Ron Dean, owner with wife and accountant Nancy

Coastal Repair and Maintenance

1725 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside

Coastal Repair and Maintenance, CRM, provides a wide range of services and it would be pretty difficult to go through a day on the North Coast without looking up to or putting a hand on one of their products. The store is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Visit the website at (www.coastalrepairandmaintenance.com). For more information, call (503) 717-8223 or toll free at (866) 261-6617.

What does CRM offer?

“We provide quality welding and metal fabrication services. We fabricate and install flagpoles and have in-shop and portable welding services and all metal working needs. We specialize in fabricating and installing custom stairs and stainless steel cable railing. Ornamental iron railing is our forte. CRM also provides crane and boom truck service, flags and flagpole accessories, and RV and trailer components. CRM is also a licensed trailer dealer. Last spring we installed a 45 foot flagpole at a winery in California’s Napa Valley. We installed the 45 foot pole at the turnaround in Seaside and many other places around the coast. The breezeway steel structure at the Seaside Hospital was engineered and fabricated by us from start to finish. I am a welder and do a lot of steel stairs. We also repair equipment like riding mowers, bull dozers and excavators, and we have a computer controlled plasma table for making parts.”

How did you get started with this business?

“We began in 1996 installing flagpoles. I found that I needed a crane so we went into the crane business. With two cranes we can do a lot of odd jobs like installing hot tubs over fences, or setting trusses and beams. With my welding and fabrication skills, one thing led to another and we have become very diversified.”

What can you tell us about your volume of business?

“We have put up hundreds of flagpoles and our volume has gone up every year. Lately not so much, but we are still growing. We just bought a lot next door so we can expand. We have a 14,000-square-foot facility, two cranes, four service trucks and 11 full-time employees to support a $3 million a year business. Our growth has been like a snowball rolling downhill.”

What is your strategy for coping with the recession?

“Diversity is the key. You have to do more than one thing in this economy. The days of waiting for people to come in are over and one has to pound the pavement for work. We get a lot of support from the local community. I believe there are a bunch of people who realize how important it is to buy locally, and we buy our material supplies locally. The other key is our employees. We have the best welders and fabricators in the Northwest who are willing to work with us during slow times. Some may take three-day weekends, or we may cut back to seven hours a day, but no one gets laid off, and they all receive benefits. We are successful because of our employees.”