State board sees Mavrik Marine's work

Members of the Washington state Community Economic Revitalization Board launched their whirlwind two-day tour of Skagit County businesses last Wednesday at Mavrik Marine in La Conner.

CERB, whose membership includes Island County Commissioner and 10th District State Senate candidate Janet St. Clair, spent an hour visiting Mavrik facilities at The Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina, where the aluminum boat manufacturer is building the third in a series of 137-foot, 325-­passenger ferries serving the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mavrik is building the high-speed passenger ferries for the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority to meet growing demand in the daily commuter market there.

CERB provides funding to local governmental entities and tribal communities to support private business growth, expansion and job creation in the state's rural areas.

The Port of Skagit was funded by the board for the building expanding Mavrik Marine's footprint.

"We provided funding for the infrastructure and Mavrik built the building," CERB Executive Director and Tribal Liaison Janae Stark told the Weekly News while touring the company's two-and-a-half-year-old assembly facility, which stands 60 feet tall and covers 17,000 square feet.

Port of Skagit Executive Director Sara Young echoed the cooperative spirit that made possible Mavrik Marine's expansion, saying, "CERB has been an awesome partner every step of the way."

Mavrik President and CEO Bailey Shewchuk joined the chorus.

"We're proud, excited and blessed," Shewchuk said, "to have The Port of Skagit as a partner of ours."

Mavrik Marine, founded in 2010 by Rob Smith and the late Zach Battle, employs more than 70 skilled workers, two-thirds of whom are engaged in some aspect of the San Francisco ferry project. The company has also produced fishing vessels, workboats and whale watching and sightseeing craft over the past 14 years.

The CERB group was able to see up-close how Mavrik's labor force uses precision tools to shape and assemble the parts that comprise their lines of seagoing vessels.

"We build the boats in sections," said production manager Jeff Scott, who led the CERB tour. "It's like building a house where you put trusses and walls on a pallet and take them to a building site.

"Every piece fits together integrally," he said.

Scott said the process for building the San Francisco ferries from bid to final construction typically runs 12 to 14 months.

St. Clair said CERB participation has been a highlight of her time in public service.

"I've enjoyed working with board members from across the mountains," she said. "We take on common causes, pushing policies and creating jobs. We build collaborative partnerships to move the needle on job creation."

St. Clair said that CERB strives "to work with applicants to get them to success."

An arm of the state Department of Commerce, CERB was established in 1982 to respond to economic development in Washington communities. It has invested almost $250 million across the state, creating nearly 40,000 permanent jobs, according to Commerce officials in Olympia.

Most recently, CERB approved $6,175,000 in low-interest loans and grants for economic development and public infrastructure improvements intended to spur business growth and job creation in Clark, Mason, Whatcom and Yakima counties.

After the stop at Mavrik Marine, the CERB tour featured a reception at La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib House, a Thursday morning business meeting at The Port of Skagit's Bay View Airport and a visit to Janicki Industries in Sedro-Woolley.