Hockinson High School graduate launches painting business

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Rollers and brushes are just a few of the tools Brush Prairie painter Drew Dordan uses when painting. 

“I’ve been painting for about eight years now,” Dordan said, explaining how he started painting while working for a property management company when he attended Hockinson High School. While in high school, Dordan thought painting would just be a side gig to make a few dollars before he graduated. 

After graduating in 2014, Dordan moved on to Clark College to study accounting while continuing to paint on the side to pay for his degree. 

“(I) actually got an associate (degree) and I was going to WSU, and then I was like, ‘you know, I can’t see myself working in an office really,’” Dordan said. 

He came to a realization while doing maintenance work and painting while he was studying. 

“I was cleaner, quicker and just more proficient with cutting and everything and making it look better,” he said. “So, I stopped working for the property management company for a bit, and you know, it’s a decision: do I go back to school or do I try business?”

Growing up and living in the Brush Prairie area his entire life, Dordan said he would have “kicked himself” if he didn’t give the business a shot, and thus Mission Painting was born in the summer of last year. 

He found that by working for his own business, he gets to have a say in quality control and how the process works.  

“I have one helper, but I’m the only full time one,” he said.



Dordan does both indoor and outdoor painting while hoping to work more on epoxy, cabinets, floors and counters. 

For paint, Dordan said he has a contractor account with the Sherwin-Williams store in Battle Ground and Miller Paint in Orchards. He feels each brand has a few lines of paint that he’s comfortable recommending to his customers. When it comes to quotes and discussion, Dordan said he offers quotes for free to anyone who is curious about his work and brings along examples. 

“I’ll walk through the job with the client and ask them, you know, a bunch of questions about what exactly they want done, when do they want to done,” he said, mentioning that he can bring many different paints to help find the color everyone is looking for. 

He tries to get potential customers a quote in 24 hours or less. 

Dordan said he didn’t want to leave the Brush Prairie area and loves that he gets to be so close to everything, from being able to go to the coast and see the ocean to snowboarding on Mount Hood. 

“It’s a great area and everything is within driving range,” he said. “That’s kind of what my buddies and I thought about after graduating.” 

As for the future, Dordan hopes to hire a few more people and grow the business a little bit more. He also wants to find some more indoor work while the weather is still wet and cold. 

More information about Dordan and his company can be found at facebook.com/MissionPaintingCompany/.