'Invisible companies' still thriving

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.