Almar Tools celebrates Camas groundbreaking

CAMAS — It was more of a homecoming than a groundbreaking. A dozen Heredia family members and several friends, employees and city officials gathered under Thursday afternoon's sun to welcome Almar Tools Inc. from Portland to Camas, where the company's founding family has lived for two decades. "We live here, key personnel live here, and the city of Camas has been amazing to work with," said Alex Heredia, who with his brother, Marcelo Heredia, owns the cutting tools manufacturer. Almar will be moving its 18 employees to Northwest Lake Road at the Dwyer Creek Business Park late this year once new construction by Robertson & Olson is finished. The company has run out of room in Portland, as it has plans to double employment in the next 18 months, Alex Heredia said. "We have projects we simply can't get to because we're out of space," he said. The move to Camas marks the latest expansion of the company, which was started with a single machine in a rented room by an Argentinian immigrant in 1980. "My dad got off a plane in 1968 with $90 in his pocket," Alex Heredia said, holding a gold-plated shovel as workers continued their progress on the future home of Almar behind him. "It was a big adventure," said his father, Luis Heredia, who worked at Boeing before starting his company. "I wanted to make something, and I got lucky." Alex and Marcelo Heredia bought the company from their father seven years ago and initially expressed interest in moving to Camas in 2011. "I toured their site then and already they were squeezed," said Paul Dennis, president of the Camas Washougal Economic Development Association, which Alex Heredia said was crucial during the move. Almar -- named for Luis' sons Alex and Marcelo -- crafts "precision cutting tools" for medical, aerospace and defense customers, with about half its business coming from the medical sector. Though the official groundbreaking was held Thursday, work has been underway for several months for a planned November or December ribbon-cutting. "I think this is the first groundbreaking I've attended where the building is half-done," Camas Mayor Scott Higgins joked. "This happened through a lot of hard work. We're thrilled you're here and happy you're part of the Camas community." Alex Heredia, 53, said he plans to partner with Camas High School to train students who might want to pick up a skill or two. It's one of the ways he plans to give back to the place where he raised a family and, every now and then, plays some golf. "It's always great to see a company bring the family connection," Dennis said. "And they still get to live the American dream."