Page 39: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2003)

the Pacific Northwest to take advantage of what at that time the booming fishing industry. After several rounds of inter- views, Perla received offers from most, but there were two that had the most impact. One was the position offered by

Joseph Martinac, Sr., owner of JM

Martinac Shipbuilding in Tacoma,

Wash. — a yard that specialized in Tuna

Seiners; the other from Peter Schmidt, the owner of MARCO Shipbuilding in

Seattle, Wash. Perla chose to work for

Martinac, as they were known for their innovative designs of Tuna Seiners. "They (the Tuna Seiners) were sleek, good looking boats and 1 wanted to design them," Perla says. "So 1 went to work for Joe (Martinac)."

After etching a name for himself at

Martinac, Perla was tapped again by

Schmidt of MARCO, who had just pur- chased Campbell Shipyard in San

Diego, Calif. He wanted Perla to design a Tuna Seiner, but there was one catch, there was no tele-commuting involved, which meant Perla would once again have to pack up and move his family down the Pacific coast. Not wanting to forego a valuable opportunity, he pro- posed to work for Schmidt on a consult- ing basis. Schmidt however was not interested. "We don't hire consultants,

Schmidt had told Perla. "We do every- thing in-house." Two weeks later, though, on December 28. 1979 to be exact (the day is also Perla's wedding anniversary), Schmidt called Perla with an offer that he couldn't refuse. "He (Schmidt) called me and said, 'Do you want to be in business?' Perla said. "And 1 said yes I would." Schmidt then told

Perla to "name his price," which he did, thus beginning the evolution of Guido

Perla & Associates, Inc. (CPA), with the agreement that Perla would design a 300

LT vessel simply named what its func- tion was: "Tuna Seiner," for Schmidt for construction at Campbell Shipyard. "I owe the credit to the beginning of GPA to Peter Schmidt, the owner of MARCO who gave me my first job," Perla said. "The day we signed the contract is the day that I consider the start of GPA."

A Hand Shake

That is how, Perla admits, most of his deals have been sealed since establish- ing his company in 1979. While GPA has weathered the ups and downs of the marine industry and has still always managed to come out on top.

There is not one specific project that

Perla could say he gained the most satis- faction from, rather he has taken each project and treated it as an individual accomplishment, each with a different meaning for different reasons, most of which are the valuable relationships that he has established with clients. "I approach jobs not because of business, but through relationships," Perla says. "Every project that we take at GPA I go for because I like the person, I like their philosophy and I like their approach and ideas.

I don't ever take a job because of the

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