POWERGRAMS

14 Travis Short and his father opened Horizon Shipbuilding in 1997 with a $50,000 loan at 19 percent interest, employing his wife, three workers and using "a handful of tools" on a 5-acre wharf site. Horizon has tripled its production capacity, growing to fill the available 20 acres on one side of the bayou and another 22 acres across the 18-foot-deep canal. "In the early years, we were lucky to do $2-4 million in business," Short says. "Now we do $30-40 million a year." Horizon has about 200 mostly highly skilled workers – down from a high of 440 three years ago – in a diversified operation that designs, builds and refurbishes everything from a 27-foot aluminum police boat to a 300-foot steel barge. The ship engines range from a modest Yamaha 150 outboard to a mammoth 6,000-horsepower diesel. The Travelift crane can hoist 660 tons out of or into the bayou, which is more than enough for any of the six boats under construction. "We're probably the most diverse shipbuilder on the Gulf Coast," Short says. "We've taken that path because over the years, being a small business, we're just trying to keep people employed and busy producing a high-quality ship." Outside Short's office windows, a 120-foot, 4,000-horsepower engine retractable tugboat is taking shape. The wheelhouse is built to go up and down to easily move beneath bridges. Boats of this size routinely sell for more than $10 million but "pay for themselves in 7-10 years and will easily be in service 60-70 years from now," he says. Short chose Bayou La Batre two decades ago because it was the "best price, best fit" for his entry into shipbuilding. Hurricane Georges in 1998 taught him the value of moving crucial equipment to higher ground during storms, and he added lifts to raise electrical lines and heavy machinery above flood levels. He renovated the headquarters recently with a goal of attracting more business in coming years. "Bayou La Batre has a long history of boatbuilding," Short says. "My employees' granddads and great- granddads were building here before me. I've been here 20 years and am still the new guy." Catalina Comeback Many of the shipyard workers travel the short distance west to Wintzell Avenue for lunch at Catalina Bayou, which reopened a decade after Katrina destroyed its previous building. On an average day, the restaurant is packed with diners ordering from the kitchen manned by family of the original owners, Ora and Gwen Johnson. Mrs. Johnson, 84, still cooks and Short of Horizon Shipbuilding Customers pack Catalina Bayou for lunch.

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