Firms in this area often are well
known in their industries but rarely have
any local customers. Despite their economic
impact of wages and buying supplies
here, they remain invisible to most
of the area's residents. Here are the stories
of three of them:
Seismic protection is the business of
DIS (Dynamic Isolation Systems
Inc.), a company founded 20 years ago by
two New Zealanders.
"One studied at U.C. Berkeley while
the other gained his Ph.D. in
Auckland," said Konrad Eriksen, vice
president of engineering and manufacturing.
"They originally started doing
high end analytical engineering on the
design of buildings."
Eriksen, an engineer himself,
explained the founders' first work was
analysis of the effects of earthquakes on
structures. Around the time the company
was founded, the New Zealand government
patented a lead-and-rubber bearing
or isolator as it is called.
Eventually DIS received a license to
manufacture them.
"The first 10 years mainly involved
writing building codes and the development
of analytical techniques," Eriksen
said. "Then in 1992 DIS started its own
manufacturing of the isolators in New
Zealand."
The company's first manufacturing job
was supplying isolators to be installed in
the New Zealand Parliament Building.
Installation in an existing structure
requires that it be jacked from its foundation
so the isolator can be inserted and
bolted into place.
An isolator is a series of rubber and
steel laminations that can be either
square, rectangular, or round with a central
hole that houses a lead core. It is
sandwiched between two steel plates
which are bolted to the structure and its
foundation.
"The lead is plastic at room temperature
and acts like a shock absorber on a
car," Eriksen said. "The rubber surrounding
the lead is elastic and acts like a
spring on a car which brings the core
back to its original shape."
During an earthquake, the isolator
deforms to allow the structure to move
back and forth, reducing the stress on the
building or bridge. In some installations a
huge shock absorber is added to further
lessen the stress.
"Sometimes the isolators are installed
for content protection or to protect high
dollar equipment," Eriksen said. "They
also allow a historical structure to be protected
without the need to alter it with
new walls and braces."
Most DIS customers are outside this
area with a growing portion of them
overseas.
"We just supplied isolators for two
hospitals in Taiwan," Eriksen said. "It
took 219 units which were shipped in 60
containers each weighing 20 tons each."
While the head office is in Lafayette,
Calif., the company consolidated its two
plants in a Sparks facility to take advantage
of northern Nevada's quality of life,
location to U.S. markets, ease of shipping
and qualified work force.
Other benefits are the engineering
school at the University of Nevada -
Reno from which three DIS engineers
have graduated as well as the seismic lab
on campus.
The plant usually employs around 30
full-time employees but increases its
workforce when necessary.
"Sometimes we only work eight hours
a day while at other times we put in 60
hours or more in a seven-day week,"
Eriksen said. "It depends on the
workload."
Much of the plant's huge equipment
was designed by Eriksen himself. That
includes a test rig where all isolators are
tested to design specifications.
"We cannot afford to allow failures, so
every isolator is tested before it is
shipped," he said.
While DIS is a major player in the
domestic market it has been increasing its
international business. Serving many different
customers has provided a steady
volume of business for the plant.
"We service different markets which
heat up at different times," Eriksen said.
"I just hope they never go cold together."
DIS buys its steel from the local PDM
Steel Service Center while the lead and
rubber components come from out-ofstate
firms.
Since isolators are rarely seen after
installation most people don't know when
they are protected by DIS products. Some
of the structures protected are the north
approach of the Golden Gate Bridge, San
Francisco City Hall and new Asian Art
Museum in San Francisco.
Eriksen said he is optimistic about the
company's future since the value of the
products are becoming better known in
the engineering world.
The Le Fiell Company is a major player
in the meat and food processing
industry. Its equipment, which is widely
used, moves food products through the
plants during preparation.
Le Fiell has been around a long time.
"The company began in 1912, and in
1960 my father,William Schmidt, and an
uncle bought it from the founder's son,"
said Steve Schmidt, the company president.
Twenty two years later the elder
Schmidt bought out his brother and
asked his son if he would help run the
company, which was based in the
California's Bay area.
"I think that was the plan as dad and
my mother, Edna 'Edie' Schmidt, were
very involved in the meat industry."
Ten years later, when his father's
health began to fail, Schmidt took control
of the company and soon was running the
entire operation.While Le Fiell was
doing $15 million dollars a year in business
it faced major problems.
"We went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in
1993 and came out in 1994 just before I
moved the company here," Schmidt said.
Faced with rising costs of doing business
in the Bay area Schmidt looked for other
locations. Everywhere he looked in
California there were drawbacks.
He chose Nevada due to the state's probusiness
climate and moved Le Fiell to its
present location in a leased building at Stead.
"It has been great ever since we came
here," he said. "With expansion of the Port
of Oakland we have a venue to ship from
that is not too far away."
The company's specialty is monorail
transportation systems used in slaughterhouses,
meat packing and food processing
facilities and as well as dry cleaning establishments.
Two and a half years after moving here
the company scored a coup.
The South American nation of
Colombia was looking for a company to
equip the country's meat processing
facilities. Le Fiell, with only encouragement
and no government backing, found
itself competing with a governmentbacked
Italian company.
The reputation and track record for producing
quality equipment tipped the balance
in favor of Le Fiell. Even now Schmidt still
chuckles when he describes how he used a
Xerox copy of a 50-year old catalogue to win
the contract.
"What keeps us going is the reputation
of producing safe, durable equipment as we
have the staff to design and build these systems,"
he said.
This feat earned the company several
awards the 1999 National Meat
Association Supplier of the Year award, the
1999 Nevada Governor's Exporter of the
Year award and an award in 2000 given by
the U.S. Small Business Administration.
"The Colombia contract was the
reason behind us winning those
awards," Schmidt said.
Being a hands-on leader Schmidt works
to keep the company in front of those in his
industry. In July he headed Le Fiell's exhibit
at the American Association of Meat
Processors held in John Ascuaga's Nugget.
"We had a sale on several of our propriety
products which should gain us some new
orders," he said.
Now Schmidt faces another challenge.
The current strength of the dollar and the
newly imposed tariff on steel has put Le
Fiell at a competitive disadvantage in the
international market.
Le Fiell is another customer of the local
PDM Steel Service Center and buys its
welding supplies locally.
Even though the company has a steady
customer base Schmidt has decided to make
some changes in the company's direction.
"I can see it would be better not to rely
on our reputation so much than to diversify
into local business," he said. "So far it looks
very promising and I hope our local efforts
will bear fruit."
One effort has been to get involved in
construction. In fact metal bracing produced
by Le Fiell has been used at the Lawrence
Lab in Livermore, Calif., as well as the
Stanford Linear Accelerator.
At present Schmidt is waiting work on a
possible local contract that will have the
company making frames for a specialized
vehicle use, and gaining this business will
have long term implications.
"I like having the stability of the meat
industry but local diversification is my hope
and expectation," he said. "I'm very optimistic
about the future of this company."
N&N Productions is a small company
well known in the theatrical
and convention lighting industry.
This small firm is a throwback to the
days when craftsmen toiled in their
shops to produce quality goods, and it
reflects a couple's entrepreneurial
spirit and determination to own their
own business.
While it is, for the most part, locally
invisible, many people here have seen
what its product - brass gobos- can do.
A N&N gobo is a brass plate, with a
design cut into it, that is inserted into a
lighting instrument which projects the
design onto a curtain, drop, or stage.
Years ago the lion projected on the
curtain before "Hello Hollywood
Hello" show started came from the
first N&N gobo. Nevada Opera
patrons have for years seen these
gobos project shapes and patterns
during different scenes.
N&N owners Rich and Anne Norris
met as stagehands working on "Hello
Hollywood Hello."
"The name was a joke and came
from my scratching our names on a
piece of film I used when showing our
honeymoon slides," said Rich Norris,
founder and co-owner of the company.
Norris was introduced to gobos during
his time as an electrician on "Hello
Hollywood Hello." He was shown the
lighting crew etching a batch of steel
gobos without any protection.
After telling the head electrician he
wasn't interested, Norris was asked if
he had a better idea. He did and used
what he learned from working in a
silver shop.
Norris chose brass because it is inexpensive,
lasts and takes heat well.
"Our gobos are put in at the focus
point of a light and won't warp.
Stainless steel gobos are thin, will warp
and their designs are etched with acid
which is not an environmentally friendly
process," he said.
He spent the next few years working
at night on the stage as he built the
business. Now that his wife has moved
on to other things Norris hired Jerry
Tarner, another former stagehand, to
help run the business.
A small shop built into the garage at
the Norris home is where the gobos are
produced. All the brass and cutting
supplies are bought locally and any
scraps are recycled.
Many incoming orders can't be produced
from their original designs because
they don't have anything supporting the
middle of the design.
If necessary either Norris or Tarner
makes the necessary adjustments and
faxes the design back for approval. Once
that is received, and payment as well as
the due date arranged, the work begins.
Using a proprietary method the final
design is mated to a brass plate and carefully
cut out by hand. It is exacting work
and where the skill of a craftsman comes
into play.
Over the years N&N has earned a
reputation for gobos of the highest quality.
Many times Norris has worked
through the night to complete an order.
"I'm proud to say that most of our
business comes from word of mouth,"
Norris said. "While we have an occasional
local order most of our customers are
either domestic or international.
"Gobos are used a lot in conventions.
For example, when a CEO, say from
Kraft, is doing a speech, he will want his
product logos projected on the drops
behind him."
There have are challenges facing this
small company.
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, was one
because N&N is heavily dependent on air
freight. Business dropped so much last
winter that Norris contemplated returning
to stage work.
While the domestic business recovered
over the past few months now
there is a backlog of orders the
international orders as still lagging.
Norris sees another cloud on the horizon
due to the jump in technology in
lighting and projections systems.
While he might face competition from
this there is one factor that keeps most
people from using this new technology.
"Fortunately it is very expensive,"
Norris said with a smile.
He added that N&N found its niche
by supplying quality goods which are
inexpensive.
"The market we are in will be strong
virtually forever as we service everything
from mom-and-pop dance studios
to major productions," he said.
Norris feels confident about the
future of N&N and he expected to be
producing his special brand of gobos
for quite awhile.
