Bill Connor has been building boats for 37-years and the company that is coming to Coahoma County has a product line that can build a boat to play in, work in and also travel the Mississippi River in safety and style.
Yes, their bread and butter is selling premier high-performance custom aluminum boats for government and commercial markets. But they also offer a full line of high quality recreational boats that can handle the frozen shores of Canada, the turbulent waters of the Mississippi River or the bigger salt-waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Connor’s company started by offering sturdy recreational run-abouts and now offers more than a half dozen utility boats that can carry vehicles, haul parts and mail to towboats, hop between islands in the Caribbean and as rescue boats on larger bodies of water.
“We build boats,” said Connor. “You name it we build it, from 16-footers to 60-foot custom boats. We have customers on five continents and, while we customize every boat, we have about 300 types or models.
“We sell boats used to service oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and also to the National Park Service in Alaska,” said Connor. “We are a family business and this is our ninth expansion. One of the things that attracted us here is you treated us like family.”
Connor was recently inducted into the National Marine Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame. That Hall “recognizes and honors people whose names and deeds are synonymous with the pursuit of quality and innovation, and those who make a substantial and lasting contribution toward the advancement of the marine industry.”
Stanley Boats also won the 2022 Significant Boat of the Year award.
Connor said their Tudhope plant in St. Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada had run out of space and his company was looking for a warm-water port.
The story was told that Dana White heard that Connor was looking for a warm-water port and, while visiting Clarksdale, told John and Nancy McKee of Coahoma County. And as they say, the rest is history.
The company will weld the boats robotically with their highly trained operators, but will need local labor to also handle a wide variety of jobs as each boat is “purpose built.” Jobs offered will range from installing electrical systems and pumps to painting and upholstery.
For more details about this company, make contact for a job, or to have a boat built for you, go to stanleyboats.ca.
