Omega Morgan
Omega Morgan is a privately held company headquartered in Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1991, the 350-employee company primarily transports large-scale industrial and transportation equipment as well as rigging. They also coordinate smaller-scale moves of precise manufacturing equipment.
Private | |
Industry | Industrial rigging, machinery moving |
Founded | 1991 |
Headquarters | Hillsboro, Oregon, USA 45.5559°N 122.92213°W |
Number of locations | 3 |
Key people | Greg Tansey, CEO |
Revenue | $60 million (2011) |
Number of employees | ~350 (2012) |
Website | omegamorgan.com |
History
Morgan Industrial was founded in 1991 in North Plains, Oregon, by Joe Morgan where the majority of its business came from Intel Corporation in nearby Hillsboro.[1] The company purchased Omega Rigging, based in Tacoma, Washington, in 2003 and used it to launch its heavy transport work.[1][2]
Jeff Morgan became the company’s CEO in 2004.[1] The company announced in 2010 they would likely add 150 employees during construction of Intel’s D1X facility, which was on top of the 100 employees already working on projects for Intel.[3] In 2011, the company renamed itself as Omega Morgan.[1] At the time the company had grown to 275 employees and had revenues of $42 million in 2010[1] and had an office in Fife, Washington, along with the headquarters in Hillsboro.[2]
John McCalla became the company's CEO in December 2011, replacing Jeff Morgan.[4][5] At that time Riverlake Partners had taken majority ownership of the company for an undisclosed amount.[5][6][7] The investment by Riverlake was hoped to allow the company to grow to annual revenues of $100 million within a few years.[6]
Omega Morgan hauled the Canby Ferry to Portland in April 2012 due to the closure of the Willamette Falls Locks.[8] In July 2012, Omega Morgan bought Action Machinery Moving of Lynden, Washington.[4][9] Also in 2012, the company started an office in Phoenix, Arizona.[4][10] In January 2013, the company moved the main 1,100-foot (340 m) section of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, as part of the construction project to replace the bridge.[11] The move allowed for the old bridge section to be used as a detour route while the new bridge was constructed adjacent to the old span.[11] Omega Morgan used jacks and skids to move the section, as well as Dawn dish-washing detergent as a lubricant.[11]
In August 2013, the company began hauling oversized loads to the Canadian tar sands.[12][13] While the route through Idaho was approved by Idaho's Department of Transportation, environmental groups and tribal leaders protested part of the Idaho portion of the route on U.S. Route 12 that crossed tribal lands and traveled along the Clearwater River.[12][13] The protests slowed the load, but the shipment later arrived in Montana.[14] In September 2013, they moved the replacement span into place as part of the repairs to the Skagit River bridge in Washington.[15]
Notable moves
On January 19, 2013, Omega Morgan, working with Multnomah County government, moved the 6.8-million pound Sellwood Bridge from its current location onto new pylons.[16] To match the newly built onramps, the bridge was moved 66 feet on its west end and 33 feet on its east end.[11] The moved bridge, known as a shoofly bridge,[17] served as a temporary span until the new crossing was completed in 2016.
References
- Siemers, Erik; Almeera Anwar (August 26, 2011). "Omega Morgan is hiring, plans to expand". Portland Business Journal.
- Anwar, Almeera (July 29, 2011). "Industrial mover Omega Morgan bulks up its work force". Puget Sound Business Journal.
- Rogoway, Mike (October 24, 2010). "Intel jobs will take special skills". The Oregonian.
- Theen, Andrew (July 24, 2012). "Hillsboro equipment transporter grows with the territory". The Oregonian.
- Siemers, Erik (December 2, 2011). "Riverlake takes big stake in Omega". Portland Business Journal.
- Siemers, Erik (December 1, 2011). "Omega Morgan sells majority stake to Riverlake Partners". Portland Business Journal.
- Young, Molly (December 1, 2011). "Hillsboro's Omega Morgan sells majority stake to Riverlake Partners". The Oregonian.
- Stevens, Suzanne (April 17, 2012). "Canby Ferry to close for two weeks". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
- Siemers, Erik (July 10, 2012). "Omega Morgan acquires Washington equipment mover". Portland Business Journal.
- Siemers, Erik (January 7, 2013). "Hillsboro's Omega Morgan opens Phoenix office". Portland Business Journal.
- Nirappil, Fenit (January 21, 2013). "Omega Morgan boosts credentials after successful Sellwood Bridge move". The Oregonian.
- Read, Richard (August 7, 2013). "Hillsboro company hauls oil equipment to Canada's controversial tar sands, muscling past protesters". The Oregonian. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- Read, Richard (August 5, 2013). "Nez Perce, Forest Service fault Hillsboro's Omega Morgan for planning megaload shipments to Canada's tar sands". The Oregonian. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- "Omega Morgan's controversial 'megaload' reaches Montana, on way to tar sands". The Oregonian. The Associated Press. August 10, 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- Lindblom, Mike (September 13, 2013). "Slip-slide fix overnight Saturday for I-5 Skagit bridge". Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- Tims, Dana (January 19, 2013). "Sellwood Bridge move comes off without a hitch, amazing hundreds of onlookers". The Oregonian. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- "The Sellwood Bridge Project, accessed January 22, 2013