Page 41: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2002)

Workboat Annual

USA to win enough contracts in the coming years that the company will have about 2,000 workers by 2007. The company now employs 120.

He envisions the company handling a mix of commercial and military pro- jects, using the diversity to offset slumps in any one market segment, he said.

Austal Ltd. may be better known in

Australia and Asia than in North Ameri- ca, but Lerchbacker hopes that will change soon, he said. "Globally, it's a very prominent name.

It's hard for the Australians to under- stand that in the U.S., they're a lot of other companies," he said. "But we're getting our brand out. Things are going really well."

At the OWL. Volunteer Fire Dept, we're considered part of the family

Reliability under pressure is a trademark of every member of the Occoquan

Woodbridge Lorton Volunteer Fire Department in Virginia USA. That's why they chose Hamilton waterjets for their new fire/rescue boat, Firestorm.

With its high speed, manoeuvrability and ease of control, Firestorm is a trusted member of the O.W.L. VFD family.

No other waterjet propulsion system is as widely used and supported around the world. So, if you want a new family member you can trust, trust Hamilton

Jet to deliver.

Visit us at the Workboat Show - stand #0555

Head Office C.W.F Hamilton & Co. Ltd. P0 Box 709, Christchurch, New Zealand. Phone: +64 3 348 4179,

Fax: +64 3 348 6969, Email: [email protected]

U.K. Office HamiltonJet (U.K.) Ltd. Unit 4a,The Birches Industrial Estate, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1XZ,

United Kingdom. Phone: +44 1342 313 437, Fax: +44 1342 313 438, Email: [email protected]

U.S.A. Office HamiltonJet Inc. 1111 N.W. Ballard Way, Seattle WA 98107, United States of America.

Phone: +1206 784 8400, Fax: +1206 783 7323, Email: marketing8hamiltonjet.com, Website: www.hamiltonjet.com

Hamilton www.hamjet.co.nz for good reason, as the company is in expansion mode. Flush with success in wooing military and commercial buy- ers, the company is not sitting on the capabilities of its current building "shed" — which is one 262-ft. (80-m) boat or two 164-ft. (50-m) boats per year — and has invested $8.2 million for the construction of a new 426-ft. (130-m) boatbuilding shed to flank the current one.

With two sheds, the company expect to support a base of 580 employees, and as Bill Pfister, vice president of market- ing and administration simply put it "As soon as this shed is filled, a third one will go up."

The current goal: 2,000 employees in four years, with a slight majority of business coming from the commercial side. — Greg Trauthwein

Field of Dreams

Austal USA is building, and they ... meaning customers and new workers ... are coming.

With a company built to build speed, one would expect a non-stop flurry of activity to be the hallmark of the manu- facturing facility.

Quite the contrary.

Upon coming to Mobile, Ala., in early

August to visit Austal USA, a slow, steady stream of new employee appli- cants was the defining moment.

Early for an appointment with new

CEO Alan B. Lerchbacker, I sat in the lobby and watched in amazement as one job applicant after another walked through the front door. Make no mis- take, Austal's ultra-modern shipbuilding shed and its ubiquitous new leader leave an indelible impression. But that steady stream, particularly in the face of what many describe as a "down" mar- ket, was most impressive.

The jobseekers come to Austal USA

November, 2002 Circle 235 on Reader Service Card or visit www.maritimereporterinfo.com 41