Sykes' gets a fitting champion

It may not rise to the level of Donald Trump and the Plaza Hotel, but when two local icons got together recently, it was certainly big news in the Flathead.

Ray Thompson, the founder of Semitool, announced last week, that he has purchased the Sykes’ restaurant and grocery store building from longtime owners Doug and Judy Wise.

Like Trump when he purchased the Plaza, Thompson hopes to eventually make money on the deal, but it is also a labor of love. As Thompson said in an interview with the Inter Lake, “This was never my hangout but I respect everybody that this was their hangout... It’s the best of Kalispell.”

Listening to Thompson talk about his plans for both renovating and respecting the grand old building that houses the restaurant, grocery and pharmacy is highly revealing of what it takes to be a first-class entrepreneur.

Some of his ideas are practical, like repaving the parking lot; some are visionary, like his proposal to give seniors at local housing complexes a 21st-century touch-screen system for placing grocery orders.

There is also a strain of humility that often accompanies genuine accomplishment. “People think I ran a large, complex business [in Semitool],” Thompson said. “It’s nothing compared to a restaurant.”

It was less than a year ago when Thompson sold Semitool to a larger competitor, Applied Materials. Thompson’s challenges in starting and growing Semitool over the past 30 years are recounted in a story on today’s front page. It makes for fascinating reading, including the respect he has for the Flathead Valley, where he spent his formative years.

Now, he is looking for new challenges, and we think it is heartening that he is looking close to home for some of them. Sykes’ could not have a better champion.

Ray Thompson has always acknowledged that the people who live in the Flathead are what makes this area so special. For the record, Ray is one of those special people.