Sonju Industrial of Kalispell earns long-term Boeing contracts

Sonju Industrial http://www.anodizecoating.com/ , a Kalispell-based manufacturer of aerospace and other high-tech components, has secured long-term contracts with Boeing Co. after several years of certification efforts.

The contracts for commercial and defense aircraft components will help the family-run company expand. President and owner Dick Sonju said he is already short of qualified machinists, and planning has already started for a new manufacturing plant three times the size of the current one.

By Alan Choate
The Daily Inter Lake

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"We’ve been pursuing Boeing for five years," Sonju said. "It’s been a very long and difficult process. [The contracts] open our doors to a lot of other contracts — we are recognized now as a supplier to a major aerospace company."

One contract is a two-year renewable deal to build parts for 747, 757, 767 and 777 commercial airplanes. A separate three-year agreement with Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is for wing and fuselage parts for the new F/A-22 Raptor fighter.

Sonju Industrial employs about 40 people at its 15,000-square-foot plant north of Kalispell. There is an immediate need for another 15 to 17 workers to add another shift, said Jason Sonju, one of the founder’s three sons who work for the company. In time, the company hopes to more than double its work force.

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Sonju Industrial Inc.

2902 Hwy. 93 North

Kalispell, MT 59901

406-752-4253

fax

406-755-1302

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"We’re really tight for space here," Jason Sonju said. "With this new contract, there’s no way we’ll have enough room."

The company started as a body shop run by Dick Sonju, who later moved into painting and coating work as a military contractor.

The family decided to open an anodizing shop in 1999 (anodizing coats a machine part to resist corrosion). They began pursuing subcontractor work from Boeing, gradually taking on more jobs as they proved to the company that they could deliver.

The long-term contracts came only after the company was certified under the Boeing Quality Management System and Boeing Approved Coating programs. They are now set up to engineer and manufacture parts, apply coatings and test each component to make sure it’s within planned specifications. The components then go to Boeing plants, where they are installed on planes.

They’re particularly proud of the new arrangement because they did it from Montana, while many of their competitors are based in large cities near Boeing offices.

"We’re going to have an opportunity to grow," Dick Sonju said. "If we can bring manufacturing to the state of Montana, we can hire within the state.

"If everything goes the way it should, we could be looking at starting a new facility by next summer."