Lee Benson's initial foray into the electroplating industry
back in the 1980s was a successful one. He started as a tech-
nician on a plating line and soon became supervisor, then
general manager and eventually vice president of sales.
His company was plating parts for aerospace firms in
the Phoenix, Arizona, area, and things were humming; it
surpassed $1 million in sales in 1992, and Benson owned
about 25 percent of a business that employed 28 people.
Then one day in 1993, things came crashing to the ground.
About 90 percent of the company's work was with one firm—
Garrett AiResearch, makers of turboprop engines and turbo-
chargers—and that relationship ended quickly and hard.
Benson's company essentially lost all its business overnight.
Benson's boss walked into his office and told him in no
uncertain terms: "Close the business, or sell it."
But with plating now in his blood, Benson did neither.
Instead, he brought in partners to buy the company and
named his new firm Able Engineering & Component Services.
Able Engineering's Arizona
plating facility specializes
in aerospace repairs.
Able and Ready
Able Engineering's new facilities
include a hangar at the end of
the Phoenix-Mesa airport.
BY TIM PENNINGTON EDITOR
14
JUNE 2014 — pfonline.com
AEROSPACE
0614_PF_AbleFEATURE.indd 14 5/16/2014 1:34:59 PM