When it comes to honoring veterans, one Monroe company has quite a knack.
Damar Aerosystems, an aerospace machine shop located in the industrial area of Monroe near Valley General Hospital, has hosted a company-wide Veterans Day celebration since 1997.
Inspired by last year's speaker Sgt. First Class Dave Sivewright from Sultan, who is also known as the Highway 2 Freedom Runner, this year they decided to incorporate a 5-kilometer "Freedom RunGÇ¥ into their event.
The run started near Monroe's downtown core, headed southwest on Main Street and then north up 179th Avenue to the industrial area west of S.R. 522. Damar employee Loren Fox carried an American flag as the runners progressed along the streets of Monroe.
The event, which initially started as an all-employee barbecue, was catered this year and included a presentation and musical performance, in addition to the meal.
"We have a tradition where we give red plates to our veterans and they're served first,GÇ¥ said Damar Safety & Training Coordinator Shannon Aamold.
Damar Business Development Manager Dan Millar explained that the company was founded as Damar Machine Company by his parents in 1973. Millar's parents moved the company to Monroe in 1989 to become more strategically located so that they would be better able to serve the needs of the Boeing Company. The company experienced extensive growth after the move.
The Veterans Day barbecue was begun in 1997 after the company was sold to three United States Veterans.
"They just decided, "Hey, we're veterans; let's do something for Veterans Day,'GÇ¥ said Millar. "So that's how it all kicked off. And we did have a number of veterans working for us at the time.GÇ¥
Damar manufactures a variety of aircraft parts. While they serve several other aerospace companies, including GE Aviation, Kaman Aerospace, Gulfstream and many others, Boeing is one of their largest customers.
"Just about any 737 you fly in has Damar hardware on it,GÇ¥ said Chief Executive Officer Charles Elder. "That's probably about a third of our business currently.GÇ¥
Even after Damar was sold again in 2011, becoming Damar Aerosystems, the Veterans Day tradition has carried on. The employee population at Damar, which has historically included a significant number of veterans, has increased dramatically over the years. When the company first opened its doors in 1973, it had about six employees. Currently, Damar employs around 150 people in its two Monroe facilities, and around 15 more in Eastern Washington.
While it is a company-wide priority to honor and serve United States Veterans, Damar doesn't actively seek veterans in respect to hiring practices. Rather, the aerospace industry itself seems to appeal to veterans who tend to seek employment in the field.
"I think aerospace attracts a lot of veterans,GÇ¥ said Human Resources Manager Sarah Spears. "I don't necessarily know why, but there's a lot of retraining programs and they're predominantly filled with a lot of veterans. So when I start seeing applications it happens to be that a large majority of them are military.GÇ¥
Spears, who has a background in recruiting, shared that, in other industries, she hadn't experienced the same prolific level of military presence among applicants. "A very large percentage of people here are veterans,GÇ¥ said Spears.
Aamold explained that, in addition to honoring veterans on Veterans Day, Damar seeks to find other ways to honor those who are serving in the military. Last year, the company sent 74 care packages to a platoon that was deployed oversees.
"It was pretty powerful,GÇ¥ said Aarmold. "We're doing that again this year.GÇ¥
One of their employees, a member of the platoon they served, helped direct them as far as what items would be appreciated the most. The drive to collect the items was 100 percent facilitated by the employees, and items collected included everything from toiletries to snacks. In the future, the company hopes to recruit other Monroe businesses to broaden their efforts so that they can make a positive impact on even more veterans.
"Each year we've been bringing forward ideas from our employees of what they want to do for our veterans,GÇ¥ said Aamold. "Our hope and mission is to bring awareness and have other businesses join us.GÇ¥
They are also hoping to grow the Freedom Run, and have even more participation in the event next year.
Damar would like to recognize each of the following employees for participating in the first annual Freedom Run: Jim Aamold, Fedor Cherniychuk, Michael Christensen, Jim Flower, Loren Fox, Laura Graves, Anna Lavrentyev, Dan Millar, Tim Osterberg, Jim Pulluqi, Cherie Rasmussen, Jim Scott and Houa Xiong.
Once the runners arrived back at the facility, the official Veterans Day ceremony took place with local country music sensation Dakota Neuman performing the National Anthem. Neuman, an accomplished musician who performs frequently throughout the Sky Valley area, is 18 years old.
Additionally, the event featured a presentation by Damar employee Staff Sgt. Michael Christensen.
"We always have one of the veterans in our company say a few words,GÇ¥ said Aamold.
In addition to cultivating a rewarding employee environment, Damar, as a company, strives for innovation. They recently obtained their ISO 14001 environmental management certification, after engaging in an extensive process.
"We got our certification in May of this year and it's hanging on the wall,GÇ¥ said Spears. "It's a difficult process; it took us a year.GÇ¥
The ISO certification establishes specific criteria for the implementation of an environmental management standard. In order to achieve the certification, Damar had to commit to exemplary environmental practices meant to mitigate any potentially harmful effects that their machine shops could have on the surrounding environment.
Damar is one of the first companies in Monroe to obtain the ISO 14001 certification.
For more information on Damar Aerosystems, please visit the website at: http://www.damaraerosystems.com/.
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