Electric boat and outboard manufacturer Pure Watercraft recently opened a new factory in Beech Bottom, W.Va.
Among the attendees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was a professor from West Virginia Northern Community College who teaches mechatronics.
“He told me, ‘I have 75 students who want technician jobs,’ ” Pure Watercraft founder and CEO Andy Rebele told Soundings Trade Only.
The company is headquartered in Seattle, but Rebele said the company chose to set up in West Virginia for a couple of reasons. “It’s a state bridging from the past to the future,” he said. Beech Bottom is in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, not far from Pittsburgh.
The central location will allow Pure Watercraft to bring in its battery packs, manufactured by General Motors, more easily and facilitates the routing of product to the Southeast and Midwest.
“For boats, there’s double the penetration in the Southeast and Midwest,” Rebele said.
West Virginia invested about $4.5 million in the 80,000-square-foot facility, which is part of a former steel mill. Pure Watercraft will build its 25-foot aluminum pontoon and electric outboards at the factory, and will bring about 100 new jobs to the area.
A $500,000 Brownfields Grant was awarded to the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle. These grants, which the Environmental Protection Agency awards, are used to revitalize former industrial properties.
Bonnie Vetanze was hired as plant manager, and Colin Downey, Pure Watercraft’s head of operations and supply chain, will spend 40% to 50% of his time on-site. Rebele also will make regular trips from Seattle.
Rebele said the company’s partnership with GM is growing. GM supplies the battery pack for Pure Watercraft’s pontoon, and it conducted the validation testing for the semifoiling boat, which is powered with twin electric outboards.
“When we put eight or nine people on the pontoon, it runs 23 mph,” Rebele said.
