Questions for Our CEO

I recently sat down with our CEO, Blake Ray, to ask a few questions about the industry, our place in it, and his thoughts on the year thus far.

OK, Blake, so we’re a little bit over halfway through the calendar year. What challenges are you seeing in the manufacturing space overall, and how is Portland Bolt positioned to deal with those challenges?

For the first half of the year, much of the industry was up, but not as much as we have seen in past years. The good news is that with our tenured team members and new equipment, Portland Bolt has abundant capacity. This capacity allows us to keep lead times competitive and remain on time for our customers. So far in 2025, we’ve mostly stayed above 90% on-time, and our rush business is above 99% on-time in 2025. With the recent additions of our CNC Lathe and Plasma table in Portland Bolt Northwest, we’ve seen steady growth and more control of our lead times. Our South Carolina facility and team are expanding their capabilities, footprint, and capacity. Because of this, in 2025, we’ve started to see shorter shipping times and costs to our East Coast customers, and with the expansion, we only expect this to accelerate.

Did I just hear you say we are expanding in the Southeast?

We are. Over a year ago, we acquired Southern Anchor Bolt, which has been a wonderful addition to our family. We are proud to say the family we acquired it from is still involved in the business, and with their help, we are more than doubling the square footage of the manufacturing space. In this new space, we will almost match the manufacturing and galvanizing capabilities we have in Oregon. In the second half of 2025, we are excited about how this capability will impact our eastern customer base. The team is busy with the expansion, and we are proud of what they are doing.

Is there anything that resonates with you personally that we have done this year?

Growing the customer-first brand Portland Bolt has built has been fun.  We’ve had an exciting six months with two new businesses joining the Portland Bolt family.

Applied Bolting Technology, a DTI washer manufacturer, is in Vermont and joined us in May. Applied Bolting has an excellent reputation in the market and has built this by engaging, training, and servicing large EPCs, steel fabricators, their distributors, and even the installers themselves. Our focus is on maintaining their high standards by continuing to treat customers right and providing the same exceptional service they’ve historically received. The growth opportunity for Applied Bolting and its customers is exciting, and the team in Vermont has been great to work with.  

Bennett Bolt Works has joined us as Portland Bolt Northeast, bringing Eireann and the team into our organization. They have an incredible reputation and offer a range of products in the industry, creating new opportunities for our Northwest team. Most importantly, they provide us with a warehouse in the Northeast, allowing us to expand our Northwest and Southeast product offerings into that region and service our existing customers even better than before.

Alright, Blake, we’ve got some hard-hitting journalism here, so are you ready?

 Yes?

Ham sandwiches or turkey sandwiches?

Ham. All day.

Summer or winter?

Summer in the Pacific Northwest is as good as it gets. Don’t tell anyone that doesn’t live here, though!

Shorts or pants?

Pants

Who is your favorite web developer/digital marketing manager named Philip?

Fancy Phil

Thank you for your time, Blake!

Thank you!