For the Reporter
Auburn-based Orion Industries and Diversified Industrial Services of Mukilteo have merged.
The merger, effective Thursday, joins nonprofit social enterprises that have proud histories of providing people with barriers to employment with skills development and job opportunities in King County for almost 60 years and in Snohomish County for 45 years.
The combined enterprise will retain the Orion Industries name, and while the Diversified name will disappear, the business will continue to serve the community in Snohomish County, and aerospace customers in Western Washington as it has for decades.
Orion, as a 2011 and 2015 Boeing Supplier of the Year Award winner, and a premier supplier to the aerospace industry, will bring its award winning capabilities to Snohomish County and the greater Everett area. This will include bringing additional manufacturing capabilities to Diversified’s Mukilteo facility while also providing expanded vocational rehabilitation training and job opportunities for residents of Snohomish County and nearby communities.
Orion partners with federal, state, county, and local agencies, providing training opportunities and job placement services to individuals in the community.
The employees and families of both companies welcome the merger.
Orion Industries is a social enterprise with a mission of helping those with barriers to employment, such as learning disabilities, low income, and mental health barriers. Orion uses operations in its aerospace manufacturing division and contact center services division as platforms to teach people job skills through a combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job-training, including mentoring and internship programs.
Orion offers real world experience and does what many other nonprofits can’t do; competes head-to-head against for-profit corporations in the competitive world of aerospace parts manufacturing.
Orion’s aerospace division is a certified AS9100 tier one supplier delivering millions of parts to Top Tier OEMs such as The Boeing Co.
