THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 13, 1996 TAG: 9601130324
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
State Del. Frank Wagner returned to the ship repair business Friday, buying Davis Boat Works Inc., a tiny Newport News shipyard.
The Republican from Virginia Beach's 21st District bought the small yard from longtime owner T.O. Mayhew, who is retiring from the business.
``He's selling for all the right reasons,'' Wagner said.
Wagner paid $1.7 million for Davis Boat, which is on Newport News Creek at the base of the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel.
Wagner and his step-father James Earl owned the Portsmouth ship repair firm Earl Industries Inc. until 1989 when they sold it to Jerry Miller, Earl's current president.
``It's always been in my blood,'' Wagner said.
Wagner intends to be an active owner-manager of Davis Boat. The yard, which employs about 65 workers, does about $4 million a year of business, an even mix of defense and commercial work. Its commercial clients includes tug and barge companies and fishermen.
``They got a good crew and a good operation down there,'' Wagner said.
The yard, which has been in business since 1959, has the largest marine travel-lift in the region, capable of hauling a vessel up to 250 tons out of the water. A travel-lift has slings that slide under a vessel to haul it out of the water.
Davis Boat competes with other small shipyards in Hampton Roads and up and down the East Coast.
Wagner got out of the ship repair business in 1989 as part of the deal to sell Portsmouth-based Earl Industries, a so-called ``down-river'' ship repair firm that doesn't have its own waterfront facility. He had a non-compete agreement with Earl that recently expired.
``He's a good man, he works hard and he has a lot of good ideas,'' said Earl President Miller. ``He'll do real well.''
Since he couldn't work in ship repair, he ran for and won a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1991. In November, he won a third term by a two-to-one margin. He had recently worked as a consultant to other ship repairers.
Wagner had hoped to close on the Davis deal late last year, but arranging the financing took longer than he expected.
Now Wagner's going to have to start running his new shipyard while spending the next 60 days in Richmond for the General Assembly session.
``Everyone up here is a citizen legislator,'' Wagner said. ``Everyone up here has another job.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
State Del. Frank Wagner
by CNB