Aerospace Company located in the Pacific NW that has exhibited exceptional organizational and managerial and management characteristics while continually maintaining a strong competitive posture, thus raising the industry standard for the Pacific NW.

 Headquartered in Kent, Washington, Blue Origin is working to fulfill its mission by   developing partially and fully reusable launch vehicles that are safe, low cost, reliable, and serve the needs of all civil, commercial and defense customers. With more than 3,000 employees and facilities in Florida, Texas, Alabama, California, and Washington D.C., it aims to dramatically improve access to space for people and payloads.

Blue Origin is currently guided by CEO Bob Smith who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M, a Master of Science degree in engineering/applied mathematics from Brown University, a doctorate from the University of Texas in aerospace engineering and a business degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Mr. Smith explains his interest in space from an early age: “My father was a pilot during the Korean War, and I think that love of flying, amplified by Apollo, was a large contributor to my interest and passion for this field. So, it was never a choice for me – I have always wanted to be in the space industry.”

Of its many notable accomplishments, Blue Origin built the largest liquid rocket engine since Apollo that is not only using a new fuel but is also reusable and will power two of the newest rockets fielded in this decade. It won the largest Base period award to go back to the Moon and is one of only two companies in history to land boosters.  In a three-year period, Blue Origin’s revenue went from next to zero to hundreds of millions of dollars, which allowed it to scale up the size, maturity, and complexity of its business.

Blue Origin’s efforts to fly astronauts to space on New Shepard, its fully reusable suborbital launch vehicle, produce reusable liquid rocket engines, create a highly reusable orbital launch vehicle with New Glenn, and return Americans to the surface of the Moon will add new chapters to the history of spaceflight and move it closer to fulfilling its founding vision.

PNAA’s Executive of the Year Award is presented to an executive of an aerospace company located within the Pacific Northwest who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of the Pacific Norwest Aerospace Industry.

Frank Nichols has been at the center of Silicon Forest Electronics for over 20 years.  Founded by Mr. Nichols in 1999 as a “green field” start-up bringing quick turn and rapid response operations to the Pacific Northwest, Silicon Forest Electronics’ marketplace has expanded to both a national and international reach.  With 86 full-time employees, including a highly experienced management team, skilled engineers, and business development executives, Silicon Forest Electronics has a current revenue of approximately $22 million.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, Silicon Forest Electronics is a full-service electronics manufacturing company providing prototype and full turnkey production services for leading-edge electronic manufacturing from aerospace, defense, unmanned systems, medical, industrial, and instrumentation sectors. Its customers range from the US Department of Defense to Aerospace Tier one contractors and small start-up entrepreneurs. Frank brings 48 years of complex manufacturing history to these markets. With a degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Fresno, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix, Frank worked for over a decade as a quality engineer and systems engineer for the Navy and Air Force air-to-air and air-to-ground missile systems. He then transitioned to Government Systems Program Manager for Eaton Corporation working on automated storage and retrieval systems focused on military applications.

In 1987, Mr. Nichols began his consulting company, Orion Services, which provided long-term marketing, management, and engineering support to Department of Defense and Department of Energy prime contractors.  He served in a numerous management positions working on a variety of projects for the next decade until founding Silicon Forest Electronics in 1999.

Despite the onset of the global pandemic in March and the slowdown of the aerospace industry, COVID-19 has not slowed the revenue growth. Silicon Forest Electronics’ highly diverse customer base and product mix helped reduce market risks and balance demand cyclicality across uncertain markets.  Nikki Malcom, PNAA Chairwoman, describes Frank as “a true visionary. Through his leadership, vision, and discipline to stay with that vision he has helped support Silicon Forest Electronics to thrive during the pandemic. His generosity in sharing his knowledge and purpose into the industry helps drive collaboration and connection at a time when it is needed the most.”

Frank Nichols provides insight into Silicon Forest Electronics growth and success, “SFE embraces two critical principles that contribute to the success that SFE enjoys.  First, there is a focus on people in 360 degrees: that is, our employees, customers, suppliers, and community partners.  If you take care of the people, growth and profits will follow. Second, eliminate single points of failure and concentration of resources on a single mission. Train many skills into many people, have back-up equipment and processes, and don’t rely on a few large customers.”

In addition to his responsibilities at Silicon Forest Electronics, Frank finds time to serve on numerous boards as well as pursue his passion for photography. As an accomplished professional photographer with a master’s degree from the Professional Photographers of America, Frank travels extensively in search of unique and wild and endangered animals.  He is noted for his photographs of grizzly bears from Alaska, Canada, Montana, and Wyoming.

PNAA Chief Executive Officer, Emeritus

PNAA’s Chairwoman’s Award is presented to an individual, company or organization to honor their outstanding accomplishments which have significantly contributed to the support, growth and future of the aerospace industry, throughout the greater Pacific Northwest.

Impact Washington opened its doors in 1997 under the name Washington Manufacturing Services, later becoming Impact Washington.  Starting with a small team of six employees, Impact Washington is currently home to 15 individuals, including some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated manufacturing specialists and food scientists in Washington. Its name change in 2010 reflected a more accurate portrayal of the focus of the organization - the “impacts” it makes in the manufacturing community and with individual clients. With a goal to support and energize the local industry by enhancing growth, improving capacity and productivity, reducing costs, and becoming more globally competitive, Impact Washington strives to be the leading provider of value-driven solutions for manufacturers in every corner of the state. 

Since 1997, Impact Washington has created or retained more than 15,000 jobs, delivering impactful results to more than 1,500 Washington State manufacturers. Based in Bothell, Washington, and an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Program (NIST MEP), Impact Washington has regional offices throughout the state and a team with over 225 years of manufacturing experience. By creating jobs and improving manufacturing practices, Impact Washington helps economic growth at all levels. Since its inception, Impact Washington clients reported $1.6 billion in increased and retained sales and $312 million in process improvement savings directly attributed to their work with Impact Washington.

Deloit R Wolfe Jr. became Interim Center Director of Impact Washington in March of 2019 after the devastating loss of its Center Director and longtime employee, Tab Wilkins. Deloit immediately continued the work and mission of Impact Washington and assumed the President/Center Director position permanently in August of 2019. He is responsible for the strategic direction, vision, growth, and performance of the Center and has been part the organization since 2013. With an MBA in Business Management, and a BA in Communication, Business Management from University of Montana, Deloit is a seasoned professional with more than 30 years of managerial experience. He is known for driving growth, maximizing operational excellence, and delivering financial performance.

With the onset of restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, most of Impact Washington’s focus shifted to assisting Washington manufacturers restart and rebuild. It was one of the first companies to provide a unique information portal for COVID-19 resources. As part of its Restart Program, Impact Washington offered every manufacturer a no-cost Preventative and Preparedness Assessment to comply with Washington’s Safe Start Plan. In July it launched the Rebuild Program that offered manufacturers access to CARES Act funds through a Recovery Assessment to identify Recovery Projects.  Impact Washington worked closely with manufacturers when Washington’s Governor asked its industry to pivot and provide the much-needed Personal Protective Equipment during the early stages of the pandemic. 

Nikki Malcolm, PNAA Chairwoman, applauds the work of Impact Washington saying “It’s all in the name.  The IMPACT that they are having in the industry to support companies to pivot during the pandemic and use the time to become more competitive, productive, and profitable will have a lasting effect on aerospace for years to come.”

PNAA’s Inspire Award honors businesses and individuals in the aerospace community that have shown exceptional creativity in working with young people and diverse populations in an effort to promote diversity and inclusion in the aerospace industry and cultivate interest and skills leading to aerospace careers.

Founded in 1957 as a vocational school for students with disabilities, today Orion Industries is proudly providing career pathways to individuals with barriers to employment, such as learning disabilities, low incomes, homelessness, and mental health concerns. With headquarters in Auburn, Washington and an additional facility in Mukilteo, Washington, Orion Industries believes that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that it has a responsibility to serve its community. Orion Industries’ nationally recognized Transitional Employment Model uses operations in its aerospace manufacturing division, Orion Aerospace, as a platform to teach people job skills through a combination of classroom instruction and paid training, including mentoring and internship programs.

In addition to providing training, Orion Aerospace, the manufacturing business, supplies funding for Orion Industries to advance its social mission. Orion Aerospace is an award-winning manufacturer of precision structural assemblies and parts for aerospace and defense clients all over the world. It provides a full suite of manufacturing services, from assembly to precision custom milling, as well as wire harnesses and cable assemblies to the major OEM’s and Tier 1’s. Orion Aerospace has received eight consecutive Boeing Performance Excellence Awards and is a three-time recipient of the Global Boeing Supplier of the Year Award.

Orion Industries’ record of successful placement of individuals in the workforce is impressive.  In 2019, Orion provided paid, on-the-job training to 372 people and placed 125 into living wage jobs. Of the people Orion served in 2018, 96% were living at or below the federal poverty level and 82% of those served had one or more disabilities. Over the past 10 years Orion has supported over 2,300 people in its training programs and have placed almost 1,000 people into careers.

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced schools in the state of Washington to shift to remote learning, Kristina Pressley, Orion’s Human Resources Manager, spearheaded the effort to organize Orion’s Learning Pod.  Kristina and Orion’s staff formed a cooperative to provide a safe supervised space and learning resources for children of employees. Orion’s Learning Pod consists of 20 children from 13 families and 6 school districts. Nikki Malcolm, PNAA Chairwoman, notes “Orion’s out of the box thinking created a way for their employees to be at work and relieve some of the stress that parents are facing with homeschooling and working a full-time job.”

At the organizational level, Orion has a simple belief: good jobs change lives. Orion devotes itself to its program participants and strives for excellence in everything it does. It offers hope and creates paths to employment through building esteem, mentoring, training, education, community services, and successful businesses.