David Weber keeps Gorton’s moving full steam ahead

By ELIZABETH ROSS WHITE
Special to Essex County Newspapers

David Weber knows how to keep Gorton’s of Gloucester shipshape. On his watch, the legendary seafood company is heading full sail into the millennium with an extensive line of frozen seafood, an efficient production system and a continued commitment to community participation.

As vice president of operations, Weber heads manufacturing at Gorton's three plants in Gloucester, Cleveland and Montreal. He is also chief of the company's engineering, distribution and equipment purchasing divisions.

Keeping this 150-year-old seafood business competitive keeps Weber busy. Under his 13-year leadership, Gorton's has been transformed from an old-line manufacturing company into a leading technology-based operation.

Professional but relaxed, Weber keeps a watchful eye on company efficiency from his office in a 1898 building near Gloucester Harbor. With more than 30 years' experience in the food industry, Weber abides by two tried-and-true strategies: Always introduce new products and don't require more than 20 minutes of cooking time.

"If it's 5:30 or 6 at night, and it's time for dinner, 20 minutes is about as much time as people want to allocate," he says. "If you've got to wait around for an hour for it to cook, you pick something else."

Weber hasn't always been hooked on fish. He grew up in Wauseon, Ohio, and spent the first part of his career working for General Mills.

He was transferred to Gorton's 13 years ago as vice president of operations when it was still owned by General Mills. When Unilever acquired the seafood company in 1995, Weber stayed on in his role.

Over the years, Weber has fine-tuned the business into a modern, high-tech production system. Gorton's, for example, is the first protein plant in the country to operate 24 hours a day, he says. While beef and chicken plants work two shifts and clean up during the third, Gorton's automated production system operates three shifts daily.

A lot has changed at Gorton's since the days it fished the waters off Gloucester Harbor and sold salt cod in wooden boxes. The company stopped fishing New England's depleted waters more than 30 years ago. Gorton's prime product _ Alaskan pollock _ comes from waters off the West Coast.

Being based in Gloucester has both good and bad points, admits Weber. "We are here as a part of our heritage, and I think that has real value to consumers," he says. "We're the only seafood company that can really make the claim we do. We're on the water. Our icon is the Gorton's fisherman, which is very closely tied to Gloucester's `Man at the Wheel' (statue), and it's been part of our logo for a good long time."

But life on the North Shore isn't always smooth sailing. With high utility rates and real-estate costs, it's not a cheap place to do business.

At the same time, Weber says, "It's a great area of the country in which to live." He cites the region's cultural offerings, proximity to ocean and mountains and quaint New England charm.

Close ties to the area keep Gorton's active in the community. The company is a founding member of the Massachusetts Coalition of Higher Standards, a private group that works with community leaders to help improve students' MCAS test scores. Producing better-trained high-school graduates can directly benefit Gorton's, whose high-tech equipment demands a highly skilled work force.

The company also maintains strong ties to North Shore Community College. Gorton's provides substantial scholarship money to the school each year. Weber is a member of the college's Board of Trustees and chairs the search committee for a new school president.

The thrill of discovery is an ongoing theme of Weber's work. "Finding new ways to do things is the most interesting part of the job," he says. That includes designing new products and getting them out to consumers in more efficient ways.

"This is a business that's been around a long time in one form or another," he says. "The tendency is to say, `This is as sure as it gets,' but that's not the reality of the situation. Inevitably, we find even better ways to do things and become more productive and more consistent."

Weber lives in Boxford with his wife, Susana, who operates a commercial art business. They have one son, Christopher, who works for Kimberly Clark in Atlanta.

If Weber's work at Gorton's keeps him in the fast lane, so does his favorite pastime. He races sports cars at tracks all over New England, and owns a sleek Porsche 911, which he says can reach speeds up to 180 mph.

Successfully operating a well-tuned engine is nothing new for Weber. As Gorton's "Man at the Wheel," he has done it every day for more than a decade.