Despite rumors of an untimely death, manufacturing is alive and well in Washington State. A prime example of this is Summit Truck Body, a 100% employee-owned business that recently opened its new manufacturing facility in Ridgefield. The new facility is designed to meet customer demand while catering to the needs of the company’s employees.
To learn more, we sat down with the President and CEO of Summit Truck Body Ted Croce to uncover more about Ridgefield’s newest resident.
“I moved to Oregon when I was fifteen years old from New York State,” says Croce. “I then grew up in Southern Oregon and went to Ashland High School and eventually the University of Oregon.”
Croce, whose roots in the Pacific Northwest were just beginning to flourish described, after several years in the service industry, how a group of college classmates encouraged him to join their company in Forest Grove, specifically a custom cabinet manufacturing company.
“I did a lot of things there as one does in a small company,” says Croce. “I did consultations, built cabinetry, delivered it, installed it, etc. I was engaged in everything.”
However, around the late 2010s, Croce began to seek out new opportunities in part due to the recession. So, taking a leap of faith, Croce gave his resume to a relative who worked for Volvo Trucks, seeking both advice and guidance. Luckily, through the power of networking, Croce was connected with TEC Tech in Portland for a role in leasing trucks which quickly pivoted to a new opportunity from the owner of Summit Truck Body, previously Summit Body & Equipment.
“What they were really looking for was somebody to run the day-to-day operations of the company which was very appealing to me,” says Croce. “Almost one year to the day I was hired the owner sold the company to the Employee Stock Ownership Trust. Summit became 100% employee-owned in November of 2014.”
Summit Truck Body is only one of about 8,000 U.S. companies to achieve this impressive feat, underscoring the commitment to its employees.
The new Ridgefield manufacturing facility and attached offices are a 74,000-square foot facility that sits on 10-acres of land. “The way that we constructed the building was very much designed around the employees’ experience, from the locker rooms to the facilities to the showers, and it’s both heated and air-conditioned,” says Croce. “In manufacturing, it’s that team out on the shop floor that really does the work and it’s up to the administrative staff to support them. I wanted to build a building that attracted and retained the best talent. It’s a special business model we have and now we have a special place to operate in.”
Summit, with a decades-long legacy of both quality in product and employee experience, has evolved greatly over the years much like Washington State, creating bold goals without dismissing the core values that made it successful in the first place. That’s what this new facility in Ridgefield represents, giving them the space to continue their manufacturing growth while keeping its service and repair locations in both Portland, OR, and Kent, WA.
“We’re right next to the Clark County Amphitheater and celebrated the opening on September 20th,” says Croce. “The day before we hosted some of our customers, vendors, and suppliers from all around the US and we did personal tours around the new facility, followed by a dinner at Dosalas on the Vancouver Waterfront
Croce then went on to discuss some of the business expectations he has for Summit’s future. “Summit’s revenue this year will end up north of $30 million,” says Croce. “This new facility in Ridgefield is designed to do up to $100 million and we’d like to see the building reach its new potential in the next five years.”
Summit currently services what Croce considers the “Greater Northwest”, including Alaska, Western Canada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and parts of Wyoming and Northern California.
“We’re working on some versions of our truck body right now that could be assembled maybe further away from home,” says Croce. “Some of that manufacturing would stay here in Ridgefield but components would be shipped to further distances. It would allow us to keep jobs but enter some underserved markets at the same time.”
Undoubtedly, Croce and his team at Summit have their sights set on the future, and this new facility gives them the space to turn those dreams and aspirations into a functioning reality.
“We actually polled the staff to get their input when it came time to select a site,” says Croce. “I knew we could retain an overwhelming majority of the team by moving to Ridgefield. We have actually lost zero team members throughout the course of this move.”
