Valley Tool Picked As Top 10 Shop In The Nation
Valley Tool owner Cayce Washington (center) displays a framed copy of the November issue of American Machinist in which his company was selected as one of the ten best machine shops in the nation. Sharing the honor with Washington are his dedicated employees. – Photo by David Howell
Staff Report
WATER VALLEY – For Cayce Washington and his employees at Valley Tool Inc., 2009 has been an exciting year.
The highlight of the year was being named one of the Top Ten Best Machine Shops for 2009 by American Machinist, a globally-distributed magazine for contract manufacturers and job shop leaders.
Valley Tool was chosen out of more than 350 applicants for performing at consistently high levels relative to the key indicators derived from the magazine’s proprietary Machine Shop Benchmarking Study.
The award comes as Washington’s company recorded the biggest sales since the company was started in 1997. Despite the record year, Washington noted that earlier in the year things did not look as promising.
“As the first quarter of the year ended so did, it seemed, much of the work on the shop floor,” Washington said, as his company was impacted by the global recession. He credits the resilience of his company to the 60-plus employees.
“Our dedicated staff were willing to suffer together,” Washington reported. For almost three months, his employees weathered the downturn together, as hours were cut 20 percent.
Work returned by mid-year and by keeping his core staff, Valley Tool was able to quickly ramp up as the jobs started rolling back in.
The Award
Washington was featured in the November issue of American Machinist, along with nine other machine shops across the country. In the story, which outlined the background of the company and the man behind the company, Washington told the American Machinist that he is truly living the American dream.
After coming from a modest background: working in a local grocery store for several years, he took a job in a machine shop when he was 21. At age 24, he advanced into the shop foreman position, and one year later, in 1997, he purchased the company where he worked.
Now the shop is known as Valley Tool Inc., with Washington serving as president and a working owner.
Valley Tool was the only shop selected as the Top Ten located in the southeast.
“It’s good to be in the country,” said Washington. “Our rural setting and work atmosphere contribute to a continuity between a core group of people. We treat them right, pay a fair wage, and respond to their needs. They, in turn, are expected to be here every day, on time, and to do their jobs. But, most importantly, we do put families first, and our employees don’t take advantage of that,” Washington told American Machinist.
This was evident as one customer, who was busy working on a prototype for a new invention, was quick to praise Washington’s business.
“We drive past a lot of shops to get here,” Atlanta businessman Greg Kemp told the Herald last week. The service provided by Washington is important to Kemp who added, “You don’t get that in Atlanta.”
Washington’s company, along with the other winners, will be honored at American Machinist’s Machine Shop Workshop in April 2010 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Article Link: American Machinist
About The Company
Valley Tool manufactures custom tooling including repair and part replacement, custom fixturing both for gauging and workholding and custom gauges for general manufacturing, dies and form tools.
Its major markets include aerospace, medical, oil and gas, firearms, automotive, commercial heating and cooling and heavy equipment.
Work/jobs, percentage wise, are distributed evenly among these various markets, and being that diversified has helped sustain the shop through tough economic times.
