MARICORP US 2017 ECONOMIC IMPACT AWARD FINALIST

MARICORP US 2017 ECONOMIC IMPACT AWARD FINALIST

  • Marine Manufacturers
    by Geoff Pickle
    Springfield Business Journal

    When he’s not helping govern our state at the Missouri Capitol, Scott Fitzpatrick is leading a $9.1 million manufacturer and consultant of steel floating docks and boat lift systems. The owner and founder of Maricorp LLC, Fitzpatrick says his work as a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives covering district 158 means he’s heavily reliant on his 40-plus employees. After all, he’s absent about half the year for legislative work in Jefferson City.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “If there’s one thing that’s contributed to it the least, it’s probably me,” Fitzpatrick says of the company’s growth and importance of its workers. “For the most part, I am involved by phone on a pretty regular basis.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “Without them, we would obviously not be anywhere.”[spacer height=”10px”]
    A niche industry, Fitzpatrick says MariCorp is intimately familiar with industry happenings in its manufacturing space. That means the company has to set itself apart to gain customers.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “There’s only a handful of companies that we compete with regularly across the country. What we’ve done is tried to focus on grabbing as much market share as we can,” Fitzpatrick says. “We know our competition very well, so we try to be sure to serve our customers in ways that we don’t think the others are – from following up on the project after they’re complete to making sure we are as honest and up-front with them from start to finish. That’s paid dividends for us.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “We don’t cut any corners, which is something that in the manufacturing and construction industry, folks try to do.”[spacer height=”10px”]
    Current projects in MariCorp’s pipeline include the Abbey Marina on tourist-heavy Lake Geneva in Fontana, Wisconsin. There, MariCorp is replacing the marina’s entire harbor comprising several hundred slips.[spacer height=”10px”] “It’s going to be a real showcase when it’s done,” Fitzpatrick says. “It’s already a really cool location.”[spacer height=”10px”]
    Work also includes a project in Phoenix, Arizona, and locally, Campbell Point Marina. During the past eight years, MariCorp has transformed the Shell Knob facility’s 1960’s and ’70s-era docks with the exception of a couple of small structures.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “We’re pretty proud with the work we’ve done down there,” he says.[spacer height=”10px”]
    Fitzpatrick started the company in 2003 under the Maritime Dockworks name with just two employees operating out of a single bay at its current plant. Maritime Dockworks remains the company’s trademark name on its top-selling product, but the business changed names to MariCorp in 2006.[spacer height=”10px”]
    The company now employs over 40, most of whom live and work locally, and MariCorp is the largest employer in Shell Knob, according to company officials.[spacer height=”20px”]
    “We’ve got the best group in the industry,” Fitzpatrick says, noting employees travel across the country to install projects. “It took us a while to build that team.”[spacer height=”10px”]
    The elected leader works to make sure no conflicts of interest are present in his job with the General Assembly. More so, he said his work with MariCorp has helped inform his role as a state representative.[spacer height=”10px”]
    “I don’t bid on any state government contracts with the state of Missouri,” he says.

    Read original article published by SBJ.net