An outfit out of Auburn, Wash., has been making strides in the Pacific Northwest since 2010. This company, Phampena Inc., specializes in acoustical plaster, Venetian plaster, historical plaster restoration, EIFS/stucco, marblecrete, panelization, fireproofing, scaffolding, weather containment and more.

At this year’s NWCB Wall and Ceiling Trade Show in Indian Wells, Calif., W&C met with the contractor to snap this month’s cover. Following up from the show, its president, Hien Pham, spoke with the magazine about the company’s journey and its course of coming to it.

“I was working as a mechanic in my dad’s auto shop, along with other various jobs I could find, such as food service and night security guard positions,” Pham says. “They were all things that I wasn’t passionate about, but it was what I could do with the skills and experience I had at the time.

“I started to get my foot into the trade through an offer from a Job Corps recruiter who stopped by my dad’s mechanic shop,” Pham continues. “I jumped at the opportunity and moved to Sedro-Woolley [in Washington] to train in carpentry. Once I got there, however, there was a six- to 12-month waiting list to get in. With the need to provide for my family and the desire to get moving, I signed up for plastering.”

Fighting Adversity

“Immediately, I was told I was in the wrong field because of my height,” Pham says. “Plasterers were generally tall at the time, so I stood out as 5 inches too short for the job and my co-workers made it clear they were not making any accommodations with the scaffolding set. I spent the days doing my best to keep up, which meant taping foam platforms to the bottom of my shoes and extending to unnatural positions for the duration of the workday.

“I remember the days I would go home to my wife and tell her I didn’t think I could excel in this field,” Pham adds. “She believed in me and pushed me to fight through my doubt. Every time I got on the wall was a chance for me to prove my doubt wrong, treating each day as a competition to be better than the previous day and to provide value to my team. Soon enough, my higher-ups started to notice my production and I started to lead jobs before I finished apprenticeship training. I truly grew to admire the trade because of what we could create with plastering.”

However, according to Pham, things took a turn when he and his wife had their daughter Melody in 2009. She was born with a chromosomal disorder and was only with the family for less than a year.

“Seeing Melody fight for her life every day put my worries about life into perspective,” Pham reflects. “Within the time we had with her, she changed our hearts. I realized life isn’t about excuses or complaints—it’s how you can make the situation better and multiply what God has given you. With the strength of my family behind me, that’s when Phampena truly started.”

A New Chapter

Through the process of grieving, the family started its company. Its niche is providing plastering services to support drywall companies that benefit from giving their clients a complete package with plastering and scaffolding, eliminating the need to operate an in-house plaster division. Having an in-house plaster division comes with many risks and requirements, such as regular maintenance, the real estate to store supplies, equipment, materials and, most importantly, having enough plaster projects to maintain a core, consistent crew. Phempena takes what’s consistently a loss for most companies and allows it to invest in other avenues. The subcontractor also offers pre-construction water intrusion investigation, solutions and budgeting.

Currently, the company has 35 employees. In regards to growth, it seems the company has been very fortunate to grow exponentially by word-of-mouth and referrals.

“We are always expanding our expertise and encountering exciting new projects, incorporating 3D printing and panelization to solve previously impractical tasks,” Pham says.

Many union plastering companies are getting out of the trade because of the diminishing workforce, which has been a growing issue, Pham says. This is an issue for Phampena as well, but it has encouraged the company to explore new avenues and promote the career for the upcoming generation.

Looking to the Future

To the company, the most interest aspect of the job is how its clients react to the work.

“The appreciation from our clients, along with the networking between vendors, manufacturers and associations in our field, rallies our team to work together and strive for greater,” Pham says. “My family is also excited to be involved with the field as well.”

For the rest of the year, the work potential seems unlimited—but there is the limiting factor of the available workforce.

The company’s long-term goals are growing more in the direction of panelization so Phampena can improve production and expedite schedules to offset the shortage in qualified, skilled labor.

Project Profile

Phampena started the work for Lincoln Square’s Din Tai Fung in December. Initially, the subcontractor was not selected to work on the project, but with various companies unable to complete the intricate design within the timeframe, Phampena was contacted again to see if it was within its ability.

“The problematic element involved an intricate detail paired with a glossy Venetian finish requested by the architect,” Pham says. “The center of the main seating area features a Venetian plaster topography map design of Lake Washington, featuring raised lines and sections, creating depth and dimension. This introduced a challenge, given the tight clearance from the distinct lines and gaps. The conventional tools made it nearly impossible to reproduce the details as envisioned, forcing us to look into different solutions in order to avoid the aggressive trowel lines, as anticipated.

“We took an unorthodox approach to exceed the expectation,” Pham continues. “Utilizing an array of 3-D printers to create 388 tile sections of the design, we printed 3-D molds to cast the plaster and perfectly recreate the design intended by the architect. After small mishaps with first utilizing the technology for the application, such as printer maintenance, minimizing downtime and keeping filament stocked, the result was something remarkable. In tandem with the hard work and care our guys put into each piece, the finished work attracts attention from anyone looking into the space.”

Family involvement made this project even more memorable. Pham’s 13-year-old son, Hien Jr., took the project and ran it with passion, proposing the idea of using 3-D printers to recreate the design. Along with Pham’s older son, Tanner, they were able to accomplish the task in a novel way unique to their generation. Seeing everyone excited to put in their own creative ideas and problem-solving is what makes this job so special.