Success Insight: A Chamber Member's Story

 

 

 

The first rule of business is "be flexible," according to Joe Martinac of JM Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. "You can get tossed around whether you like it or not," says Martinac. "You have to stay on your toes and be adaptable."

 

Martinac learned those lessons from firsthand experience. In the early 1980s, the U.S. tuna fishing industry crashed as governments worldwide adopted a policy to prohibit foreign tuna fishing boats within 200 miles of their coasts. U.S. tuna fishers fishing overseas were forced farther offshore, where incidences of dolphins being caught in tuna nets are more common. A worldwide push for dolphin-safe tuna led to increased regulation and a depression in tuna sales. Martinac Shipbuilding, which since the 1950s had helped build up the U.S. tuna boat fleet to 150, suddenly saw its business dry up.

 

"Those two incidents led to the demise of the U.S.-dominated fishing industry worldwide," says Martinac, whose Yugoslav grandfather started the business in 1924 by building wooden salmon and sardine fishing boats. "We had our wagon hitched to that industry.

 

Throughout the 1990s, Martinac Shipbuilding adapted by building Alaskan trawlers that could process fish onboard, but opportunities for new construction of these boats were limited. Martinac Shipbuilding built only three trawlers. The company also built a state-of-the-art research sailing vessel for the Sea Education Association. However, by 2005 Martinac had to lay off his employees and liquidate his assets-including his retirement savings-to keep his shipyard.

 

Today, Martinac has hired back 100 of his employees as his company and other shipbuilders in the Northwest have rebounded in part because their Gulf Coast competitors have been unable to meet demand following Hurricane Katrina. Oil companies in the Gulf have turned to Martinac Shipbuilding and other Northwest shipbuilders to supply tugs and other vessels for the first time in years. Martinac has a backlog of orders. "We're seeing a lot of overflow, and we hope that continues," he says.

 

A model of perseverance, Martinac Shipbuilding is hoping to add to its recent success with a lucrative state contract to replace four state-owned ferries that have been in service since the 1920s. The company is one of only two shipyards in the area qualified to build the needed ferries. The $330 million contract would amount to 300 new unionized jobs at his shipyard, according to Martinac.

 

To share a Success InSight of your own, e-mail Greg Galdabini at ggaldabi@uschamber.com or phone 202-463-5563.