Firm Tells Plans for RMI Site : Resurrection of Shipyard May Create 700 Jobs
More than 700 new jobs could be created at a dormant National City shipyard that was purchased by a Chicago firm earlier this week.
Grabill Corp. plans to build military patrol boats and pleasure vessels at a 10-acre site sandwiched between the National City Marine Terminal and the U.S. Navy shipyard.
The shipyard purchased by Grabill was built during the 1970s by a San Francisco-based marine repair company and sits on Port of San Diego land.
It most recently was home to RMI Inc., a Rohr Industries spinoff that filed for bankruptcy liquidation in September.
When it went out of business, RMI was in the process of building a high-speed, air-cushioned amphibious craft for the Navy.
Grabill, which will move its marine division headquarters to San Diego this spring, “recognizes that the ship-repair business is a pretty glutted market in San Diego,” spokesman Ed Holba said.
“We intend to maintain a ship-repair license but we’re not seeking to get into that market as our primary source of revenue,” he added.
Grabill is pursuing a joint venture to produce 65-foot to 120-foot patrol boats for European and Asian countries, Holba said, adding that Grabill’s marine subsidiary also is negotiating to acquire a luxury yacht builder that would produce power boats, possibly in San Diego.
Grabill anticipates using the San Diego shipyard for some non-marine manufacturing, according to Holba.
Even without the patrol boats and yachts, however, Grabill “has enough (business) to produce $25 million to $30 million in revenue initially in San Diego,” said Holba, who predicted that the San Diego shipyard could generate as much as $100 million in revenue by the early 1990s.
The San Diego shipyard acquisition was described as a “good opportunity for Grabill” by a Chicago banker familiar with the privately held company. “It’s something they know a bit about and (it is) a nice opportunity for a stable and growing business.”
Grabill’s principal activity is manufacturing, according to Holba, who described the holding company as a “mini-conglomerate” which operates metal stamping, diecasting, plastic products and marine businesses.
Its owner, 29-year-old William J. Stoecker, has pushed the company’s revenues to about $400 million a year since forming the company 10 years ago, according to sources familiar with the company.
Grabill purchased the National City shipyard on Tuesday from San Francisco-based Guy F. Atkinson of California, which built the facility in 1977.
Atkinson’s marine repair activities employed more than 300 people during the late 1970s, but business subsequently fell off, and, in 1984, Atkinson closed the yard and subleased a portion of it to RMI.
RMI employed about 400 workers at its peak.
The sale by Atkinson to Grabill is subject to port district approval, Holba said.
