“What drives our growth is the success around us, which we hope to contribute to,” said Huseby. “We’re always looking for new clients, and to become more of an integral part of what existing clients are doing.”
The company employs 75 people worldwide, with offices here and in Singapore, along with employees in China and at client sites that range from Corvallis to Detroit to San Diego. Services include industrial design, engineering, prototyping, testing and production. The recent emphasis on testing and firmware, along with International Traffic and Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration, has enabled Sigma Design to gain several new clients.
“[ITAR registration] has opened up incredible business opportunities and relationships,” said Huseby. “We currently work with some great companies in the industry and are consistently working on multiple projects associated with this market.”
Huseby referred to the Pacific Northwest as the “unmanned aircraft mecca,” with many regional suppliers to Columbia Gorge-based Insitu. Besides defense-related projects, Huseby sees two other industry sectors driving future economic growth – energy and health-and-fitness. For example, Sigma Design worked with local firm Cadet Manufacturing to design and produce Cadet’s newest energy-efficient Energy Plus heater. Another local client is Meagan Medical, a clinical research and product development company.
The new space Sigma Design has leased, directly across the street from their office on Broadway and McLoughlin, will primarily be dedicated to new testing capability and production, said Huseby. After the remodel is complete, he said, the new facility will support the elevated security and confidentiality of their clients’ work.
While Huseby is excited by the growth and new opportunities for Sigma Design, he admits it has been challenging to maintain the company culture and core values as the team grows larger. Examples of the company’s core values are helping clients and each other, taking time to laugh, and always exceeding customers’ expectations. The core values are prominently posted in numerous places in the facility, such as on the lunch room and conference room walls.
“It’s a great thrill when I overhear a discussion and people refer to the core values and physically point to them,” said Huseby.
Maintaining their signature light-hearted but focused culture hasn’t always been easy.
“Everyone has to work,” said Huseby, “so we want to make [Sigma Design] a place where you want to be. But not everyone understands that.”
For example, he said, the firm hired someone to update Sigma Design’s employee manual, because as the firm has grown, many things which used to be done ad hoc must now be an official procedure. But the resulting 30-page manual, with a page and half dedicated to job abandonment, didn’t fit the culture.
“If someone doesn’t show up for three days, and we don’t know why,” said Huseby, “we close the company and go looking for him – something’s wrong.”
Huseby and his 11-member leadership team have set very specific growth goals. In 2006, when the organization consisted of 12 employees, the goal was to generate 10 times the revenue, 10 times the profit, and have 10 times the fun in 10 years. On track to achieve that goal, Sigma Design has raised the bar: maintain the culture while generating $100 million in revenue and $20 million in profit by 2022.
“Growth is healthy and fun,” said Huseby. “It brings challenges associated with engineering, culture, and relationships. But I like to think I’ve hired problem solvers.”
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