COVER STORY
14
Wages by county/area (in millions)
Location 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Indian River $127.6 $99.0 $112.3 $111.4 $111.1 $117.7 $145.7 $145.1 $143.3 $143.3
Martin $198.8 $182.5 $187.8 $188.0 $202.3 $214.4 $224.1 $250.0 $239.7 $243.2
St. Lucie $138.7 $104.0 $108.6 $118.5 $133.4 $148.4 $167.8 $181.3 $198.6 $212.0
Treasure Coast $465.1 $385.5 $408.7 $417.9 $446.9 $480.6 $537.5 $576.4 $581.6 $598.6
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people, who make and sell luxury oceangoing,
high-end fishing vessels of lengths
from 23 to 38 feet with retail prices from
$80,000 to $765,000.
David Glenn, marketing director of
Pursuit, says the plant puts out 10 boats
per week and about 500 annually. They
are designed onsite and built using as
little outside product as possible. Its major
supplier is Yamaha, which makes Pursuit’s
outboard motors.
“As much as we control in house with
our processes, we do,” said Glenn. “That’s
along the lines of all the wiring that goes
into the boats, some of the marinization
on the mechanical systems, a lot of
the hose and plumbing and pieces. The
finished assembly we control in-house, the
idea being that if we can manage it here,
the production process, we are going to
deliver a better, higher-quality boat.”
TRITON SUBMARINES
Triton Submarines employs about 40,
making it far from a large Treasure Coast
manufacturing employer, but there probably
is no cooler product than the deepocean
submersibles they make.
The company and its factory in Sebastian
in northern Indian River County
delivered its first submarine in 2008. Triton
has so far produced 16 submarines, most
with acrylic see-through domes. A model
that can carry three people, the Triton
1650/3 LP, can reach 500 meters (about
1,650 feet) and has a starting price of $3.3
million. Other models can go deeper, and
cost more.
The market for these submarines is
people wealthy enough to have yachts
large enough to carry and launch them, as
well as rich enough to hire a pilot, whom
Triton can train, to operate the submersible.
Triton is the one commercial submarine
maker that has made a vessel that can
go 36,000 feet deep, which means it can
withstand 16,000 pounds per square inch
of pressure.
Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Dept of Commerce
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PURSUIT BOATS
An aerial photo of the factory in Fort Pierce for Pursuit Boats, which makes high-end fishing boats.
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