Buoyant trade thriving in N.C.

Already a Down East tradition, boat-building jobs grow statewide

HARKERS ISLAND -- As raindrops kept cadence overhead, Jamie Lewis hunched over a wooden creation that looked like an oversized, overturned centipede. He had no blueprints to guide him, no pictures to illustrate the skeleton of the boat that would gracefully skim the waters.

Yet he worked with a certainty that no textbook can imbue. His navy T-shirt stained with sweat, gray tufts protruding from his cap, Lewis, 68, measured and cut and slipped each piece of wood into place.

"As far as using plans, we ain't ever done that," said Lewis' son, James, who explained the family business as his father worked on a hunting skiff in the shadow of a 41-foot Goliath, also put together without drafts. "I grew up in it. Daddy grew up in it. It's just something you know how to do."

They are craftsmen steeped in a Down East tradition that could propel the state's economy into the future. Unlike tobacco or textiles, boat-building is a heritage industry that is growing in North Carolina and providing opportunities from east to west.

In the past three years, 28 boat manufacturers have started in the state or moved here to take advantage of such artisans -- not only those who honed their skills on boats but those who once made furniture -- and costs that are lower than in Florida or other rival states.

Earlier this month, Brunswick Corp., which makes Hatteras Yachts and Albemarle Boats in North Carolina, said that it will move three more models to a plant near Wilmington and create as many as 858 jobs while closing a factory in Maryland.

Three other manufacturers have contacted the state about possible expansions since that announcement, said Mike Bradley, who leads marine-related recruitment for North Carolina. That boosts to 21 the number of his projects that involve boat-building.

It's a boon for officials trying to replace at least a portion of the 260,000 production jobs that disappeared during the past decade as foreign competition intensified. They want to attract businesses with more permanence -- those that need to be on the East Coast to reach customers, for instance, or with products in high demand.

And they see boat-building as a good fit. Baby boomers, with an estimated $8.5 trillion in accumulated wealth and another $7 trillion to inherit from their parents over the next 40 years, are retiring and seeking new ways to spend their leisure.

At the same time, there is a migration toward water. In the Southeast alone, coastal population density is expected to rise to 241 people per square mile by 2008, a 70 percent increase from 1980, according to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The trends should boost sales of boats and related products, state recruiters say, and benefit any area that makes such equipment.

"We feel like these jobs will stay here and continue to grow," Gov. Mike Easley said last week in Beaufort County, where a Florida company that makes boat lifts announced a new facility. "We're a prime location ... and we think that's going to be good for us."

But there are risks.

The boat market is cyclical, and worker rolls at plants can fluctuate. Currently, the industry is in one of its worst-ever slumps as consumers contend with higher fuel and food prices and other factors that have cut disposable income.

While big boat makers that cater to the wealthy have fared better, the pain is widespread, and many companies have retrenched. Fountain Powerboat Industries in Washington, N.C., which makes speed, fishing and cruising boats, has cut its staff by about 29 percent in the past year, mostly through attrition.