Tigerstop, a Vancouver-based manufacturer of automated positioning attachments for tools such as saws and other equipment used on construction sites, is ready to rebuild its local workforce and grow its presence in foreign markets.
Chief Marketing Officer Matt Harris said the company is now experiencing growth in revenue. But during the Great Recession, Tigerstop had to reexamine everything in order to survive.
“When the housing industry collapsed in 2008 and 2009, our business took a deep downturn as well,” Harris said.
During the recession, TigerStop slashed its workforce from a high of 40 employees to just over half that. The company then put employees on a four-day workweek and tapped into Washington's Shared-Work program just to be able to make payroll for what was left of the hobbled team.
Harris said the cutbacks were actually a part of a series of decisions that eventually helped TigerStop turn its prospects around.
"We've gradually been able to both stabilize and re-grow the business,” he said. “We think we're headed in the right direction and now we're just trying to execute.”
Tigerstop has added back three positions over the past year and a half. Revenues for the privately-held company grew by 32 percent from 2009 to 2010, and are on track to keep growing significantly this year. Employees, meanwhile, are back on a full-time workweek and Harris said the state's shared-work program isn't needed any longer.
Harris explained Tigerstop was able to turn a corner because the company continued to innovate, realized what its core values were and acted quickly in response to signs of a downturn. In addition, they started looking at areas outside of the housing industry where their products could be useful.
Before long, Tigerstop found an opportunity in metalworking (specifically in sheet-metal enclosures and framing) and invested new products in that sector. Today, according to Harris, that portion of the company's business has increased 70 percent.
Meanwhile, Tigerstop maintains its dedication to housing, recently having released a product called the Sawgear – a device Harris said dramatically improves productivity on job sites. The company also shifted its focus to foreign housing markets, such as South America (mainly Brazil), Asia and Europe.
“As a small company we have to pick our bets,” said Harris. “We really want to position ourselves well for what we think are high-growth areas. It doesn't mean we're going to ignore what got us here.”
