Omega Morgan is a privately held company headquartered in Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1991, the 350-employee company specializes in heavy lifting, specialized transportation, machinery moving, crane and rigging services, plant relocations, equipment installations, millwrighting, and applied and industrial metrology.[2]

Omega Morgan
Company typePrivate
IndustryIndustrial rigging, machinery moving
Founded1991; 33 years ago (1991)
HeadquartersHillsboro, Oregon, USA
45°33′21″N 122°55′20″W / 45.5559°N 122.92213°W / 45.5559; -122.92213
Number of locations
5[1]
Key people
Dick Ferchak, CEO
Revenue$60 million (2011)
Number of employees
~350 (2012)
Websiteomegamorgan.com

History edit

Morgan Industrial was founded in 1991 in North Plains, Oregon, by Joe Morgan, where the company served customers, including aerospace manufacturer Boeing, at industrial manufacturing sites around the Portland area.[3][4] The company merged with machinery moving specialists Omega Rigging, based in Tacoma, Washington, in 2003.[4][5]

Jeff Morgan became the company’s CEO in 2004.[4] 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.[6] In 2011, the company renamed itself as Omega Morgan.[4] At the time the company had grown to 275 employees and had revenues of $42 million in 2010[4] and had an office in Fife, Washington, along with the headquarters in Hillsboro.[5] An office in Calgary, Canada also opened in 2011.[7]

 
Omega Morgan headquarters - Hillsboro, Oregon

John McCalla became the company's CEO in December 2011, replacing Jeff Morgan.[8][9] At that time Riverlake Partners had taken majority ownership of the company for an undisclosed amount.[9][10][11] The investment by Riverlake was hoped to allow the company to grow to annual revenues of $100 million within a few years.[10]

In November 2016, Omega Morgan and Sarens LLC, a worldwide provider of heavy lifting and engineered transportation, began a joint venture to provide crane services in the Pacific Northwest. The joint venture, operating as Omega Morgan Crane Services, allowed the company to provide dedicated and expanded cane services to Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and the surrounding areas.[12]

Dick Ferchak became Omega Morgan’s CEO in October, 2017. The company’s growth and expansion began to accelerate with the opening of new locations; in addition to offices in Hillsboro, Fife and Calgary, the company opened locations in Houston, TX and Mukilteo, WA in 2020, and a location in Boise, ID in 2021.[13][14][15]

The company also made several acquisitions in late 2020 and early 2021, including the acquisition of Morley Machine Tool Alignment, which expanded the Omega Morgan service portfolio to include industrial and applied metrology services.[16] The company also acquired full control of its shares in its three-year crane services joint venture with Sarens LLC.[17][18]

In 2023 Omega Morgan acquired Intermountain Rigging and Heavy Haul, a Salt-Lake city based heavy haulage company which in a result increased its geographical presence and fleet size.

 
Move of the Sellwood Bridge

Notable moves edit

Canby Ferry edit

Omega Morgan hauled the Canby Ferry to Portland in April 2012 due to the closure of the Willamette Falls Locks.[19]

Sellwood Bridge edit

In January 2013, working with Multnomah County government, Omega Morgan moved the 6.8-million pound main 1,100-foot (340 m) section of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon from its current location onto new pylons.[20] This move was part of the construction project to replace the bridge.[21] 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.[21] Omega Morgan used jacks and skids to move the section, as well as Dawn dish-washing detergent as a lubricant.[21] To match the newly built onramps, the bridge was moved 66 feet on its west end and 33 feet on its east end.[21] The moved bridge, known as a shoofly bridge,[22] served as a temporary span until the new crossing was completed in 2016.

Skagit River Bridge edit

In August 2013, the company began hauling oversized loads to the Canadian tar sands.[23][24] 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.[23][24] The protests slowed the load, but the shipment later arrived in Montana.[25] In September 2013, they moved the replacement span into place as part of the repairs to the Skagit River bridge in Washington.[26]

2+U Project with Skanska edit

In 2019, Omega Morgan’s specialized transportation division and Omega Morgan Crane Services assisted Skanska with a complex project in downtown Seattle, transporting and setting 20 precast tapered concrete columns, each weighing between 69,000 and 165,000 pounds. The project required the acquisition of 39 permits and authorizations to account for heavy traffic conditions in the area, noise restrictions, and road closures. The location was also between steep hills, power lines, trolley lines, and underground vaults, requiring months of planning for proper crane placement and safe transportation of the concrete columns. Due to the complicated nature of the project, Omega Morgan’s crews performed several rounds of modeling and testing before moving forward to execute the plan.[27]

Wind Turbine Components edit

In late 2020 into early 2021, Omega Morgan partnered with several transportation and logistics companies to create a groundbreaking method for transporting 72 wind turbine components from the Port of Longview and the Port of Tacoma in Washington State, up to a site in Alberta, Canada. This innovative method bypassed land transportation along heavily congested routes in Oregon and Washington by barging components from Washington ports through to the Port of Lewiston, and then on to Alberta, Canada. It was the first project of its kind to be completed in the Pacific Northwest.[28]

Awards edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Omega Morgan - Portland, Seattle, Calgary and Houston Locations".
  2. ^ "About Omega Morgan". Omega Morgan. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  3. ^ "Omega Morgan Delivers Autoclaves to Boeing". Omega Morgan. 16 August 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Siemers, Erik; Almeera Anwar (August 26, 2011). "Omega Morgan is hiring, plans to expand". Portland Business Journal.
  5. ^ a b Anwar, Almeera (July 29, 2011). "Industrial mover Omega Morgan bulks up its work force". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  6. ^ Rogoway, Mike (October 24, 2010). "Intel jobs will take special skills". The Oregonian.
  7. ^ "MORGAN INDUSTRIAL CHANGES NAME TO OMEGA MORGAN". 6 July 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  8. ^ Theen, Andrew (July 24, 2012). "Hillsboro equipment transporter grows with the territory". The Oregonian.
  9. ^ a b Siemers, Erik (December 2, 2011). "Riverlake takes big stake in Omega". Portland Business Journal.
  10. ^ a b Siemers, Erik (December 1, 2011). "Omega Morgan sells majority stake to Riverlake Partners". Portland Business Journal.
  11. ^ Young, Molly (December 1, 2011). "Hillsboro's Omega Morgan sells majority stake to Riverlake Partners". The Oregonian.
  12. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN ANNOUNCES JOINT VENTURE WITH SARENS USA". 7 November 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  13. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN ANNOUNCES CARA CRAIG AS NEW DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN NORTH AMERICA". 20 February 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  14. ^ "MEGA MORGAN ANNOUNCES GRAND OPENING OF NORTHERN SEATTLE LOCATION". 24 August 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  15. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN EXPANDS SERVICES AND REACH WITH NEW BOISE, IDAHO LOCATION". 9 March 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  16. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN ACQUIRES MORLEY MACHINE TOOL ALIGNMENT". 12 October 2020.
  17. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN OFFICIALLY ACQUIRES CRANE DIVISION JOINT VENTURE, OMEGA MORGAN SARENS LLC". 13 January 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Omega Morgan acquires Sarens joint venture". 18 January 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  19. ^ Stevens, Suzanne (April 17, 2012). "Canby Ferry to close for two weeks". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  20. ^ Tims, Dana (January 19, 2013). "Sellwood Bridge move comes off without a hitch, amazing hundreds of onlookers". The Oregonian. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  21. ^ a b c d Nirappil, Fenit (January 21, 2013). "Omega Morgan boosts credentials after successful Sellwood Bridge move". The Oregonian.
  22. ^ "The Sellwood Bridge Project, accessed January 22, 2013
  23. ^ a b 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.
  24. ^ a b 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.
  25. ^ "Omega Morgan's controversial 'megaload' reaches Montana, on way to tar sands". The Oregonian. The Associated Press. August 10, 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  26. ^ Lindblom, Mike (September 13, 2013). "Slip-slide fix overnight Saturday for I-5 Skagit bridge". Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  27. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN TRANSPORTS AND SETS COLUMNS FOR 2+U". 2 July 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  28. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN COMPLETES LANDMARK SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION PROJECT". 2 February 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
  29. ^ "Top Safety Award". 17 August 2011.
  30. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN WINS SC&RA RIGGING JOB OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR HISTORIC SELLWOOD BRIDGE MOVE". 30 April 2014.
  31. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN RECEIVES 2019 SUPPLY CHAIN AWARD FROM BECHTEL". 10 October 2019.
  32. ^ "OMEGA MORGAN, FAGIOLI AND BARNHART TAKE HOME SC&RA HAULING JOB OF THE YEAR AWARDS".

External links edit