In the midst of the deepest economic downturn since the Depression, one venerable Tacoma business is busier than it’s been in 20 years.

The company is hiring. Its backlog of major projects now lasts through at least 2011, and several of its new proposals are on potential customers’ desks.

For Tacoma’s J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. this rush of activity stands in pleasant contrast to the first years of this decade when the 85-year-old shipyard sat idle for five years with no new construction work.

After my sail program with SEA (the Sea Education Association), I was lucky enough to come back to Tacoma to find that Martinac was building the next SEA vessel: the Robert C Seamans. The beautiful schooner was launched in the summer of 2001.

I got to sail on her in Commencement Bay then, but that was especially fun since I’d taken a tour while it was just a collection of thick sheet metal in the form of the boat.

Glad to see Martinac is doing well!