Page 30 - MidJersey Business - November/December 2014

FULL SPEED

AHEAD

VIKING YACHTS EMPLOYS AN EXCLUSIVE

WORKFORCE TO CREATE AN EXCLUSIVE PRODUCT

ew Jersey is identiied by many discretionary income: no one needs to have one of

industries such as pharmaceuticals these things.”
and inance. But long before the state When it comes to yachts, there are few compa-

was known for those, it was a boat-
nies that build them as well as Viking does.
building powerhouse that supplied “We have a skilled workforce here,” Frederiksen

Nwooden schooners to the world during Colonial says. ”We have mechanics, electricians, carpenters,

times. Building boats was its irst big business.
plumbers. These are pretty sophisticated boats
The boat-manufacturing tradition lives on along and New Jersey is a good area to be.”

the banks of the Bass River at the world-renowned Viking has had more than one opportunity to
Viking Yacht Co., based in New
leave New Jersey, but it remains here primarily

Gretna in Burlington County, because this is where its people live. Moving the
about a half-hour north of business would mean training a new workforce and

Atlantic City. It is here that that’s a gamble the company is not willing to take.
massive 92-foot yachts with
“We have people that want us to move, but

a sticker price upwards of
we’re based here and we’ve been here a long
$10 million are painstakingly time,” Frederiksen says. “How do you move 1,000

crafted and custom-itted with people? No one builds a boat like Viking—it’s the
cutting-edge systems and the No. 1 boat builder in the world and no one comes

inest craftsmanship. There
close to doing what we do—so it’s diicult to even
are very few parts of a Viking think about wanting to move. Viking people are

boat that are not made here in the best in the world.”

New Jersey by a locally sourced Viking is a company that counts the wealthiest
workforce that has deep ties to people in the world as its customer base. However,

the ship building industry.
it is a company that recognizes the importance of
“We have people who have its skilled employees and goes to great lengths to

worked here almost 50 years,”
take care of its own people. When Hurricane San-
says Peter Frederiksen, Viking’s director of com- dy hit, 35 of its employees’ families were displaced
Nobody builds a better boat
than they do at Viking Yacht
munications. “This is a family-owned business. by the storm. Viking took care of them because “we
Co., based in New Gretna in
We’re very modern and very old fashioned at the take care of our own,” Frederiksen says.
Burlington County.
same time.”
According to the company, it takes more than
Viking has been in operation since Bob and
800 people to build one of its boats. It runs four

Bill Healy purchased a small, struggling company production lines at its massive 810,000-square-
in 1964. At the time, Peterson-Viking Builders foot facility in South Jersey and it can take up to

constructed 37-foot, wooden sport ishing vessels. eight months to build a yacht. Boats need to be
Fifty years later, Viking is now counted among the serviced, they need fuel, and they need to be main-

world leaders in producing high-end iberglass tained. Where there are boats, there will always be
yachts with more than 4,000 boats delivered.
jobs. So while Viking produces a high-end product

“We’re not rocket scientists,” Frederiksen says. for a select few customers, it is a company that

“We just work very hard and it shows by the people breathes life into the local economy.
who buy the boats and where the boats go. What “We make New Jersey look good,” Frederiksen

we sell and what we build are purchased with
says.

business
28 midJersey