There is a certain symmetry to the recent announcement of a shipyard along Vancouver’s waterfront. After all, it was a shipyard that largely shaped this city.
So, when Portland-based Vigor Industrial chose Vancouver as the site where it will build a new generation of U.S. Army landing craft under a $1 billion contract, one could not help but recall the Kaiser Shipyard of World War II. Shipbuilding that took place in Vancouver helped defeat despots and tyrants as the United States emerged triumphant from the greatest conflict the world has seen — and it transformed a city.
Before the war, Vancouver had 18,000 residents. By 1944, the shipyard alone had 38,000 employees and the city’s population had tripled.
“Vancouver boomed as never before, becoming a 24-hour-a-day city,” local historian Pat Jollota writes in “Images of America: Downtown Vancouver.” “New businesses opened. Wages were high, and people had money to spend. With rationing in effect, there wasn’t much to spend it on. Except war bonds. As they had done during World War I, people crowded into the banks to buy bonds. Schoolchildren bought savings stamps in class. Thousands of soldiers passed through the barracks and came into town for last flings before shipping out. Restaurants, bars and night clubs thrived.”
Vancouver’s Kaiser Shipyard launched 50 escort carriers, 31 attack transports, 30 landing craft and various other vessels during World War II. Along the way, workers there also built the beginnings of a modern Vancouver, a city that continues to grow and thrive.
The population now is about 175,000, serving as the centerpiece for a county with roughly 475,000 residents.
Vigor’s announcement of a project expected to eventually bring about 400 jobs to the area would be worthy of celebration under any circumstance. But the fact that it provides a link to the city’s past is particularly notable — as is the fact that it will be located at the former site of Christensen Yachts. The maker of luxury yachts wound down local operations in recent years, leaving behind some infrastructure that will ease Vigor’s transition to Vancouver.
While the latest announcement calls to mind Vancouver’s past, it also speaks to a robust future and to the amenities available here. “The quality of life is excellent in Vancouver,” said Vigor CEO Frank Foti, who owns a home in the city. “There is a culture of openness and friendliness that really draws you. There is great access to both rural and suburban living, which appeals to a great number of our craftspeople.”
Equally important is that city leaders in recent years have prepared to welcome just this kind of expansion.
The city has established financial incentives for companies that meet certain parameters regarding number of employees and average wages — a smarter approach than providing blanket incentives for all developers. City Manager Eric Holmes told The Columbian that Vigor was offered the same incentives as any other industrial recruit, such as a cap on building permit fees and expedited permit processing.
As part of the move, Vigor will close a smaller plant in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and offer workers there a job in Vancouver. Gov. Jay Inslee said, “Our team worked intently with Vigor to find a competitive solution to keep these jobs in Washington.”
The result is a victory for Washington and, in particular, for Vancouver. And as the city moves toward the future, it is appropriate that it invokes a little bit of its past.
