Next year, Colonna’s Shipyard, Norfolk, Va., will celebrate its 150th anniversary. Founded in 1875 by Charles J. Colonna, the shipyard has grown from a modest marine railway and repair operation into one of the most recognized private shipyards in the U.S., now handling both commercial and government shipbuilding and repair.
A book titled “The History of Colonna’s Shipyard and Its People” details the changes that such an operation of longevity can undergo. It discusses the maritime industry and its ability to adapt to changing demands over the past century and a half.
Historic stories range from the 1919 installation of the “largest wooden marine railway in the world,” to five years later, when Colonna’s was awarded a $250,000 contract to construct 10 72' speedboats for the U.S. Coast Guard to enforce Prohibition laws against rumrunners. After the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1920, and the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol for use as a beverage was prohibited, the construction of all 10 vessels, each equipped with twin 200 hp Sterling engines, was completed in just over a year.
Today, the shipyard is still family owned, with fourth and fifth generations of the Colonna family actively involved in its operations. Randall Crutchfield, a fifth-generation Colonna, was named president and CEO of Colonna’s Shipyard in November 2023. WorkBoat visited with Crutchfield earlier this year. He talked about the family business and its strategy moving forward.
Crutchfield recalled his teenage years working at the shipyard, when he spent his school breaks alongside employees who are still with the company today. “A lot of those guys are still working here, 30, 35, 40 years now, and some of their children work here,” he said, recalling the personal relationships he holds with yard workers. “When I’m giving a yard tour to somebody, it feels different for me, right? Because I’ve got a personal relationship with the forklift driver. Well, that’s Steve, and I know Steve has two daughters, and Steve was able to put two daughters through college and grad school and everything else on a shipyard salary.”
MIXING THE OLD AND THE NEW
December 2023 marked a shift for Colonna’s. With the passing of Crutchfield’s grandfather, Willoughby Warren “Bill” Colonna, as well as the retirement of Tom Godfrey, president and CEO of Colonna’s for the past three decades, came new leadership. With that new leadership came new ideas with a commitment to preserving the shipyard’s long-term values.
When asked about that change in leadership, Crutchfield talked about the strategy that comes with it, keeping focus on the principles that worked for the shipyard. These values, “respect, truth, pride, family,” have guided the business since its founding, Crutchfield noted, and they remain strong today, posted all throughout the facilities.
“It’s a shift for the business in a lot of ways, and it’s an opportunity for us to build on some of the things that those two fellows did really well,” he said. “I think that being true to that legacy, getting the work done on time and getting the customers and their assets operationally ready as quickly as possible, has been something that we’ve been really good at for decades.” Crutchfield attributed this success to Godfrey and his team’s leadership and the relationship he had with Randall’s grandfather Bill. “My granddad really treated this place like it was going to be here forever. And what I mean by that is he was really interested in making these investments in the business that would have long-term, lasting impact for our operations,” he said. “I think that Tom and granddad both did a masterful job of making sure that the investments were sound and that they were well thought out, and that they would be lasting.”
The shipyard’s leadership team sees major potential in the yard’s unused acreage, much of which Crutchfield’s grandfather re-purchased to expand the original footprint of the business. “I think a lot of the capital projects that they undertook in the last 20 years were things that we would call 50- or 60-year types of investments. And I think that what we’ve got to do in our leadership team is to make sure that folks understand that that’s our vision as well,” Crutchfield noted.
That approach to stewardship is something the current leadership team is keen to uphold. “We’ll embark on a couple of investments here in the next 12 months that firmly make that clear, internally and externally, that we are committed to the next generation and beyond to continue our legacy here,” Crutchfield said.
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
A recent shift in management strategy is the embrace of technology by the shipyard to improve efficiency and reduce the unnecessary workload for its employees. Crutchfield highlighted the implementation of a new project management platform, which streamlines processes like time tracking and project dashboards. The shift allows ship superintendents and project managers to focus more on their work rather than paperwork.
Crutchfield is optimistic about the positive impact this will have on both the business and its customers, seeing it as a key initiative for driving quick, effective change. “I think that’s been one that we’ve keyed in on as something that can make a lot of change quickly,” he said.
Another big initiative at the shipyard is safety. “It’s the first thing we talk about in any meeting,” said Colonna’s director of industrial sales and proposals, Tony Torres. Safety, always a priority at Colonna’s, has been reinvigorated under Crutchfield’s leadership. The shipyard’s incident rates are at historic lows, a testament to the company’s renewed focus on operationalizing safety. The shipyard has tied safety performance to personal financial outcomes, a strategy that has driven engagement among workers.
“The leadership team is fully bought into it, and the conversations I have with the folks who are doing the work, I’m seeing higher levels of engagement, which was really exciting for me,” Crutchfield said.
The shipyard’s new leadership team is comprised of young, seasoned professionals, mostly in their mid-30s to early 40s.
“For the leadership team, we’re committed to what the shipyard has always been, and that’s a resource for our commercial customers, and that’s our legacy. That’s not going to change. And we’re proud to be that, in a world where increasingly it’s been tough to be proud to be a blue-collar business, we are,” Crutchfield said. “I think that the leaders in this company have a feeling, an indebtedness, an obligation to do the right thing. And I think that that comes all the way from five generations back in my family where the founder of the company wants honesty. It was hard work and fair dealing.”
Crutchfield touched on the global importance of commercial shipbuilding and repair, especially for economic and geopolitical stability, which he states is becoming clearer every day.
For the past 25 to 30 years, he noted, the industry’s significance was overlooked as the world appeared to be in a state of stability. As other countries have been investing heavily in shipbuilding, Crutchfield said the U.S. finds itself playing catch-up. But, he said, his team and the long-term foresight by his grandfather puts the shipyard in a ready position for an increased demand for shipbuilding and repair. The shipyard’s expansion into California, with Colonna’s Shipyard West, is a part of this forward-thinking strategy, ensuring that the company is positioned to serve customers on both coasts.
Looking forward, Crutchfield sees the 150-year anniversary as a moment of celebration, but also as a new beginning. “We’re celebrating 150 years, and we’re also at the start of this potentially transformational time for the business, all at the same time,” he said. “And so, I’m really excited about it, and I think that it’s going to be impactful for our customers. There are things that crop up every day that are difficult, and everybody’s willing to just work through them, hunker down and work through them. And I think that at the end of the day, that’s what’s most exciting for me.”
At 150 years old, Colonna’s is a family-owned business that has survived beyond three generations — a remarkable feat in the modern era.
