Bryan Nichols, one of the leading maritime business development professionals in the Pacific Northwest, is joining forces with VIGOR Industrial, which owns and operates the premier shipyards in the region.
Nichols joins VIGOR as a sales representative for the company, which builds, repairs and modernizes commercial fishing and cargo vessels, ferries and military ships at six locations in the Northwest. Nichols had been sales and marketing manager at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island, Wash. “Joining VIGOR is an exciting next step for me,” Nichols said. “I’ve been learning or selling boat building and repair all my life. I now get to team with the largest shipyards in the region to bring more projects, more jobs and a stronger maritime community to the Pacific Northwest.”
Nichols led his prior firm, which was family owned until 2008, in the sale, estimating and contract negotiations for more than 35 vessels. He worked not only with commercial customers but also the U.S. Navy, the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other government clients. He served on the board of directors of the Passenger Vessel Association and chaired that group’s Western Region. Nichols will represent VIGOR and its new-build and fabrication division, US Fab. He will be based in the company’s Seattle office on the former Todd Pacific Harbor Island yard, and will be part of VIGOR’s growing sales team led by Vince Piscitello, VIGOR vice president for sales, marketing and business development.
VIGOR, which is privately owned, runs major ship building and repair facilities in Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton, Everett and Port Angeles, Wash., as well as the 60-acre Swan Island shipyard center in Portland, Ore. VIGOR is the prime builder of Washington State Ferries and one of three companies entrusted nationwide with the maintenance of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. VIGOR is also leading efforts to restore U.S. Coast Guard heavy icebreaker capacity in the Arctic.