One final pour: 112-year-old Bellingham manufacturer is closing up shop
One of Bellingham’s oldest manufacturers is closing as the owner gets ready for some well-earned rest.
After 112 years in business, the Union Foundry is closing at end of this month. Mike Hood, who has worked at the foundry for 43 years and has owned it since 1998, has decided to retire. The facility is at 1910 Grant St., near Bellingham High School.
The manufacturer has made many things over the years, but mostly it has focused on metal parts for the marine industry. The process hasn’t changed much throughout the decades. They take the molten brass, bronze or aluminum and carefully pour it into a casing. On Dec. 13, Hood and his employees did one of their final pours, creating boat rudders. The foundry ladle used to pour the metal weighs about 80 pounds and Hood admits to feeling it in his arms and shoulders.
“It’s getting harder to do the physical labor of this job,” Hood said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald, adding with a chuckle that he never thought he would get to a point where he needed to take a break.
Since the products were sent to other businesses around the world, Union Foundry has remained below the radar for local residents except for the red exterior of the 5,500-square-foot building.
“I’ve had many people tell me that they’ve driven by the building for years and had no idea what we did,” Hood said.
What’s unique about the company is how little it has changed: Hood is the fourth generation family member running the foundry, with his great-grandfather Angus Hood starting the business in 1906.
The technology hasn’t changed much in those 112 years and Union Foundry’s main customer, Marine Hardware in Redmond, has been with them for about 40 years. There was a period where Union Foundry made manhole covers, but for the most part it’s products have been marine-related. In recent years they’ve been doing more rudders for ski boats, Hood said.
Hood took over the business after his father, James Hood, died. Mike Hood’s original goal was to make it to the company’s 100th anniversary, but as that passed he decided to keep going another 12 years. Hood has two daughters who went on to other careers, so he decided he would close the business when he felt ready.
Along with the steady business with Marine Hardware, Hood said a key factor for the business lasting this long was his employees. Lately, he’s handled the work along with two of his longtime employees, Jeff Green and Ron O’Keefe.
“Keeping these two (employees) was amazing,” Hood said.
While running the business Hood said he’d only had one extended vacation. After closing the business, he said there are plenty of things he’s been meaning to do around the house. Traveling is also on the to-do list.
“I’m feeling good with it,” Hood said, referring to his decision to close. “The equipment is old, it’s getting tired. We were both getting tired.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 5:00 AM.
