Hewes Marine in transition to next generation of family

COLVILLE – While Bill Hewes was growing up in Colville, Stevens County’s population was shrinking, “and I didn’t want to have anything to do with this area,” he recalls. “Big cities were a lot more fun.”

So his parents shipped him off to all-boys Catholic boarding schools – first in Troutdale, Oregon, 16 miles east of Portland, then in Santa Barbara, California.

Hewes eventually came back – and so did Stevens County. Since 1970, the county’s population has surged 155 percent.

The family’s boat-building business has done even better.

Today, Hewes Marine manufactures nine models ranging from the 16-foot Sportsman to the 26-foot Pacific Explorer. About 30 dealers carry the boats, which retail for between $25,000 and $125,000 with motor and trailer. Most are sold in the Northwest and Alaska.

Having completed a major expansion just two years ago, Hewes Marine currently is negotiating to buy Pennsylvania-based stove builder Hearth & Home Technologies’ shuttered production plant just down the road.

Last week, family members gathered to discuss a succession plan that will allow Bill and his brother Dave, both of whom have already cut back their hours, to hand the company’s ownership over to a third generation.

During a recent interview, Hewes discussed the evolution of fishing boats, his company’s brush with bankruptcy and the best business advice he ever got.

S-R: What were your interests growing up?

Hewes: Exploring nearby surroundings.

S-R: Did you have a favorite class in high school?

Hewes: Anything to do with history.

S-R: How about extracurricular activities?

Hewes: I went to a private high school – St. Francis Seminary in Troutdale, Oregon – where everybody had to play intramural sports.

S-R: What was your first job?

Hewes: When I came home from boarding school for summer breaks, I worked here at the boat factory.

S-R: What do you remember about that experience?

Hewes: It was OK. I didn’t like the loud noise of riveting. But as the company grew, there was more paperwork. I found I liked the accounting side of the business. My dad loved to get his hands dirty – the last thing he wanted to do was paperwork. So he gladly pushed all that in my direction.

S-R: Did you assume this would be your career?

Hewes: I really wasn’t sure. I attended Gonzaga University, starting out studying math. Then I hit a wall – and it wasn’t a very high wall – so I kept switching majors. I eventually earned a degree in history, but my favorite thing was working on the student newspaper. So, after a year off, I enrolled at Marquette University and earned a master’s degree in journalism.

S-R: Then what?

Hewes: I tried a lot of different things, including press secretary for a couple of political campaigns. Afterward, I’d go off on another adventure. By the time I was 30, I realized I liked Colville, started making friends here, and didn’t leave. And my dad and I talked my younger brother, Dave, an engineer, into coming back from California, where he’d gone after graduating from college.

S-R: Was your dad ready to retire?

Hewes: Nowhere near ready. But he wanted the next generation to carry on the business, so gradually Dave and I took over managing the company.

S-R: How did you and Dave divide duties?

Hewes: We were perfectly suited for doing our own thing. Dave is more sociable and interested in overall management. So, he was in charge of sales and design, and I handled the numbers game.

S-R: How has the company evolved since then?

Hewes: We’ve gotten much bigger and more complicated. In 1988, we moved from the airport, where my dad and his brother also had a flying service, to this location – a former bowling lane. Back then, we had maybe 15 employees, including one engineer, and the work was very seasonal. Now, we have 143 employees, including a whole crew of engineers, and we can’t keep up with demand. Eventually, it became beyond my brother’s and my ability to run the company alone.

S-R: How do you build a boat out of aluminum?

Hewes: We start by putting a template on top of a sheet of aluminum and cut around it. Then we cut more parts and bend them into a hull. We used to connect the parts with rivets, but now everything is welded. Next, we add flotation and paint, then finish the upper level.

S-R: Did you have a mentor?

Hewes: No, and I wish I had.

S-R: What skills learned in other pursuits were you able to bring to this career?

Hewes: It started with getting a real sound basic education in high school and college – the ability to think and analyze, and figure things out.

S-R: What’s the best business advice you ever got?

Hewes: Do what you enjoy doing.

S-R: Six years ago, you discovered an employee had stolen more than $500,000 worth of new aluminum and sold it to a Spokane scrap-metal dealer. What was the fallout?

Hewes: We almost went out of business. It was the middle of the recession, so we were already in bad shape. And we didn’t have the right kind of insurance. All we could do was lay off employees.

S-R: What did you learn from that experience?

Hewes: To keep a better track of what’s going on – a lot better track.

S-R: How is the company’s health now?

Hewes: We’re the best we’ve ever been. And we haven’t reached the top – far from it. Especially with the purchase of the Hearth & Home building, which we’re negotiating.

S-R: When you were a teen, most lake fishermen were content with a 12-foot aluminum boat powered by a 10-horse outboard. How did we get from there to your $100,000-plus models?

Hewes: It’s just like with cars. Air conditioning and power windows used to be options. Now they’re standard. Likewise, we used to strap a gas tank to the inside wall of our boats. It would be insane to try to sell that today. Now we have a flat floor with the gas tank underneath. The bilge pump used to be optional. Now some models come with two bilge pumps as standard equipment. People kept saying, “I want this and I want that,” which is why we stopped building those little fishing boats around 1990.

S-R: Are some of your early boats still in use?

Hewes: Yes. In fact, we’re restoring one now from 1973 – replacing the flooring and upholstery, and giving it a new paint job.

S-R: What’s your typical workweek?

Hewes: Both Dave and I are sliding into retirement. I’m working Mondays and Wednesdays, and he’s working Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Dave and I and my wife, Launa, own the company, and a board of directors runs it.

S-R: Are there other aluminum boat manufacturers in the Northwest?

Hewes: Yes, four or five others about our size.

S-R: What’s your niche?

Hewes: I think we put more emphasis on design and safety.

S-R: What comments do you hear from customers?

Hewes: That they love our boats and wish they could afford a bigger one.

S-R: What challenges lie ahead?

Hewes: Absorbing a new building, since we just expanded a couple of years ago. That should happen over the next six to nine months. Also, finding qualified employees, dealing with rules and regulations, and finding affordable health care.

S-R: What qualities do you look for in employees?

Hewes: People who are willing to learn their jobs well and work as a team, whether painting, welding or engineering.

S-R: Any design changes on the horizon? Self-piloting boats, maybe?

Hewes: We’re working on producing a more entry-level boat.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Hewes: Discovering things.

S-R: What do you like least?

Hewes: Working on five different things at once. I prefer focusing on one thing at a time.

S-R: What are you most proud of?

Hewes: That I stayed with the company and helped with the finance side of it, including putting a good accounting system in place.

S-R: Your dad and uncle started this company from scratch. Could someone do that today?

Hewes: Yes. But it would take some real good engineering, along with a strong knowledge of the customer base.

S-R: What has this job taught you about yourself?

Hewes: That I can weather a lot of storms.

S-R: Anything you wish you’d done differently?

Hewes: I wish I’d taken some business classes in college.

Writer Michael Guilfoil can be contacted at mguilfoil@comcast.net.