By Lloyd Graff
Hunter Jamison and his two brothers Scot and Terry own and operate Millipart Inc., an aerospace machining firm southeast of Los Angeles in Glendora, Cal. Their father Jim Jamison started the company in 1954 after tiring of selling hardwood floors.
Millipart recently bought a new Kitamura vertical machining center with a 30,000 rpm spindle. I asked Hunter, who has a daughter in college, if he felt a third generation of family was destined for the business. He was unsure, but then mentioned that his sales manager was third generation with the company. “She started here when her mother was pregnant,” he said.
Besides Hunter and his brothers, the core employees of Millipart are from three Mexican families. For close to 30 years the company has made room for daycare for its employees at their machining plant. The company’s kids grew up around the CNC machines. The lathes and mills were as common as swings and jungle gyms to the kids of Millipart. G-Code was not a foreign language. It was almost as common as Dick and Jane.
When I grew up, dinner table conversation was often about deal making, competition and the stock market. My wife grew up at a table where legal talk prevailed and two of her brothers became lawyers.
We tend to gravitate toward the familiar. According to Hunter Jamison one of the pivotal reasons Millipart has succeeded for the long haul was the decision made long ago to allow kids to smell the cutting oil when they were toddlers.
Question: Is company sponsored daycare still a viable option today for machining firms?
2 Comments
Very interesting to see Millipart in your magazine. I worked there in the early 60’s. I remember Terry, Scot and Hunter, and of course Jamie. Also Myron, Bob, Hank, Virginia, Roy, Bill, Dave …….
I also worked at Millipart in the 60s and I’ve been back to visit several times. It’s exciting to see the changes that have occured over the years. This family friendly business was instrumental in giving me my first “real” job. Although I did not stay with machining as a career, I still have fond memories of creating something from nothing and I think the smell of the oil coolants is still a part of me. They do great work!