Bay Welding Services of Homer received the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s 2019 Bill Bivin Small Business of the Year award, the Homer Chamber of Commerce announced in a press release last month.

At an awards banquet held Oct. 29 at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Bay Welding General Manager Eric Engebretsen and his wife Theresa Engebretsen accepted the award on behalf of Bay Welding and the Engebretsen family. Eric Engebretsen thanked the Alaska Chamber of Commerce and the Homer Chamber of Commerce, noting how Bay Welding’s relationship with the Homer Chamber of Commerce has been mutually beneficial for Homer.

“Everywhere we go, we try to bring the message that keeping business in Alaska is good for all of us,” he said in the press release.

Founder Allen Engebretsen started Bay Welding in 1974 working out of a truck when he was 24. In 1994, Bay Welding built its first boat, a 20-foot skiff, and built its 100th boat in 2013 and its 200th in 2018. Bay Weld specializes in the design and construction of aluminum vessels from 20 feet on up. Bay Weld has built and sold boats to private owners, corporations, and state and federal agencies, including the Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Forest Service.

Bay Welding employs an average of 20 workers year round. In September it built and launched the largest boat ever constructed in Homer, the 74-foot Goldbelt Seawolf, sold to Goldbelt Transportation, a subsidiary of Goldbelt Inc., an Alaska Native Corporation based in Juneau.

The Bill Bivin award pays tribute to Alaska independently-owned businesses that demonstrate community involvement, leadership in their field, business ethics, and organizational excellence.

The awards banquet was held Oct. 28-30 during the three-day Alaska Chamber Fall Forum, with more than 130 people attending and representing chambers of commerce from around Alaska.