Heavy metal.

BASZILE METALS SERVICE IS CHANGING FROM A PROCESSOR OF RAW MATERIALS TO A MANUFACTURER OF PARTS FOR AEROSPACE COMPANIES LIKE BOEING

Like a lot of local aerospace subcontractors. Barry Baszile has seen revenues at his company drop precipitously in recent years - going from $18 million in 1993 to $12 million in 1998.

But Baszile isn't fretting.

"Surprisingly, I am actually making a better profit now than I was when revenue was higher." said Baszile, owner of Baszile Metals Service, a Vernon-based aluminum processor.

Baszile's primary business remains buying bulk aluminum in sheets, rods, bars and other forms from major manufacturers like Alcoa, Reynolds Metals Co. and others. He and his crew then perform the initial rough processing of that metal - the cutting and shaping - before shipping it off to giant contractors like Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. There, the metal is machined into components for aircraft, the international space station and other projects.

But with the aerospace and defense retrenchments of recent years, Baszile is branching into new businesses and "going downstream" by manufacturing parts that contractors used to make in-house. To accomplish that, he is building a 10,000-square-foot machine shop, which he says will be operating within 90 days with a 20-person workforce he hopes to assemble through a welfare-to-work program.

"We do the most elementary levels (of aluminum processing) right now. We rough it out and then it goes to Boeing (or other contractors) and they do the final manufacturing of (aerospace components)," Baszile said. "But with the machine shop, we'll start doing more precision work made according to a given set of specifications."

The downstream move has become feasible because aerospace giants are moving toward outsourcing components manufacturing, a job they previously handled in-house. Existing subcontractors are well positioned to get that outsourcing work.

"Their track record has been outstanding," said Mike Christiansen, a buyer for Boeing in Kent, Wash. "(Baszile) has successfully competed against larger metals distributors by being able to give us a better price and better delivery."

Christiansen said Baszile was forward-thinking by setting up a Boeing-certified machine shop at a time when the aerospace giant is using more and more subcontractors. If Boeing wins the contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter, Baszile would be in a good position to bid on subcontracts for that program.

Baszile has also been taking on new customers, having won contracts with the city of Los Angeles, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Long Beach Transit and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. For such customers, Baszile makes brake shoes, brake drums arid other aluminum components for public buses, and distributes various bus parts made by Rockwell International Corp.

"It's a niche business we are looking to expand," he said.

Baszile says his efforts at finding niches reflect the challenges he has faced. Baszile's operation is the only African-American-owned business of its kind in the country. And surviving in the business for 24 years has not been easy.

"Even today, there are still businesses that refuse to use me because I am black," he said. "But there are others like Boeing that were willing to give business owners like myself a break."

Baszile originally came to Los Angeles in 1956 from his hometown of Elton, La., drown by the promise of economic opportunities and affordable public education.

"Los Angeles City College was $6 a semester and Cal State L.A. was $20 a semester," he recalled. After graduating from Cal State L.A., he landed a job as a probation officer.

"Like most African Americans at the time, I went into a traditionally black field, but then there was the Watts riot and everything changed," said Baszile. "Companies were suddenly proactive in bringing minorities into their workforce."

In 1968, Baszile says he was recruited as the first African-American salesman for Kaiser Aluminum. He started selling in South Central Los Angeles and then, after considerable success, was sent to Orange County. Baszile proved to be a master of selling and won a major contract for the company.

Then in 1974, Congress enacted set-aside programs specifying that certain percentages of government contracts be awarded to minority-owned firms. Baszile seized the opportunity to start his own business. One of Baszile's customers at the time, William Gimbel, owner of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., agreed to provide seed money and a 15,000-square-foot warehouse. The deal was 50-50 until 1985, when Baszile bought Gimbel out.

The first major contract came in 1976 when Rockwell awarded Baszile a contract to supply aluminum for its B-I bomber contract. The $25 million contract 'was the first major break for Baszile and gave him a leg up to pursue other large clients. Eventually Baszile won multimillion-dollar contracts with Lockheed and Boeing as well.

Spotlight

Baszile Metals Service

Year Founded: 1975

Core Business: Processing aluminum for aerospace and transportation companies Revenues in 1993:$18 million

Revenues in 1998: $12 million

Employees in 1993: 35

Employees in 1998: 43

Goal: To continue building profits through diversification

Driving Force: Demand - primarily from aerospace and transportation companies - for processed aluminum and aluminum components