SPOTLIGHT
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
DANA STEWART
Dana Stewart is the manager here at West Head . He ’ s been with West Head since 2017 when Andrew jumped on the opportunity to add him to our team .
Prior to working with us , Dana worked for Aylward Fibreglass for over 20 years . He was actually in charge of building Andrew ’ s first new boat in 2014 before West Head was established . We were fortunate to add him to the team when Aylward relocated and Dana was looking for a position that would enable him to stay close to home .
Dana supervises the building crew and ensures that all of the parts and plans are ready when they need them . He does an excellent job of maintaining a stable work environment and attending to all of the little things that come up on a daily basis .
In addition to management and supervision , Dana has a lot of input when it comes to the style of the boats we build . He has a large collection of drawings , and he ’ ll proudly borrow any good idea he comes across and incorporate it into our rigs . If he finds that a competitor is practicing a more effective building technique , he won ’ t hesitate to adapt our methods .
BOATBUILDING WAS ONE OF DANA ’ S FIRST JOBS IN THE LATE 1970S , AND HE ’ S BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY EVER SINCE .
Although he got into it by chance , he loves what he does because every day brings something different into the workplace .
Since Dana started working in the industry , things have changed significantly . He notes specifically that boats have continued to grow larger and larger , although he has noticed demand for smaller boats is starting to come back , particularly for older fishermen who would prefer to be more economical and not go into debt .
What ’ s more , Dana ’ s boatbuilding skills don ’ t end in the shop . In the past , Dana has built and raced boats competitively with local groups , which required him to independently design , build , and operate the boats in his spare time .
Customers are naturally drawn to Dana ’ s dependability and extensive expertise . In fact , he has a phone filled with all of his customers from the last 10 years . He says he ’ ll hear from them periodically and always makes himself available to answer questions and address concerns .
On one of the recent builds , Roy ’ s Boy , our customer , was so satisfied that he invited Dana to take a private whale watching tour on the freshly built boat . Dana ’ s mother owns a whale watching company up near Brier Island , so Dana knows all of the best spots . Dana is looking forward to taking the complimentary tour around Brier Island with his wife and any of the crew who would like to accompany him .
This is just one of the many satisfied customers Dana has worked with over the years . We are lucky to have him on our team and look forward to many more rewarding years to come .
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