Way Back When, January 18, 1995: VMI-made dredge will clean harbor for America's Cup

    

VMI-made dredge will clean harbor for America's Cup

KAREN GEYER / Staff Writer

Equipment made in Cushing will be helping to prepare a marina in San Diego, Ca. for this year's America’s Cup Races.  A dredge made by VMI, Inc. was purchased by Driscoll Boatworks and will be used to clean the harbor where the international boat races will be held.

 The dredge purchased for the job was a used one, which sold for about $90,000.

 VMI, Inc. Owner and CEO Gene Maitlen says, "I don't know if it's the secret of my success or not, but I love solving problems. I've had a lot of fun." Maitlen runs his company with his two sons, Randy and Tony. They manufacture dredges used to clean up the environment when there is an oil or chemical spill, or in circumstances where there are ponds, sludge pits, or tanks that need to be cleaned.

 The dredges vary in size and the challenges Maitlen enjoys most is solving specialized technical difficulties for other companies.

 "Before Orange County in California ran into financial difficulty, they were short of water. There were huge basins where river water was stored to percolate and replenish the water table.  After a while sediments would build up and they needed something to clean the bottom of the basins to facilitate the percolation process.  Thy contact4d us and we custom-built a dredge that was turtle-shaped and would go underwater to clean the bottom of the basin.  Likewise,  for other companies, we’ve customized dredges with hydraulic cutterheads to accommodate the slant of a holding tank or pond.  We have over 30 different patents for things we’ve engineered in our 23 years of business,” Maitlen said.

 Cushing Daily Citizen photo by Karen Geyer

VMI, Inc. employees Tim Thee and Steve Loveland work on a dredge similar to the one shopped to San Diego, CA.  VMI owner Gen Maitlen says the dredge will be used to clean the harbor around a marina where the America’s Cup boat races will be held.

"The dredges have floating discharge hoses which can load the sludge into trucks which take it to landfills.  Sometimes solids and liquids are separated and disposed of differently.  One of our customers is situated near the sea and has tracks going from their building right down into the ocean.  Sand fills up between the tracks and they needed something that would clean it out," Maitlen said.

 He continued, "we've made specialized hand-held dredges for divers to use to clean the tracks."

 Today Maitlen is working on a model that can be used by remote control, so an employee won't be exposed to chemicals.  When a customer, or potential customer, comes to Maitlen with a unique problem, the first thing he does is research.  “We won’t infringe on anyone’s patent.  One of the things we find in this business is that larger companies can make changes, but it will take two or three years to implement those changes.

 "We evaluate what needs to be done and if it is good, we can make it happen in 30 days," Maitlen said.

 Maitlen has a family farm where he and wife, Peggy, raise Beefmaster cattle. His grandparents bought the farm from Indians in 1903. His parents had a total of six children, who sold their part of the land to Gene. Now, his kids just bought the last parcel to make the farm encompass a full section. He said, "all my grandchildren are on that farm, making it five generations that have lived there."

 Maitlen's children are Linda, (former owner of Linda M's Restaurant), Randy and Tony, who work with VMI, and Beckye Parker, who, with her husband, John, has Norfolk Produce.