Swan Island Facility News

For nearly two decades, Frank Foti has led Vigor’s transformation from a single, struggling shipyard to a thriving, increasingly diversified industrial company with 2,500 employees, 12 locations and approximately $700 million in annual revenue. According to Vigor, Foti often describes his motivation in three words: “Industrial Jobs Matter.” Committed to improving long-term, family-wage job opportunities workers and their families and communities, Foti and his management team have, over time, has worked to strategically expand and diversify the company, investing in training facilities and infrastructure along the way. Also according to Vigor…

For Vigor Industrial, a privately-held shipbuilding and repair company headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the future looked bright and a bit ominous at the same time. Work was coming in, dock space was filling up, future orders were signed, and new properties purchased; in short, business was booming. But dark clouds crept in around the edges of this rosy picture. As recruiters set out to find new talent to meet the growing demand, they encountered a candidate pool without the necessary skills to pick up a welding torch and go to work.