Herald Business Journal - 9.3.2019 by Sound Publishing

September 2019 • Vol. 19, No. 8

Signing on the noisy shop floor Recently hired deaf workers have a skill to share. 3

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On this noisy factory floor, deaf workers fit right in

ANDY BRONSON / THE HERALD

Using signs and a bit of lip-reading, masker Brian Jensen communicates with masking supervisor Patsy Caban at Valence Surface Technologies in Everett.

Employees at Valence in Everett are learning sign language from their deaf co-workers. By Janice Podsada Herald Writer

EVERETT — Was Mark Vaughn surprised? Did he worry about training the company’s newest hire, a deaf worker? You bet. We’re talking about safety inside a busy factory. “I was worried about being able to communicate,” said Vaughn, a painting supervisor at Valence Surface Technologies in Everett. In the past year and a half, Valence, an aerospace firm, has hired 10 deaf workers for jobs throughout the plant. The company cleans, chemically treats and paints metal components for commercial and

military aircraft at 11 locations around the country. Could a deaf worker do the job? Why not. “You have to have faith,” Vaughn said. “You have to spend a little extra time on training. But that’s true of any employee.” Valence, which employs more than 100 people, operates two, rapid-pace daytime shifts and a quieter night shift. The yellow safety walkways that traverse the plant are narrow. Stand too long in one spot and you’ll be asked to step aside and make way for hand trucks and rolling racks carrying parts from one area of the shop floor to another. Whether it’s masking, sanding or painting, “it’s precision work,” said Vaughn. “Everything has to be to spec.” One of the first deaf workers to be hired was Daniel Haistings He was

On the cover Daniel Haistings, who is deaf, and Human Resource Manager Jasmin Baker-Kinney use American Sign Language at Valence Surface Technologies in Everett. (Photo by Andy Bronson / The Herald) assigned to the painting department, which Vaughn oversees. In the painting booths, metal aerospace parts get a precise layer of green paint to help prevent corrosion. Fifteen months later, any concerns Vaughn might have had about how everyone would adjust have disappeared. Another deaf worker, Ernie Shinn, recently joined the paint crew. See DEAF, Page B4

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Deaf From Page B3

“I love them both. Daniel is a super hard worker and a fast learner,” Vaughn said. “Ernie is good at lots of different things.” Haistings, who reads lips, is helping train other deaf workers. “Daniel helps me communicate. He makes it really easy,” Vaughn said. And another thing: Hearing employees are taking lessons from their deaf co-workers. They’re learning a new skill, American Sign Language. In a factory where the rumbling air filtration system drowns out most voices, being able to speak to someone across the

room using sign language is an advantage, even safety-wise. “We’re a labor-intensive company, there’s very little automation,”said Tracy Glende, Valence’s CEO. Valence serves Boeing, Airbus, Sikorsky and other aerospace firms. Its finish work is part of the supply chain for the Boeing KC-46 aerial tanker, the Northrup Grumman B-21 long-range bomber and the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter programs. Every month, the company processes more than a million parts throughout its network, Glende said.

A tight labor market In the past year or so,

Valence’s Everett operation has added 30 new employees, including 10 deaf workers. Entry-level workers earn $15 an hour to start. Finding enough people to fill job openings in a tight labor market can be a challenge for any employer. When the unemployment rate dips below 4% — as it has this past year — the pool of job applicants gets smaller. Valence isn’t the only Snohomish County employer with “Help wanted” signs on display. Other local companies struggle to retain workers, despite competitive wages, benefits and profit-sharing. “We’ve lost a lot people to Amazon, to Boeing,” Paul Weyn, Qualitel’s

business manager, told Rep. Rick Larsen, who recently toured the electronic assembler’s Everett plant. “Your standard hire,” someone with experience who shows up on time every day, “everyone wants that person,” said Jasmin Baker-Kinney, human resource manager at Valence. The current labor shortage has prompted some businesses to step outside their comfort zone and come up with more creative ways to recruit, and to hire outside the box. Valence has a history of hiring workers with autism and learning disabilities, Baker-Kinney said. When the stack of job

applications dwindled two years ago, BakerKinney contacted Sherwood Community Services in Lake Stevens and Washington Vocational Services in Everett. Both nonprofits serve people with disabilities. “They reached out to us,” said Janet Bruckshen, executive director of Washington Vocational Services. “Valence started with a couple people, and then it grew and grew,” Bruckshen said.

Grateful to be working Patsy Caban, a supervisor in the masking department at Valence, is learning how to sign. “Sorry. Thank you,

Good job. OK. See you Monday,” said Caban, rattling off her vocabulary list. “Brian (Jensen) gave me a dictionary for the deaf,” she said, referring to a deaf worker. “I try to read a little each night.” Olga Ramirez is looking forward to her oneyear work anniversary at Valance — “October 22,” Ramirez signed. Ramirez, 29, signed that this is her first job. Ramirez’ husband, Eveer Soriano, who works in packaging at Valence, recommended she apply. Now she preps critical aerospace parts for the paint booth. That kind of work milestone is huge, said See DEAF, Page B5

ANDY BRONSON / THE HERALD

Painting assistant Daniel Haistings (left), a deaf employee at Valence Surface Technologies in Everett, laughs with painter trainer Robert Quinones using American Sign Language. Haistings is one of 10 deaf and hard-of-hearing employees at Valence. Quinones is hearing and knows sign language because his brother is deaf.

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Deaf From Page B4

Bruckshen, director of Washington Vocational Services. “A lot of these individuals have been turned down so many times by so many businesses — they’re so grateful,” Bruckshen said. Still, Valence has incurred additional expenses in accommodating its diverse workforce, Baker-Kinney said. Sign language interpreters have been hired to translate at weekly staff meetings, safety meetings and some one-on-one meetings. “It works out to a few hours a week,” BakerKinney said. “The costs that we have incurred, I don’t think it’s a whole lot more expensive than hiring temporary workers,” she said.

Turnover among disabled workers at Valence has been low. “They just want to do a good job,” Baker-Kinney said. Valence plans to upgrade its fire alarm system to add flashing lights, but they were going to do that anyway, said Dan Hawkins, regional general manager at Valence. All of the company’s training videos are now closed-captioned.

Communicating above the din These days, while walking the shop floor at Valence, it’s difficult to tell who’s deaf and who isn’t. Deaf and hearing workers are signing to one another above the din. Baker-Kinney completed her first year of American Sign Language studies at Everett Community College using

the company’s education reimbursement perk. She starts her secondyear courses this fall. “I took sign language in high school for three years. But bringing deaf employees into the workplace re-lighted that flame,” Baker-Kinney said. “I’ve been with the company three years in October. This is kind of my proudest accomplishment, diversifying the workforce,” she said. Having a good job, has made “a huge difference in our customer’s lives — many have never worked competitively or successfully,” said Bruckshen, the director of Washington Vocational Services. “We’ve worked with people that were living in a car. A job can change that. We get a lot of referrals from friends. They want what their friends have.” In Washington, the labor participation rate

— the percentage of adults who are working full-time or are looking for full-time work — is about 64 percent. By comparison, the rate for deaf adults regionally and nationally is an estimated 40 percent, according to a recent study by Cornell University’s YangTan Institute. Why the gap? Locally, some deaf workers lost their jobs when electronics manufacturers began moving operations oversees about 10 years go, Bruckshen said. Another barrier is the perception that “it’s going to be expensive, making changes at the workplace,” she said. “Accommodations can be a scary word,” Bruckshen. “It kind of freaks employers out a little bit, but there’s a lot that can be done inexpensively.” “A $30 flashing light,” for example — “so that a

deaf worker with a forklift license can do the job successfully.” Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities, unless doing so would pose an undue hardship. “Most accommodations we can do for under $10,” Bruckshen said. “If it’s safety hazards they’re worried about, we can answer their questions. We can come in and do an assessment,” she said. With the current labor shortage, “a lot more employers are inviting us to the table. There’s less hesitancy,” Bruckshen said. “Still, we have a long way to go.” Janice Podsada; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: JanicePods

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More information ■■ Washington Vocational Services’ Deaf Services will host its fourth annual open house in Seattle from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 26 at 10740 Meridian Ave. N in Seattle. Employers, jobseekers and anyone else interested are invited. There you can meet the Deaf Services Team and learn about deaf inclusion and American Sign Language. ■■ Employers can check out the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) at askjan.org. A video library there includes information about how to make various jobs accessible to people with disabilities.

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For a Bothell biotech firm, a new migraine drug is personal The spouses of three Alder BioPharmaceutical founders suffer from severe, chronic headaches. By Janice Podsada Herald Writer

BOTHELL — “All you can do is go into a dark room and pray for it to stop.” That quote and others like it are stenciled on the walls at Alder BioPharmaceuticals in Bothell. The company has spent 15 years developing a new drug to treat migraine headaches and now await the results of a federal review in February. Alder hopes it will get a green light from the Federal Drug Administration to

OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

Cells are transferred with a dropper in a lab at Alder Biopharmaceuticals in Bothell.

make its prescription drug, Eptinezumab, available in the spring. Eptinezumab is administered through a 30-minute intravenous infusion every three months. Completed clinical trials showed it can reduce the frequency of migraines in varying

degrees for up to 12 weeks, Alder CEO Bob Azelby said. The long-acting drug works by blocking a specific protein that acts as a neurotransmitter and is linked to migraine pain, Azelby said. Eptinezumab See ALDER, Page B8

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Alder From Page B6

is one of a handful of preventative drugs, some already on the market, that target that particular protein, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). For three of the company’s four founders, including scientist John Latham, it’s personal. Each has a spouse that suffers from migraines. In college, Latham didn’t understand why his girlfriend, Nanette, who later became his wife, couldn’t make it to anatomy class every day. Migraines laid her low at least once a week. “My wife’s migraines just got worse and worse,” Latham said. “Someday, if I had the chance, I wanted to do something for the person that’s most dear to my heart,” said Latham, now retired. A headache is just a headache, right? Take some aspirin, get some fresh air. Except when the headache occurs 15 days or more

each month. And try telling that to a child. Many migraine sufferers say their headaches began when they were 7 or 8. “Not only do we have to do a better job of treating this, but recognizing it,” Azelby said. Migraines are more than searing head pain. They are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness and flashes of light. Episodes can last from four to 72 hours. To be eligible for Alder’s clinical trials, participants had to have experienced at least 15 years of headaches, the company said. More than 4 million Americans suffer from chronic migraine, defined as 15 or more episodes a month. Migraine is the third-most-prevalent disease in the world, according to the non-profit Migraine Research Foundation. Each year, sufferers spend $41 billion each year to treat the illness. In the U.S., healthcare costs and productivity losses associated with migraine are estimated at up to $36 billion, the

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OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

A timeline of the development of the Alder Biopharmaceuticals drug Eptinezumab is displayed in a hallway at the company labs in Bothell.

foundation said. About 70% to 80% of sufferers are women in the 20-55 age range. “A third have had to quit a job because of migraines. Two-thirds have lost a promotion due to migraine,” Azelby said. “They can’t drive the kids for fear of getting an aura and being unable to see.” Fearing the next attack is often a source of anxiety and depression. “I live in fear of when the next one will hit,” a

clinical trial participant said. Cautiously optimistic about FDA approval, Alder, which employs about 125, is in the process of doubling its workforce. “We plan to hire 75 to 100 people throughout the the U.S.” Azelby said.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum Developing any new prescription medication

is a longshot. Only 12% of new drugs or compounds that show initial promise make it to market, according to a recent study by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. It’s also costly. Alder declined to say how much it spent in the development of Eptinezumab. The Tufts study estimates that drugmakers spend an average $2.6 billion to develop a new

medicine, from research trials to federal approval. Alder expects that a year’s supply of its new drug will cost about $6,900, Azelby said. The company was launched in 2004 with a tiny research space, four employees and a healthy dose of debt. “I didn’t take a salary for 24 months,” Latham said. “We told our spouses there would be no extra cash. I fully leveraged my credit cards.”

Being part of a drug development startup is a rollercoaster ride. “There are days when you don’t think you’re going to make it,” Azelby said. “You’re wondering, ‘Who’s going to write the next check?’” Besides spending time in the lab, the founders spent their days wooing investors and asking for money. The decision to take the company public in 2014 was yet another effort to raise money. Alder trades on the NASDAQ market under the ticker symbol ALDR. The early years were lean. Humor helped. Pieces of secondhand equipment got silly names. A pair of “fickle” bioreactors were dubbed Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Latham said. Used to support biological compounds, “those old machines were problematic,” Latham said. Today, they’re gleefully displayed outside the research labs. The christening continues. Lab equipment is labeled and named for characters

Tuesday, 09.03.2019

OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

One of the original machines used in the development of Alder’s new migraine drug is on display at the company’s labs in Bothell.

from “Star Wars” and the “Flintstones.” Sam Marzolf, a researcher, has worked at Alder for 13 years. “When I was hired, I was told early on not to get too comfortable here because we might not make it, ” Marzolf said. “It’s nice to see something all the way through.”

The dream: Leave the laptop at work Heather Malcolm, vice president of human resources at Alder, gets about nine to 12

migraines every month. She hopes that Eptinezumab will help free migraine sufferers from the pain and the dread that comes from worrying when the next migraine will hit. Employees and spouses are not allowed to participate in clinical trials. “They’re working so hard to make a big difference for what I am suffering from. Working at Alder has been an absolute passion project for me,” said Malcolm, her voice cracking over the phone.

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OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

Lab equipment at Alder Biopharmaceuticals labs are named for characters from “Star Wars” and the “Flintstones.”

Malcolm’s migraines began when she was a child but weren’t diagnosed until she was in college. She experiences them as pain, nausea and vertigo. “It feels like an ice-pick is being driven through my head,” she said. “My dad had migraines. He was completely disabled by them. He

would turn green and go to bed,” she said. Malcolm, 47, has spent a good portion of her life “powering” through the pain. “I’m determined to not let it keep me from things I do.” “My dream to be the first ‘Epi’ patient,” she said, referring to Eptinezumab. Beyond that, Malcolm hopes she can stop taking

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her work computer home every day. If she develops a migraine overnight, she has her laptop and can work at home. It’s part of her constant back-up plan. “I’d like to be able to leave it behind,” she said. Janice Podsada; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: JanicePods

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Ink on paper still rules at a 50-year Everett blueprint shop “We’re not seeing guys in the field swinging a hammer and holding an iPad,” says the owner of Bill’s Blueprint. By Janice Podsada Herald Writer

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While industries increasingly are turning to digital documents and displays, the local construction industry is still largely dependent on printed plans, said Eric Watt, owner of Bill’s Blueprint in Everett. “Our primary customers are still architects and engineers,” said Watt, the firm’s second-generation owner. On the job, paper blueprints are also the medium of choice. “We’re not seeing guys in the field swinging a hammer and holding an iPad — they still have their plans,” Watt said. See PRINT, Page B12

OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

Owner’s Bill Watt, left, Jan Watt and Eric Watt in front of Bill’s Blueprints in Everett.

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Print From Page B10

Blueprints were a nineteenth-century innovation that replaced hand-traced and hand-drawn architectural and technical drawings. The chemical process produced white lines on a blue background. By the 1940s, a simpler printing process that used fewer toxic chemicals replaced the older method and reversed their appearance to blue lines on a white background. However, the name blueprint stuck, Watt said. Watt’s father, Bill Watt, founded Bill’s Blueprint in 1969 after knocking on doors and asking potential Everett-area customers if they would support a local blueprint shop. In the mid-1960s, Bill was a salesman for a Seattle printing company, and his sales territory included Everett. At the time, local architects and engineers sent their printing orders to Seattle, Bill said. The time to pick-up and deliver could add two or three days to the job, he said. Determining who your customers are — and if they’ll support your business — is an important question today, small business experts say. With the promise of a $2,300 order from an Everett architectural firm, Bill Watt rented a hole-in-the wall office at 1718 Hewitt Ave. and bought a $2,000 blueprint machine. “I ran all weekend on that one job,” he said. It also helped that Bill’s wife, Jan, knew how to run the blueprint machine. For years, she did the books and ran the printing machines while Bill focused on sales and marketing. In the mid-1970s, the shop moved to its current location at 2920 Rockefeller

OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

Family photos hang on the wall at Bill’s Blueprints in Everett.

Ave. Twenty years ago, Eric Watt took over the business. His first brush with his father’s business began when he was 15 years old. “I would deliver prints on a bicycle around town, in the summer and after school,” Watt said. Today the shop employs 12 people, including Eric Watt’s wife, Mykel, who keeps track of the finances. This summer, Eric Watt’s son, Conner, 17, and daughter, Sydney, 20, joined their father and mother in the shop. In the past decade, color ink jet printers have become the new standard, replacing older plans that could only display black or blue lines on white paper. Color blueprints with red, green, blue and orange lines

are reducing errors and revisions in the construction industry, Watt said. Different colors allow all the schematics to be printed on one sheet, which is easier on the human eye and brain, Watt said. “You can see all the systems — mechanical, electrical, plumbing — on one piece of paper,” he said. If a pipe needs to be moved, you can see quickly and clearly which structures and systems are going to be affected, he said. But color isn’t the last word. Fortune magazine reported last year that the construction industry — arriving late to the party — has begun using digital plans. Other industries made the move 10, 20, even 30

years ago, including the aerospace industry. In the early 1990s, Boeing designed its first paperless airplane, the twin-aisle Boeing 777. Computeraided design software gave designers and engineers the ability to model, adjust and scale aircraft components on a screen. Are blueprints and blueprint shops on the verge of extinction? “It’s something that I’m always looking at. My customers here in Everett still require paper,” he said, and then added, “I need paper to stick around for 10 more years — to get my kids through college.” Janice Podsada; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: JanicePods

OLIVIA VANNI / THE HERALD

Different height measurements of family members and friends mark the wall at Bill’s Blueprints in Everett.

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Career event helps women ‘refresh, inspire, support, empower’ The local YWCA held its first training workshop last month in Edmonds. By Janice Podsada Herald Writer

EDMONDS — Shirley Abreu’s job search never ends. “I’m always job hunting. I’m an independent contractor,” said the selfemployed corporate travel director. The Edmonds resident recently got some help with her unceasing job search at the recent RISE Career Training Workshop for women, a first for its sponsor, the YWCA Seattle King Snohomish. The workshop, held at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, offered job-seekers the opportunity to create a LinkedIn page, fine-tune a resume or spend 20 minutes with a career coach. “RISE stands for refresh, inspire, support, empower,” said Annalee Schafranek, YWCA’s public relations and marketing manager. Abreu took advantage of a group of volunteers offering free head shots. “I got a new haircut, and I need a new photo to update my LinkedIn page,” she said. Alicia Crank, the YWCA’s corporate relations officer, organized the event. “All the volunteers are women from the Edmonds business community,” Crank said. “It was an easy ask. It was a way to give back and help their neighbors.” Crank is also a member of the Snohomish County Airport Commission, a volunteer advisory group to the county executive. Workshop volunteers included Jenny Anttila, an interview coach experienced in conducting executive searches; Kristen Cline,

JANICE PODSADA / THE HERALD

Mary Anne Dillon, executive director of the YWCA Snohomish branch, showcases the nonprofit’s Working Wardrobe program, which offers free business attire to homeless or low-income women.

an accountant and resume coach; and Elizabeth Lambert,Sarah Sewalelot and Erika Jones, stylists and make-up experts at The Refinery Salon in Edmonds. “As a young woman I didn’t know how to write a resume or how to interview,” Sewalelot said. “This is a resource.” The workshop, held Aug. 22, coincided with and recognized Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, Schafranek said. “Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day when women’s earnings ‘catch

up’ to men’s earnings from the previous year,” said Schafranek, citing an American Association of University Women report. “It takes black women 20 months to earn what a white male earns in one year,” Schafranek said. White and Asian women fare better, earning the equivalent in 15 to 16 months, the association said. Volunteers from Sno-Isle Libraries included Emily Felt, lead librarian for business services. The library offers a See CAREER, Page B15

JANICE PODSADA / THE HERALD

Erika Jones, make-up artist at The Refinery Salon In Edmonds, gives Julie Wiese a makeover during the first YWCA Seattle King Snohomish RISE Career Training Workshop for women, held Aug. 22 in Edmonds.

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Career From Page B14

find-a-job page and a Resume Lab with “real, live writing experts” who can review your resume or cover letter within one business day, Felt said. Mary Anne Dillon, executive director of the YWCA Snohomish branch, and Kizha Davidson, its chief communications officer, showcased the group’s Everett clothing bank. The Working Wardrobe program offers free, business-appropriate attire to homeless or low-income women who need clothing for an interview or job, Dillon said. The YWCA hopes to offer more career training workshops for women locally. Janice Podsada; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: JanicePods

JANICE PODSADA / THE HERALD

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