Renewable Energy Composite Solutions LLC (Vancouver)

Left to right: Renewable Energy Composite Solutions Managing Director Joe Foggia, Director of Operations Brad Given and Chief Financial Officer Dean Anderson.

Christensen is one of the best-known names in the custom yacht building business—a good business to be in when times are good.

The conventional response to a recession that dried up orders for the sort of multimillion-dollar boats that Christensen builds is to slash staffing and hope to ride out the storm.

Christensen President Joe Foggia opted for the unconventional. In looking around for something that his skilled workers could do, he hit upon this: Christensen yachts are made with fiberglass and composite materials. Wind turbines have big components made of fiberglass and composite materials. The company’s website notes, “There is a high degree of correlation between the construction of composite ships and the manufacturing of composite components used in renewable energy.”

And, thus, Renewable Energy Composite Solutions (RECS) was born as a new business venture of Christensen Shipyards. By converting a portion of the shipyard to production for this new market and by incorporating lean manufacturing techniques into the design from the start, RECS hopes to tap the potentially huge market for wind turbine blades, and for electricity-producing tidal turbines and wave-motion buoys.

Adding the new business line allowed Christensen to hire back as many as 200 workers (99 on a temporary basis) of the more than 300 workers laid off from the yacht building side. The company landed a $1 million Washington State Energy Program grant for retooling and retraining costs. One of RECS’ first projects is working with Oregon State University and Skyron Systems Inc. of Portland on a design for vertical wind turbines.

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