WORKBOAT
Trailblazers
Boyd E. "Butch" King leads VT Halter to new heights
By Greg Trauthwein
Most anyone can learn about a company with a simple Google search and a thorough peruse of its website. But one cannot truly know a company -- its philosophies, strengths and weaknesses -- without knowing its leadership. Meet Boyd E. "Butch" King, the straight-talking man with the straighttalking name who serves as the leader of VT Halter Marine, one of the country's historically prolific builders of commercial, government and military vessels in
the small to medium range. King, a career Army man, came to VT Halter in 2002 to take the helm. While he did not bring a multi-generational pedigree serving the marine business, as is common among his Gulf of Mexico CEO colleagues, he did deliver a strong business sense with a sincere belief that true success starts and ends with a strong, capable and involved employee base. "Part of my management philosophy is knowing what's going on with the employees," said King. "Every week I
have lunch with six employees in the yard, which helps me to keep a pulse on issues and problems." King counts this philosophy and practice as a reason that the company is able to attract and retain employees, particularly in today's environment where many companies aggressively compete for a dwindling pool of engineering aptitude. While the company has grown rapidly under his tenure, with 750 production workers and 950 total employees across
three shipyards, it is King's management philosophy that helps the company stand out. "Though we are larger, we still have a 'mom-and-pop' management philosophy," King said. "We take care of our employees, and they take care of us." This philosophy is more than lip service, with the company's actions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina standing as testament. " After Katrina, nobody missed a paycheck," King said.
Crowley Maritime Corporation christened the third of ten new 185,000-barrel Articulated TugBarge (ATB) tank vessels that the company will take delivery of by the end of 2010. The vessels christened were the 9,280 hp-tug Resolve and barge 650-3.
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Maritime Reporter & Engineering News