- Kurt Fedewa on behalf of Downtown Portland
Business Spotlight—“Portland Products”
Portland Products is a local company that produces metal products and metal stampings as well as value-added assemblies and other mechanisms. The company sells these products primarily to the automotive industry.
Walt Sprague founded the company with his father Bill Sprague in 1947. Portland Products was known as Danby Products until 1963 when the name of the company was changed to its present form.
Portland Products employs 145 people. Ted Alberta serves as the company’s president and CEO. Ted is proud of the company that he serves.
“Our company puts its people first,” he said. “And I’d put my team up against any other team in the industry. They have been an inspiration to me during these difficult times of pandemic. I am continually impressed by their character and by their adaptability to the present situation,” he said.
Even though the company is relatively small for its industry, it still managed to ship out over eight million parts last year and to do so it processed more than seventeen million pounds of steel and aluminum.
For his part, Ted not only thinks highly of his company and of its employees, but also of the city in which they are situated.
“My wife and I are lifelong residents of Portland,” said Ted. “There are a lot of good people here. I appreciate the efforts of the city to modernize the community while maintaining its fine, old-fashioned friendly values,” he said.
Portland Products is committed to the success of the city of Portland as well as to the success of the company’s business. This commitment is exemplified by its willingness to match the financial donations of its employees to the community during the aftermath of the tornado several years ago and more recently during the ice jam last year.
“At the end of the day, I believe that the success of Portland Products is due to the commitment and to the fine qualities of our employees, as well as to their commitment to the community at large,” said Ted. “The attitude of our employees makes all the difference—our employees continually inspire each other, and me ---to do our jobs well.”
This piece was originally published in the Downtown Portland November newsletter. Republished with permission. You can find the full newsletter at
