Vigor Industrial will be closing its complex fabrication operation in 2025, which employs more than 100 people in Vancouver, Clackamas, and Portland.
The company said it will focus on its shipbuilding and repair program, which employs around 1,000 people between Portland and Seattle.
Vigor’s complex fabrication work includes constructing massive precision-engineered products like dam lift gates or bridge components.
The complex fabrication division currently employs fewer than 80 ironworkers represented by Ironworkers Shopmen’s Local 516. Other unions like the Boilermakers and Electricians represent additional workers, for a combined total under 100, according to Local 516 business representative Laramie Lexow.
The work to wind down operations will take place throughout 2025, Vigor spokesman Benton Strong said.
Lexow said the number of Ironworkers at Vigor has been falling steadily over the past year. Three years ago, Local 516 had more than 300 workers in Vigor’s complex fabrication operations, Lexow said.
Lexow said the unions negotiated an agreement to boost wages for a limited number of workers who will stay on to finish work for Vigor’s remaining contracts, to allow those workers to save up before they’re unemployed. The number of workers and the duration isn’t clear yet, Lexow said.
The complex fabrication division started when Vigor acquired Oregon Iron Works and its 53-acre Clackamas facility in 2014. A smaller Vancouver facility is also used for complex fabrication and will close.
“While various challenges have led to the difficult decision to reassess our work in this division, Vigor will continue to employ hundreds of people in the Portland region, serving and innovating in our core business in marine fabrication and ship repair,” Vigor said in a statement Strong provided to the Labor Press.
Vigor’s Swan Island shipyard and Vancouver marine fabrication facility will continue the company’s core shipbuilding and ship repair in the area.
