Quik Tek owners making American dreams come true

Living in Vietnam in the aftermath of the war, Tuan Lai came to the United States as a 14-year-old boy in search of freedom.

Flash forward to today and Lai not only has that, but also a family, an education and a thriving Wichita manufacturing business that was recently recognized by the state of Kansas.

Lai and his brother-in-law, Quik Tek Machining co-owner Cang Phu, traveled to Topeka this week to be presented with the Kansas Department of Commerce’s minority-owned manufacturer of the year award for 2015. The award was given during an annual luncheon put on by the Department of Commerce’s Office of Minority and Women Business Development.

Quik Tek was in competition with four other companies for the manufacturer of the year award, said Rhonda Harris, director of the Office of Minority and Women Business Development.

“We look at the financial condition of the company, the impact made to the community and how companies were started,” Harris said. “We want to know what obstacles were overcome in starting and maintaining a business.

“I visited Quik Tek (in September) and, oh my gosh, it’s a very impressive facility. They continue to purchase equipment to do more things and to do better quality work. We were really impressed by them.”

Established in 2008, Quik Tek manufactures and assembles sheet metal and other parts for the aerospace and defense industries. Though it started with just a handful of employees, Quik Tek now has 35 employees, 32 full-time, and two full shifts.

“I came here in 1979 with my brother and sister,” Lai said. “We left the country to look for freedom. We left our parents behind. We look for opportunity to work and all that.”

Though Lai’s English still isn’t perfect, it didn’t take him long to learn the language of machining after establishing himself in the U.S. Following his graduation from Wichita East High School in 1985, Lai said he received postsecondary technical training through Wichita Area Technical College and then went to work as a machinist.

Lai was part owner of General Machining Co. in Wichita, though the outfit went out of business following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the economic downturn that followed, Phu, 36, said.

Several years later, Lai and Phu took a chance and started Quik Tek.

“Freedom opened up everything for us,” Lai said. “I always said if we work hard, do right and live right, we’ll get what we get.”

Phu’s father, Minh Phu, also came to the U.S. in 1979, though Cang Phu wouldn’t follow until 10 years later. Lai was one of those who greeted him as he got off the plane in Wichita in 1989; he married Phu’s sister, Ann Phu, two years later.

Phu and Lai, both Derby residents, each have four children.

“I was a month old when my father left Vietnam to find a way to support us,” Phu said. “Tuan has always been a brother to me.

“He’s been in the machining business for more than 30 years, and he taught me all that I know.”

After starting out in what was then a 7,000-square-foot building nearby, Lai and Phu moved Quik Tek to its sharp-looking 28,000-square-foot facility in 2013.

Quik Tek business development manager Larry Thompson, a former Boeing employee, said the company has room to grow.

“It’s a very family-oriented company,” Thompson said. “Quik Tek has a very good reputation with tier one machine shops, and we’re starting to get in with the prime companies – the Boeings and the Spirits and those types of companies.

“This award will certainly help us get our foot in the door with the military part of the defense market.”

Phu said Quik Tek is likely to keep growing and that the company plans to add to its workforce, but at a managed pace. Currently, Phu said, the company is approved to do business with Textron, Gulfstream Aerospace and Fokker.

“When we started Quik Tek, we were working 12, 14 hours per day, and we’re working more now,” said Phu with a laugh.

“Our company and this award show that hard work pays off. We’re thankful to the state of Kansas and thankful to America for allowing us the opportunities that we found here.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Quik Tek owners making American dreams come true."