American Tugs
 Its
not often in life that you run into someone that you work well with
as a team, someone that loves the business, believes in quality
and is a skilled craftsman. It is unusual to find three! Tom
Nelson, Mike Schoppert and Kurt Dilworth found each other while
working the past four years at Nordic Tugs, each coming from not
so different pasts.
The formation of Tomco Marine Group was Tom's brainchild
that started with the discovery of a Lynn Senour hull mold for sale
in the Northwest town of LaConner. Tom and Lynn are long time friends
and coworkers from early wooden boat building days on Lake Union
in Seattle. As a young apprentice, Tom was thrust into positions
of great responsibilities as he proved himself on the shop floor.
Those responsibilities grew as did the company and he soon found
himself president of the Boat Yard. He later founded his own company,
building 70 - 90 foot custom yachts as Nelson Yacht Corporation
- most recently Tom was president of Nordic Tugs.
Mike Schoppert grew up in Alaska and attended Western
Washington University - Mike's expertise in fiberglass technology
began at Uniflite Corporation where he learned lofting and tooling
skills. He later worked at Chris-Craft and Tolly Craft then ending
up at Oceanus, where he developed a tooling process and facility
to produce the fiberglass components for Zodiac. Mike spent the
last four years supervising the lamination department and later
serving as the general manager of Nordic Tugs.
Kurt Dilworth entered the boat manufacturing industry
just when the luxury tax was taking its toll on the smaller builders.
Beginning with Chambers Craft in the late 80's and the restart of
that company as Premier Boats in the early 90's, he found himself
in supervisory positions of companies that were falling apart. After
several years of engineering at the local community college and
the University of Washington and an apprenticeship on a two-year
conversion of a steel tug to a private yacht - opportunity called
at Nordic Tugs. Starting as a mechanic installing engines, electrical
systems, and plumbing, he worked himself into lead positions and
as the company grew, maintained position of Head Engineer and developed
a warranty / customer service position.
During the past years of their careers, Tom, Mike,
and Kurt developed a mutual respect for each other, complimenting
their leadership skills. They believed in the people working for
them and trusted each other. Now with the formation of Tomco, their
knowledge, integrity, and craftsmanship culminates in the creation
of the American Tug 34.
Demanding attention and respect as she pulls up
to the dock and taming the coastal waters with confidence, the ultimate
sport utility vehicle has arrived!!
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