has turned into weekly visits and active participation programs. “They’re just kids,” she explains, “and they need help making the right decisions.” It’s something Doney is uniquely qualified to do – and something she’s never thought twice about. “Some are here for truancy, some for drugs, others for more serious offenses,” she says. “Whatever they did, I’m there to show them that it’s not what defines them. That there’s another way.”

 

projects

AWARD-WINNING PROJECT

The University of Oregon Hatfield-Dowlin Football Performance Center, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, won the highest honor granted to building projects by the U.S. steel industry: the American Institute of Steel Construction’s 2015 IDEAS2 Awards competition for excellence in steel-frame building design. Metals Fab provided the structural steel for the project.

“IDEAS2” stands for Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel; the jury is therefore tasked with evaluating both engineering and architectural aspects of a project when making its selections. You can read more about the IDEAS2 Awards and the rest of the winning projects in the May issue of Modern Steel Construction magazine, or go here for a more in-depth overview of the U of O project.