Matthew Fenton
Clarkston,WA
Summary
Dependable Boat Builder with expertise in Jet Boat anatomy and maintenance. Known for exceptional leadership and management ability. Offering 6 years of experience in ensuring safety and operability through accurate installation and fabrication.
Overview
2
2
Languages
1
1
Certification
22
22
years of professional experience
Work History
Boat Builder • Full-time
Custom Weld Boats
01.2021 - 03.2026
- This time at Custom Weld was just an even greater level of growth in skills and abilities. More autonomy to be creative within the scope of specified of what the customer wanted. Grew to enjoy the collaborative aspect of building custom products but it was a challenging and rewarding way to sweat, cut, weld, bend, grind. From raw material we usually hand built a complete Whitewater style jet boat in as little as 3 weeks before being painted and rigged up.
- Joined Jig 2 after an opening, working with Adrian Helt (Fabrication Lead) and John Lingafelt (Boat Builder).
- Valued the tight-knit team and felt like losing family when dismissed by Brice Barnes.
Construction Crew Member
Marquette Construction
03.2020 - 11.2020
- Quit due to ethical concerns after Jason neglected to finish the remodel at my parent's home.
- Worked on a crew for general remodels of homes, ranging from a bathroom to a complete renovation of the entire structure.
- Learned quickly beyond general labor, transitioning from fabrication to construction tasks.
- Enjoyed the work enough to initially refuse a call back to Custom Weld.
Boat Builder • Full-time
Custom Weld Boats
01.2019 - 01.2020
- I was a brand new rookie boat builder and I got the "sink or swim" treatment, quickly immersed in every aspect of manually laying out and cutting a boat kit before it is assembled. Skill Saw and both processes of MIG/TIG heavy. Grew into the role quickly with my prior familiarity with aluminum and unfortunately the turmoil of COVID led to me being laid off
- Quickly brought up to speed on just how different aluminum boat assembly is compared to many other processes using the same materials.
- Enjoyed the old school methods of the artisan build and the shop culture since nearly everything was formed and made by the two man teams per each jig.
- Tasks varied from logistics battles, layout and cutting heavy, to mostly burning wire, making days enjoyable and pass quickly.
FABRICATOR/WELDER • Full-time
TEC EQUIPMENT
03.2017 - 10.2018
- Daily Duties were sometimes mundane DOT Inspections, Brake Service, Air and Lights Repair. Other days we would completely dismantle each position of hydraulics and replace broken components or the structural steel of a given trailer since TEC is a collision repair facility
- Responsible for all manner of repairs to primarily, but not limited to, the big rigs and their trailers that get cars all across America
- Dealership/Fab Shop/Service Bay Environment with a lot of autonomy.
- Incredibly varied tasks including Wiring, Hydraulics (full rehose to broken fittings or lines in the least convenient places), pneumatics, brakes, complete refurbishments, etc.
- Built a run of several Parr Lumber Delivery Truck beds.
Greeter • Full-time
AUTUMN'S AUTO LUBE
03.2011 - 06.2015
- Fast Paced at times, slow at others. I wore a lot of different hats here and loved it. Customer service, sales, technician, janitor, inventory, manager, service writer, and oftentimes just an employee listening to my customers as an impromptu counselor.
- Greeted Customers upon arrival, provided mainly a technician’s role.
- Embraced the part of a Service Writer when there were opportunities to provide mechanical repair.
- Light managerial duties that wouldn’t be unexpected of any smaller establishment.
- Provided an ethical, local, family friendly environment for folks to bring their vehicles for service and not get ripped off.
- Along with Autumn, we took pride in establishing the culture at this shop and most days were a lot of fun despite the repetition of the tasks.
- Sales was a key component in this role but we prided ourselves on not being pushy. I proudly maintained a consistent $120/Vehicle Ticket Average without using leverage or tactics that tend not to lead to repeat customers. We did it right, did it by the book and referred to the Electronic Service Manual or Owner’s Manual directly.
PRODUCTION WELDER • Full-time
VETRO/ROADMASTER
10.2010 - 12.2011
- Almost exclusively MIG steel welding process shop. Fairly straightforward in the components we had to pre-fabricate. We took a raw semi truck chassis and from the frame up installed the whole structure, bin, auger chute and conveyor belt assembly.
- Interesting gig where we were involved in reverse engineering a Volumetric Mixing Concrete Truck and subsequently integrating the process flow & assembly practices.
- Sent to Burbank California for a 9 day trip to replace a failed Conveyor belt(several prototype trucks were purchased by Cal-Trans) in my first 2 months there.
- The mainstay of my day in/out was largely fit, fab, & lots of mild steel MIG welding
LIQUID TANKER TRIMMER
BEALL TRAILERS
09.2004 - 09.2009
- Responsible for Mounting the Finished “Shell” of the tanker onto the suspension, then mounting wheels & tires. All final assembly & auxiliary trim items were cut, fit, shaped, welded, bolted, & riveted onto the unit. Including but not limited to: Fenders, Shed Plate, Piping(Fuel Delivery), Piping Racks, Hose Tubes, Operator Panels, Hose Trays, Toolboxes, etc. ad nauseum.
- Hundreds of hours of Push/Pull Aluminum MIG as well as many entire shifts spent in the TIG booth welding piping.
- I was pulled out of the tank building section because my supervisor saw my welding and wanted me on finish work, this was a rapid ascent to Journeyman. I had never welded anything in my life before Beall and made journey level by early 2008
Education
High School Diploma -
Evergreen High School
Vancouver06-2000
No Degree - Mechanical Engineering
Clark College
Vancouver, Washington09-2002
Skills
- Aluminum MIG/Aluminum TIG
- Mild Steel MIG
- Strong Attention to Detail
- Press Brake, Rolls, Ironworker, Shear, Hand Tools
- Overhead Crane
- Forklift
- Strong Written and Spoken Communication Ability
- Sales
- Customer Service (Phone and Customer Facing)
- SIEM(Splunk, Elastic) and Manual Log Analysis
- Windows AD, Linux
- Python fundamentals
- Javascript fundamentals
- Metasploit, Nmap, Gobuster, Hydra, Burp Suite and Metasploit fundamentals
Certification
- Pre Security Learning Path
TryHackMe
06/2026 – 07/2026
- Cyber Security 101
TryHackMe
07/2026 - 8/2026
Languages
German
Limited Working
English
Native or Bilingual
Interests
- Tech enthusiast, passionate about exploring the latest advancements and innovations
- Learning new cooking techniques and expanding my culinary skills
- Growing herbs, vegetables, or fruits in home gardens
- Music of all Genres and playing the Guitar
- Crafting and DIY Projects
Timeline
Boat Builder • Full-time
Custom Weld Boats
01.2021 - 03.2026
Construction Crew Member
Marquette Construction
03.2020 - 11.2020
Boat Builder • Full-time
Custom Weld Boats
01.2019 - 01.2020
FABRICATOR/WELDER • Full-time
TEC EQUIPMENT
03.2017 - 10.2018
Greeter • Full-time
AUTUMN'S AUTO LUBE
03.2011 - 06.2015
PRODUCTION WELDER • Full-time
VETRO/ROADMASTER
10.2010 - 12.2011
LIQUID TANKER TRIMMER
BEALL TRAILERS
09.2004 - 09.2009
High School Diploma -
Evergreen High School
No Degree - Mechanical Engineering
Clark College