High tech repair shop thrives when economy dives

By Jessie Kirk

The Beaverton Valley Times, Oct 29, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Norway Lab’s owner Matt North gives Mayor Denny Doyle a tour of the business’ newly expanded work space on Cirrus Drive.

Jessie Kirk / The Times

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In a recession, Beaverton’s Matt North has learned that doing repairs is good for business.

While many companies are struggling through the downturn economy, North’s electronic test equipment repair shop is thriving and expanding.

“It’s not by any intelligent design,” North said. “It just so happens that in slower times people look to get things repaired instead of buying new.”

After a 10-year career at Intel, the longtime electronic engineer went into business for himself in 2003. As president and CEO of Norway Labs, North leads a team that repairs electronic test and measurement instruments like Tektronix oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers and television broadcast gear.

Originally buying, repairing and selling oscilloscopes on eBay out of the basement of his Beaverton home, North has expanded his business several times in the past seven years. Now his company has seven employees who fix the specialty equipment in office space off Southwest Hall Boulevard on Cirrus Drive.

This month, the company expanded its headquarters again, adding a new wing. The 5,000-square-foot space will allow the growing company to service more contracts and hire more employees in the future.

“We’re in really good shape,” North said. “We’ve seen business pick up.”

While several other companies create or calibrate scopes, Norway Labs is one of the few around that fixes the machines, most often used by high tech companies.

“There’s probably no one in the U.S. who can repair them as well as we can,” North said.

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