News

The South County Economic Development Council (SDEDC) has announced Marine Group Boat Works (MGBW) as the 2024 Pioneer Award recipient.

The Pioneer Award is presented to a leader (business or citizen) whose visionary contributions have broken traditional societal, political or economic barriers; whereby opening doors and setting a new course for the South San Diego Region.

MGBW has been breaking barriers since 2005 when it had the vision to bring a completely new market to the South Bay—superyachts. At the time, there were 650 superyachts still under construction worldwide, and the repair capacity for them in the U.S. was simply inadequate. Superyacht owners would have to stay in Europe and Australia to service the vessels they had on order.  However, when MGBW took the leap to invest $6.5 million to renovate its facility in 2007, installed a custom 665-ton mobile boat lift and opened its doors, the demand was there. Larry Ellison and his 192-foot superyacht were the first to capitalize on it.

MGBW quickly became the West Coast’s go-to superyacht refit facility. Chula Vista was drawing international attention from notable customers including prime ministers, royalty, celebrities and executives from Fortune 500 companies including Apple, Newscorp, and Microsoft all because they were using MGBW’s unique vessel repairing capabilities.

However, MGBW didn’t stop there. It learned of the Navy’s needs for replacing outdated fleets of vessels such as Vietnam War era Torpedo Weapons Retrievers and dive boats, as these boats were nearing the end of their life-cycle. As a result of cross-training its employees and taking risks, MGBW decided to open a new construction division, thereby bringing vessel manufacturing to Chula Vista. Since then, MGBW has designed and built more than two dozen vessels operating locally, in the Pacific Northwest, East Coast and Japan. MGBW remains one of the only privately owned boatbuilding companies in California.

MGBW places great importance on giving back to the South Bay community. A substantial gift to the community is their ability to provide employment opportunities to local craftsmen, administering high-end health, dental, vision, and 401K benefits that positively impact their families for generations to come. Additionally, the welding program MGBW established in 2021 provides a considerable amount of Chula Vista craftsmen and women with the knowledge they need to build a successful career.

MGBW has since expanded across the border to Cabo offering boat repair, dry storage and marine goods to customers in Baja.

MGBW consistently puts Chula Vista on the map by pushing boundaries on current manufacturing and technological standards while maintaining a focus on sustainability and community involvement.

The accomplishments of MGBW and their recent Pioneer Award win will be recognized at the 2024 Economic Summit this April 26th at the Balboa Park Club. This year’s summit theme is “Investing in Tomorrow, Igniting Growth, & Embracing Prosperity: Unleashing the Power of Opportunity for the South County Renaissance”. For more information on the SCEDC, please visit https://southcountyedc.com/.