By Mark Edward Nero
Aluminum workboat design and build company Kvichak Marine
Industries is becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of ship building and repair
company Vigor Industrial, the two companies confirmed March 3.
Under the terms of the merger, Kvichak’s
current owners, Jim Meckley, Brian Thomas and Keith Whittemore, are joining
Vigor as shareholders and members of the leadership team.
“Sharing best ideas and practices across companies
will make us even more competitive and create a more stable business base for
our workers,”
Whittemore, Kvichak’s president, said. “Vigor
shares our values and our commitment to providing long term opportunity to our
people.”
Kvichak, pronounced Kweejack, was founded in Seattle in
1981, and has extensive experience in the commercial fisheries of Alaska
building gillnetters, seiners and tenders.
“Kvichak brings amazing fabrication talent to our
company and some of the best customer relationships in the industry,” Vigor CEO and owner
Frank Foti said. “Infusing those fabrication genetics into our broader
operations is what industrial evolution is all about. What could be better than
creating a team that allows most new fishing boats to be built where they work—in
the Pacific Northwest and Alaska?”
This transaction builds on the Vigor and Oregon Iron Works
(OIW) merger in 2014, which expanded Vigor’s reach into highly complex
industrial products in marine, renewable energy, aerospace, nuclear
containment, transit, defense, hydroelectric, bridge building and other
commercial construction industries.
“With Kvichak on board, we also see enormous
opportunity to strengthen our role in supporting offshore oil and gas
operations in the Arctic,” Foti said. “The synergy between Vigor, OIW
and Kvichak provides the ability to fabricate larger and more complex
components and expand our offerings for building offshore support vessels, oil
spill response vessels and systems, modules, rigs, terminals and related
structures.”
The combined company is expected to employ about 2,500
people in Alaska, Oregon and Washington.