Allen Walker News

Following another strong year for the company, President and CEO, Doyle Taylor, has promoted his Vice President of Sales, Allen Walker, to Vice President and General Manager of the Monico Monitoring, Inc. Taylor brought Walker on board in September of 2012 as Vice President of Sales to oversee the company’s ever-growing product sales and expanding sales staff, to utilize his business and management experience to bring more structure and drive to the company’s sales process and to grow international sales. After just one year in the position, Walker has exceeded expectations. Prior to joining Monico, Walker served as Vice President of Global Sales for PECOFacet and Managing Director of Facet Deutschland GmbH, both Clarcor Companies, and was also an officer of Perry Equipment Corporation.

The Administration released its FY2003 budget, proposing, as expected, the elimination of funding for the Title XI Maritime Loan Guarantee Program. “The zero funding decision is disappointing but not surprising” said Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, noting that the Administration had proposed a similar funding level last year. “This is a good program that has significantly helped stimulate ship construction in the U.S. For the second time in as many years, the President’s budget has proposed zeroing funding for the Title XI program, a government loan guarantee program that has aided in the private financing of $4.7 billion in ship construction and shipyard modernization projects in the U.S. since 1993.

Congress has approved $29.9 million for the Maritime Loan Guarantee Program, or Title XI program, a $27.9 million increase over the President's Fiscal Year 2001 budget request. Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) and chairman of the Title XI Coalition, said, "We're pleased that Congress has recognized that the Title XI program is an important component of our nation's maritime policy and has agreed to significantly increase funding levels over those requested by President Clinton in his Fiscal Year 2001 budget. "Thanks to the strong Congressional support for this program, $29.9 million in new money will be available to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in new ship construction, creating thousands of shipyard and seagoing jobs," Walker stated.

Congress has approved $29.9 million for the Maritime Loan Guarantee Program, or Title XI program, a $27.9 million increase over the President's Fiscal Year 2001 budget request. Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) and chairman of the Title XI Coalition, said, "We're pleased that Congress has recognized that the Title XI program is an important component of our nation's maritime policy and has agreed to significantly increase funding levels over those requested by President Clinton in his Fiscal Year 2001 budget. "Thanks to the strong Congressional support for this program, $29.9 million in new money will be available to facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars in new ship construction, creating thousands of shipyard and seagoing jobs," Walker said.

On April 21, 2005, Herschel T. Vinyard, Jr., Vice President of Atlantic Marine Holding Company, was re-elected Chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA). Donald T. “Boysie” Bollinger, CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, LA, was elected Vice Chairman. The elections occurred during the annual SCA Spring Meeting held in Arlington, VA. SCA is the largest and most broadly-based national trade association representing the U.S. shipyard industry. SCA members build, repair and service America's fleet of commercial vessels. SCA members constitute the shipyard industrial base that maintains and repairs Navy combatant ships and other government craft, as well as builds small and midsized vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and other government agencies.

The title of this article was the simplified (and anticipated) statement from the mouth of Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), in a discussion sponsored by the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) and held in early March at the Litton-Avondale Shipyard. While Walker, paid to promote the U.S. industry, is understandably optimistic; he followed his simplistic proclamation with a number of sound reasons to expect an upturn in business at U.S. shipyards. OPA 90 has long been discussed as the impetus for barge and shipbuilding boom in mid- and large-size U.S. yards. While the reality in the form of an orderbook has yet to materialize…

In a letter to the House Small Business Committee, the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) urged Congress to block the Navy from consolidating all mid-Atlantic region surface ship maintenance into two contracts. This anti-competitive and risky scheme, called Multi-Ship/Multi-Option (MS/MO) repair contracts, would destroy the modern competitive ship repair industry, lower Navy readiness and harm small business. The contracts proposed by the Navy will lead to higher repair costs without improving quality. With competition between repair yards enables the Navy to secure the best repair value at the lowest possible price, this rivalry exists because small and mid-sized repair yards provide the Navy with a wider range of repair options thereby putting downward pressure on pricing.

The Shipbuilding Council of America (SCA) says the sinking of the 26-year old tanker Prestige illustrates the danger of continued operation of single-hulled tank vessels. The accident should serve as a warning to shippers who continue to look for cheap alternatives to modern, double-hull tank vessels. SCA has long been warning of the dangers of continued operation of aged single-hull tank vessels. "Unfortunately, even in the U.S., companies continue to charter older, single-hull tankers similar to the sunken Prestige at discounted rates," stated SCA President Allen Walker. No new product tankers are under construction or on order for the domestic trades. Only 21 product tankers in the U.S.-flag fleet are currently double-hulled and 10 of those vessels are more than 16 years old today.

The Shipbuilding Council of America (SCA) says the sinking of the 26-year old tanker Prestige illustrates the danger of continued operation of single-hulled tank vessels. The accident should serve as a warning to shippers who continue to look for cheap alternatives to modern, double-hull tank vessels. SCA has long been warning of the dangers of continued operation of aged single-hull tank vessels. “Unfortunately, even in the U.S., companies continue to charter older, single-hull tankers similar to the sunken Prestige at discounted rates,” stated SCA President Allen Walker. No new product tankers are under construction or on order for the domestic trades. Only 21 product tankers in the U.S.-flag fleet are currently double-hulled and 10 of those vessels are more than 16 years old today.

Along with the Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) have signed a two-year Alliance that is designed to foster a culture of injury prevention while sharing best practices and technical knowledge. As a part of the agreement, OSHA and SCA agree to promote safe and healthful working conditions for shipyard employees by providing SCA members with information and guidance that will help them protect their employees by reducing and preventing exposure to shipyard safety and health hazards and increasing access to safety and health information and training resources. Safety is already an important issue for the Council.

The House Committee on Appropriations approved a bill that would provide $30 million for Title XI loan guarantees in Fiscal Year 2002, the highest level of Title XI funding reported out of the House Committee since its Fiscal Year 1998 Appropriations bill. "We're pleased that the Committee has provided $30 million in loan guarantees to fund this vital program," said Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders' Council of America. The bill, which also includes $4 million for administering the program, is expected to be considered on the House floor next week. If approved, the funding provided by the House Committee will be a major victory for supporters of the Title XI program, particularly since the Administration's Fiscal Year 2002 budget request eliminated Title XI funding.

The House USCG and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 316 (the Cruise-to-Nowhere Act of 1999, which would prohibit gaming in all states that haven't passed a bill specifically allowing it). The subcommittee heard from eight witnesses divided among four panels, with the first two panels consisting of a single witness: Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), chief sponsor of H.R. 316, and Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, who joined Wolf in support of the bill. Panel three, opponents of the bill, included Allen Walker, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America; C. Dean Hofmeister, chairman/CEO of SeaEscape Cruises; Lester Bullock, president of the Day Cruise Association; and Robert Williams, chairman of the Port of Palm Beach.

(OSHA) to develop voluntary ergonomic guidelines for the shipbuilding industry. develop an Employee Awareness Ergonomic Training video. the country and provide members a full day Ergonomic Train-the-Trainer seminar. current solutions. SCA President, Allen Walker. employees and employers the flexibility to address ergonomics issues in a cooperative way. Safety is already an important issue for the Council. (BLS). SCA’s data is based on the quarterly injur y and illness surveys compiled by the Council.

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) selected Harvey B. Walpert to be the first ever Director Emeritus of SCA in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the maritime industry. Bruce Croushore, Vice President of Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. of Mobile, AL and past Chairman of SCA, presented the award during the SCA Fall Meeting in Amelia Island, FL on September 29, 2005. Mr. Walpert’s shipbuilding experience includes 22 years at Electric Boat Corporation, a division of General Dynamics, and 22 years at Halter Marine Group (currently VT Halter Marine, Inc.). He has served in his current position as a Senior Defense Advisor for Bender for more than 5 years.