Alabama Small Business Development Consortium
Newsletter: Fall 2008 - Volume X
Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. has won the Alabama Exporter of the Year from the U.S. Small Business Administration for 2008. Horizon is a small company located in Bayou La Batre, a Gulf Coast town well-known for its shipbuilding heritage and seafood industry. This home-grown small business exporter makes very specialized work boats to the exacting standards of military, government, and commercial vessel operators in waters around the globe. True to the tenacity and leadership of the company’s owner, Mr. Travis Short, Horizon has weathered several hurricanes, rebuilt and invested in his facilities, and grown the business through exports. The firm also utilized a variety of SBA loan programs including the 504, Export Working Capital, and Disaster loans to help sustain the business along the way to its position as the largest employer in Bayou La Batre. At a recent award ceremony for Horizon’s export performance, SBA and AITC officials toured a new 170 foot aluminum crew boat destined for a customer in West Africa’s oil industry. Horizon has produced and delivered work boats for customers in Iraq and Latin America. SBA saw first-hand the result of Horizon’s investment in plant and equipment for its new Yacht Division where people were hard at work pro-ducing vessels for overseas customers. Congratulations to Travis Short and all the employees of Horizon Shipbuilding for providing high quality jobs, strengthening the local economy, and serving customers around the world with a great product made in Alabama. Together they continue to build a solid reputation as a quality producer of vessels made with pride in America. The firm received technical assistance from the Alabama International Trade Center, a member of the ASBDC.