There’s only one continent on the globe — Antarctica — that doesn’t yet house a Sturgeon Bay-made Marine Travelift boat hoist, but human resources director Michelle Waldinger says that milestone may not be far away.
As one of the only U.S. manufacturers of marine lifts and hoists, Marine Travelift does business all over the world, supplying hoists for yachting, shipping and fishing marinas. The company is also a federal contractor and recently earned a $5.2 million contract to build the U.S. Coast Guard’s largest-ever boat lift: a 620-ton mobile behemoth.
That megalift is impressive, but far from the largest the company has built. When Marine Travelift produced its first product in 1954, it was 7,000 pounds. “Now we’re up to 1,000 metric tons,” Waldinger says.
Marine Travelift produces about 70 to 90 machines per year, all built to custom order and fabricated just down the street by sister company ExacTech. Not only does the company use exclusively American-made steel, but the majority of its supply chain is in Northeast Wisconsin.
“And if it’s not Wisconsin, we do our best to keep it in the Midwest,” Waldinger says. “Erich [Pfeifer], our CEO, is definitely proud of that.”
While manufacturing on the Door County peninsula is not without its challenges, Waldinger says the sky’s the limit for Marine Travelift, which is already filled to capacity with orders for 2025 — leaving just a little space in the schedule to step in with repair and assistance for hurricane-damaged ports, which has become an increasing issue in recent years. Marine Travelift’s products have developed a strong reputation, and demand has only increased throughout the company’s 60-year history.
“Due to our global footprint, there’s no end in sight for us,” Waldinger says. “We are busy. We are busy year-round. We have plenty of work, plenty of opportunities, and we’re just plugging away.”
