Plating Firm Shifts From Pentagon Work

Coastal Multichrome Inc., an Oxnard firm that does plating and anodizing for aerospace, electronic and industrial customers, has been hit by defense cutbacks, as might be expected.

But Peter Faxon, the company’s president and co-founder, has more than made up for that by landing new business in such areas as Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. He’s turned to new plating markets, too, such as medical electronics manufacturing.

In fact, while other industrial service companies are struggling to hold their own, Coastal is looking for a larger building. “I’d like to at least double the size of our plant,” Faxon said. “Right now, we have only 17 employees, but I expect that to increase by 15% to 25% in the next two to three years.”

Privately held Coastal’s sales exceed $1 million annually. Faxon said business is up 7% to 10% this year.