MOBILE, Ala. — A Coden shipyard has handed off a new escort tug to a Texas towing company, the Mobile Chamber’s communications staff has collected regional honors, and two Mobile County governments are getting federal brownfields money to put contaminated land back to work. Those are among the highlights in this week’s South Alabama business roundup, which also covers a sold-out charity golf tournament for Baldwin County schools, a workplace ranking for a regional accounting firm, a lifetime honor for a longtime Baldwin County real estate agent and a short-term reprieve in the contract talks between USA Health and UnitedHealthcare.
Here is a closer look at the business news, moves and transactions from around Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Master Boat Builders Delivers Escort Tug to Texas Customer
Master Boat Builders Inc., the family-run shipyard in the Coden community of south Mobile County, has delivered the Barbara G, a Rapport 3000 escort tug, to Bay-Houston Towing on the Texas Gulf Coast. The vessel is the first of a two-tug series being built for the company’s fleet, which is operated by G&H Towing.
Escort tugs are built to shadow large tankers and cargo ships through busy channels and harbors, providing steering and braking assistance if a vessel loses power or needs help maneuvering. On the Texas coast, where ship channels serve some of the nation’s largest petrochemical and port complexes, that kind of tug work is in steady demand.
The shipyard also has new work on its order books. Master Boat Builders has been awarded a transaction agreement to build a landing craft utility vessel, along with an option to manufacture an additional craft. Work under that agreement is expected to continue through 2029, giving the yard a multiyear pipeline of construction.
Coden and neighboring Bayou La Batre have long been home to a cluster of small and midsize shipyards that build tugs, workboats, fishing vessels and other commercial craft. Those yards are an important source of skilled jobs — welders, fitters, electricians and marine engineers — in the southern end of Mobile County, and new contracts like these help keep those crews busy.
Mobile Chamber Communications Team Wins Three Lantern Awards
The Mobile Chamber’s communications team brought home three regional awards for excellence in public relations from the Southern Public Relations Federation’s annual conference and Lantern Awards ceremony. The federation represents public relations professionals across several Southern states, and its Lantern Awards recognize campaigns, programs and materials judged against peers throughout the region.
The Chamber’s honors were:
- An Award of Excellence in Short-Term Strategic Programs for Community Relations and Public Service, for the 2025 Mayoral Debate.
- An Award of Excellence in Long-Term Strategic Programs for Marketing, for the Mobile Chamber Travel Program.
- An Award of Merit in the Tactical Materials/Projects category, for the “Membership Matters” weekly column with Bradley Byrne.
The 2025 Mayoral Debate gave Mobile voters a chance to hear candidates for the city’s top office side by side ahead of last year’s municipal election, while the travel program and the weekly column are ongoing efforts aimed at the Chamber’s members and the broader business community. Byrne, a former member of Congress, leads the Mobile Chamber as its president and CEO.
Baldwin Education Coalition Golf Classic Sells Out
The 14th Annual Baldwin Education Coalition Golf Classic, presented by Baldwin County Sewer Service, drew 36 teams and 120 players to Rock Creek Golf Club for a sold-out tournament benefiting public education in Baldwin County.
This year’s event raised $56,718. That brings the total raised over the tournament’s 14-year history to $407,136.
The Baldwin Education Coalition is a community organization that rallies business and civic support for the Baldwin County Public Schools system, one of the largest school districts in Alabama and one that continues to grow along with the county’s population. Charity golf tournaments have long been a staple of fundraising on the Eastern Shore, and the coalition’s event has become a reliable annual contributor to classroom and teacher support efforts.
Warren Averett Named a Best Place to Work for Women
Warren Averett CPAs and Advisors was recognized by Best Companies Group as a 2026 Best Place to Work for Women, placing seventh in the large company category.
Best Companies Group runs workplace recognition programs across the country, typically basing its rankings on a combination of employer-provided information about policies and benefits and confidential surveys of employees about their experience on the job. Warren Averett is a Southeastern accounting and advisory firm with offices across the region, including on the Gulf Coast.
Lorena Gregorius Receives Baldwin Realtors Lifetime Achievement Award
Lorena Gregorius of Roberts Brothers Inc. has been named the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by Baldwin Realtors. The honor reflects Gregorius’ strong relationships, extensive knowledge and commitment to both her peers and her community.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for a Realtor with more than 25 years of experience in the business, including at least 10 years as an active member of Baldwin Realtors. Baldwin Realtors is the local Realtor association serving Baldwin County, a market that has seen sustained growth in both residential and second-home sales in recent decades. Roberts Brothers is a longtime real estate brokerage with offices in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Free Disaster Resilience Workshop Set for Satsuma
United Way of Southwest Alabama and Verizon will host the United We Prepare Disaster Resilience Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 11 a.m. at Steele Creek Lodge in Satsuma. Admission is free, lunch is provided at no charge, and organizers are requesting that attendees register in advance.
The timing is a reminder that the Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30, and the central Gulf Coast has been struck by significant storms late in the season before. Disaster resilience workshops generally focus on practical steps such as building an emergency kit, making a family communication plan, safeguarding important documents and knowing evacuation routes and shelter options.
United Way of Southwest Alabama serves a multicounty region in the southwestern corner of the state and has long been a familiar presence in relief and recovery work after hurricanes and other emergencies, connecting residents with local resources when they need them most.
USA Health and UnitedHealthcare Extend Contract Talks
USA Health and UnitedHealthcare have extended their contract negotiations for 30 days as both sides continue working toward what they describe as a fair and sustainable agreement.
The contracts had been scheduled to expire Sept. 30. Under the extension, UnitedHealthcare commercial and Medicare Advantage plans will remain in network at USA Health University Hospital and USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital until Nov. 1.
For patients, the practical effect is that UnitedHealthcare members can continue receiving care at both hospitals at in-network rates while the talks go on. Contract disputes between hospital systems and insurers are common nationally and usually center on reimbursement rates. When an agreement lapses, the hospital becomes “out of network” for that insurer’s members, which can mean higher out-of-pocket costs unless an exception such as continuity-of-care protections applies.
Patients with UnitedHealthcare coverage who have upcoming procedures, ongoing treatment or pregnancies due around or after Nov. 1 may want to contact their insurer or USA Health’s patient financial services office to understand their options. USA Health is the academic health system of the University of South Alabama, and its two hospitals are major regional referral centers, with Children’s & Women’s serving as the area’s main hospital for pediatric and high-risk obstetric care.
Saraland and SARPC Win EPA Brownfields Grants
The city of Saraland and the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (SARPC) have both received Brownfields grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Saraland was awarded a $2.6 million Cleanup Grant, and SARPC received a $1.5 million Assessment Grant.
Brownfields are properties whose reuse or redevelopment is complicated by the presence, or potential presence, of contamination — often former industrial sites, old gas stations, rail yards or abandoned commercial buildings. Brownfield grants give communities a way to clean up those properties and turn them into community assets such as new businesses, housing, parks or public facilities.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program offers several types of funding. Assessment grants pay for inventorying sites, environmental testing, cleanup planning and community outreach, helping local governments figure out what is on a property and what it would take to make it usable. Cleanup grants, by contrast, pay for the actual removal or remediation of contamination at specific sites. Federal support for brownfields was formalized by a 2002 law and was expanded significantly with funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
SARPC is the regional planning and development agency serving Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties, and it often helps member governments pursue and manage federal grants. Saraland, an industrial and residential community just north of Mobile along the Interstate 65 corridor, will now move toward cleanup of the property or properties covered by its award.
Foley Recognized by America in Bloom
The city of Foley received a 2026 America in Bloom award in the 23,000-to-33,000 population category. Foley also earned special recognition for Community Vitality from its America in Bloom advisors, who spent two days in the city this summer touring neighborhoods and public spaces and meeting with municipal officials, residents and volunteers.
America in Bloom is a national nonprofit that encourages beautification and community improvement through plants, flowers, trees and civic engagement. Participating towns are evaluated on criteria that include community vitality, overall impression, environmental initiatives, heritage celebration, urban forestry, landscaped areas, floral impact and community involvement. Communities also receive written evaluations from the visiting advisors with suggestions for improvement.
Foley, in south Baldwin County, has invested for years in its parks, downtown landscaping, heritage sites and tourism attractions as it has grown into one of the fastest-growing cities on the Alabama Gulf Coast.
Spanish Fort Home Watch Business Earns National Accreditation
Holly and Kevin Richard of Alabama Coast Home Watch in Spanish Fort have earned accreditation with the National Home Watch Association, a recognition of their commitment to professionalism, integrity and industry best practices.
Home watch services are especially common in coastal areas with many second homes and seasonal residents, where houses may sit empty for weeks or months at a time. Alabama Coast Home Watch provides visual property inspections across Baldwin County. Its checks include doors and windows, plumbing, HVAC systems, appliances, irrigation, signs of pests and potential weather or storm damage.
Accreditation through a national trade association generally signals that a business has met standards for insurance, background checks, business practices and documentation, which can give absentee homeowners added confidence when choosing someone to look after their property.
What to Watch
Several of these items have dates worth noting. The United Way and Verizon disaster resilience workshop takes place Oct. 20 in Satsuma, with registration requested. The temporary in-network extension between USA Health and UnitedHealthcare runs until Nov. 1, so patients should watch for word of a final agreement — or a lapse — before then. And the Brownfields awards to Saraland and SARPC will now move into the planning and cleanup phases, a process that typically plays out over several years as sites are assessed, remediated and prepared for new use.
