YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
When he’s not helping govern our state at the Missouri Capitol, Scott Fitzpatrick is leading a $9.1 million manufacturer and consultant of steel floating docks and boat-lift systems.
The owner and founder of MariCorp U.S. LLC, Fitzpatrick says his work as a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives covering District 158 means he’s heavily reliant on his 40-plus employees. After all, he’s absent about half the year for legislative work in Jefferson City.
“If there’s one thing that’s contributed to it the least, it’s probably me,” Fitzpatrick says of the company’s growth and importance of its workers. “For the most part, I am involved by phone on a pretty regular basis.
“Without them, we would obviously not be anywhere.”
A niche industry, Fitzpatrick says MariCorp is intimately familiar with industry happenings in its manufacturing space.
That means the company has to set itself apart to gain customers.
“There’s only a handful of companies that we compete with regularly across the country. What we’ve done is tried to focus on grabbing as much market share as we can,” Fitzpatrick says. “We know our competition very well, so we try to be sure to serve our customers in ways that we don’t think the others are – from following up on the project after they’re complete to making sure that we are as honest and upfront with them from start to finish. That’s paid dividends for us.
“We don’t cut any corners, which is something that in the manufacturing and construction industry, folks try to do.”
Current projects in MariCorp’s pipeline include the Abbey Marina on tourist-heavy Lake Geneva in Fontana, Wisconsin. There, MariCorp is replacing the marina’s entire harbor comprising several hundred slips.
“It’s going to be a real showcase when it’s done,” Fitzpatrick says. “It’s already a really cool location.”
Work also includes a project in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, and locally, Campbell Point Marina. During the past eight years, MariCorp has transformed the Shell Knob facility’s 1960s and ‘70s-era docks with the exception of a couple small structures.
“We’re pretty proud with the work we’ve done down there,” he says.
Fitzpatrick started the company in 2003 under the Maritime Dockworks name with just two employees operating out of a single bay at its current plant. Maritime Dockworks remains the company’s trademark name on its top-selling product, but the business changed names to MariCorp in 2006.
The company now employs over 40, most of whom live and work locally, and MariCorp is the largest employer in Shell Knob, according to company officials.
“We’ve got the best group in the industry,” Fitzpatrick says, noting employees travel across the country to install projects. “It took us a while to build that team.”
The elected leader works to make sure no conflicts of interest are present in his job with the General Assembly. More so, he said his work with MariCorp has helped inform his role as a state representative.
“I don’t bid on any state government contracts with the state of Missouri,” he says.
Missouri State University’s science building, built in 1971 and formerly called Temple Hall, is being reconstructed and updated.
