Hidden Gems: Meet Thomas McGowan of Engineered Yacht Solutions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas McGowan.

Hi Thomas, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started working on yachts in Fort Lauderdale in 2001. My first job was sanding & painting the bottoms of boats. For many years I worked my way through several trades – carpentry, fiberglass, plumbing & metal fabrication. In 2008 I started to manage people and projects & in 2015, my business partner & I, Aksel King formed Engineered Yacht Solutions. With the help of our wonderful team – we’ve grown EYS into the premier yacht repair provider in theUnited States.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I started Engineered Yacht Solutions, I was 32 years old & married with four children. It was a huge risk and a major adjustment for the whole family. There were no paychecks for most of the first year – so that was tough on everyone. Building the team we have has been the biggest struggle but it also brings the greatest joy. Our whole team is full of individuals who are, at their core, really good people. That’s what is most important for us – good people. You can train skills but it’s not so easy to change the core of a bad or negative person.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Engineered Yacht Solutions?
EYS is best known for welding & plumbing. We have more certified welders than any other yacht repair company in the USA. Our plumbing team can work on just about any system & in any material. Both of those departments comprise the bulk of what we do at EYS but we also have a specialized rigging team that works regularly with large engine service companies to lift & rotate engines for service. We currently have over 70 employees working at four locations in two states, as well as several administrative staff working remotely & as far away as Wisconsin. Our infrastructure & resources make it possible for us to juggle many critical projects at the same time & in different locations – we are super flexible and accommodating for our clients. Having such a strong team allows us to continue to build a strong team – something we are very proud of is our in-house training & appreciative program. This year we have been lucky enough to develop 5 new class welders. These are hard-working individuals who had never welded before & are now certified through Lloyds Register or ABS. It’s an amazing achievement for the new welders and it provides us all with a great sense of achievement. We’ve also taken several industrial or residential plumbers and trained them to become valuable members of the marine plumbing team. It’s really remarkable and a testament to their hard work and our core values.

Something else we are super proud of is our charitable involvement with certain groups. Just last month we had a large group of our employees donate their time & money and actually slept in the parking lot of The Covenant House to raise awareness for youth homelessness. The Covenant House is a wonderful organization that that houses young people under the age of 21.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Providing a career path for so many wonderful employees & being a part of their responsibility to provide for their families. It gives us great joy and if we can continue to do that & more – we will be successful forever.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eyswelding.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyswelding/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EYSwelding/