PORT ANGELES — Betting that the very rich will sail out of the nation’s economic doldrums, Westport Shipyard is enlarging its cabinet shop again.
With a $1 million-plus, 10,000-square-foot expansion finished on one end of the former helicopter facility at William R. Fairchild International Airport, the firm is well into an almost $1.3 million, 16,500-square-foot addition on the other end.
“We’re spending some real money to have some real jobs here,” Westport General Manager Phil Beirnes said last week.
“We want to continue to grow and add more jobs.”
The cabinet shop — which makes all the interior woodwork for every Westport yacht built in Port Angeles, Gig Harbor and Gray’s Harbor County — already employs 274 workers besides the 299 people employed at the Port Angeles plant making 164-foot motor yachts that cost millions of dollars.
The expansion will allow the cabinet shop to hire 50 more workers, Beirnes said.
An end by year’s end
Meanwhile, about a dozen employees of Clallam Builders are at work on the concrete-floor, steel-span addition.
Construction should be finished by the end of this year.
Inside the present building, lengths of such precious woods as teak and mahogany, plus sheets of veneers and laminates, occupy one end of the brightly lighted shop.
At the other end, finished items — bed frames, tables, countertops, doors — are packed into special containers for shipping to the Port Angeles waterfront works and to yards in Westport, Hoquiam and Gig Harbor.
In the shop’s middle are the computer-programmed cutters, sanders and spray booths, plus lots of handwork involving gallons of glue and hundreds of clamps.
Despite rising unemployment and a falling economy, recruiting new employees won’t be easy, Beirnes said.
“It’s been tough. If we get good people who have good attitudes, we can train them.”
No limit on wages
Wages start at $10 an hour and climb as high as a worker is willing and able to go, including management.
“The wages scale doesn’t really top out,” Beirnes said.
“There’s always more opportunities, as we’re continually growing.”
Westport’s 2007 payroll totaled $19.1 million in 2007.
Beirnes said he expects it to rise to between $23 million and $26 million this year — not including benefits.
The company has sufficient orders for another full year, he said.
What 2010 holds could be a different story.
“The industry now is real shaky,” he said.
“In our domestic market, we are seeing some softening.”
A boat show in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this weekend could help clear up a cloudy crystal ball, Beirnes said.
Meanwhile, Westport Shipyard is happy to help wealthy people spread their money around.
“They spend it on us blue-collar guys,” Beirnes said, “and we put it to work.”
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Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
