The Zidell companies are a longtime Portland family-owned business, devoted to quality and dependability. Excellent employers, the companies provide competitive benefits which enables employees to care for their families as well as employee development opportunities.

Zidell's history dates back to 1915, when Sam Zidell arrived in America and began selling second-hand machinery. Initially locating in Roseburg, Oregon, Sam moved to Portland in 1916 and expanded his Machinery and Supply business.

Following WWII, business continued to grow for Zidell as he expanded into the scrap metal industry as America was rebuilding its industrial base. Sam's son, Emery, saw the opportunity to continue to expand the family's operations which led them into the ship dismantling business in 1946. By 1960, Zidell was the nation's largest ship dismantler, employing hundreds of employees dismantling a total of 336 ships over 30 years.

In 1955, Emery continued the expansion of the family's operations with the founding of Tube Forgings of America, Inc. For 65+ years, TFA has been supplying the country with quality welding fittings for a wide range of high pressure, high temperature piping systems.

The family expanded into barge building in 1960 — Zidell Marine Corporation. When Emery decided to use recovered steel from the ships being dismantled to create barges which outperformed the wooden vessels at the time. The company soon began to use new steel plates for building barges. Since 1961, Zidell has built and launched more than 300 barges, most of which are still in use today to haul numerous types of cargo throughout the West Coast of America. Today, Jay Zidell, the son of the builder of the Zidell Companies and the grandson of their founder, heads the family businesses, which employ over 200 people in the Pacific Northwest.