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?24Maritime Reporter & Engineering News There is a resurgence of the ma- rine industry in the Pacific Northwest we haven?t seen for 20 to 30 years now,? said Vince Piscitello, Vice President of Business De- velopment for Vigor Industrial LLC. ?The oil and gas industry is really new to our area,? he said, although he expects to see it grow significantly with Shell?s ex- ploration of the Chukchi and BeaufortSeas off Alaska?s northern coast. State run ferry operations in Washington and Alaska are at a point where they must renew fleets built in the 50s and 60s. What?s more, Piscitello said, Pacific Northwest fisheries have been well man- aged and the fishing business is doing well. He anticipates continued demandfor newbuilds, re-builds and conversions of vessels capable of dealing with tough northern waters. ?Our challenge is going to be capacity and workforce.? To meet the challenge, Vigor has been aggressively building its capital assets and investing in workforce development. The shipbuilder and industrial fabricator sees itself as well placed to take advan- tage of opportunities arising in construc-tion and repair of Arctic fleets, Pacific Northwest ferries and commercial ves- sels.Building CapacityVigor Industrial CEO, Frank Foti, began in the maritime industry when he purchased Cascade General, a ship repaircontractor based on the old Port of Port-land, Ore. in 1995. Prior to that Foti was a business owner and general manager of a construction company. ?My roots are in running industrial companies with indus-trial workers,? Foti said. In 1998 Foti also purchased Washing- ton Marine Repair of Port Angeles, Wash. and in 2000 the Vigor Industrial name of- ficially began. Vigor acquired a few more vessel building and repair assets after that, including U.S. Barge of Oregon and Marine Industries Northwest of Wash- ington State.In 2011, Vigor Industrial made its largest purchase to date when it bought Todd Pacific Shipyards on Harbor Island in Seattle, Wash. The $130m purchase more than doubled Vigor?s workforce and included Todd Pacific?s Everett and Bre- merton yards. Vigor attained backing from Endeavour Capital LLC whose sis- ter fund, Endeavour SEAM, became a mezzanine lender in Vigor?s acquisition of Todd Shipyard Corporation. Vigor raised $75m in private equity from En- deavour Capital which acquired a minor- ity interest in the company to fund continued growth through acquisitions and additional investments. ?Our business on average hasn?t de- clined in the last four to five years,? Foti Arctic Bound (with Vigor) Vigor Industrial is a Rising Star in Shipbuilding in the Pacific Northwest & Alaska Arctic By Raina ClarkThe drill rig Kulluk and the drill ship Noble Discover leaving Vigor?s Seattle shipyard on their way for Shell?s exploratory operations in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Alaska Arctic. (Photo courtesy Vigor Industrial) MR#7 (18-25):MR Template 7/6/2012 12:01 PM Page 24