Some things have changed at Big River Shipbuilders after a portion of the company was recently sold to Terral RiverService, but not as much as some might imagine, Operations Supervisor Brad Babb told The Post this week.

“We’re narrowing our focus,” Babb said after the company – now rebranded as Big River Salvage and Construction, Inc. – sold its shipyard and fabrication services to Terral. “Big River Shipbuilders had three departments, basically, which was salvage and construction, the fabrication shop, and our shipyards, which handles barges, boats and repairs. We really wanted to invest and bring our salvage and construction side to a higher level. We wanted to sell it, but it had to be the right fit.”

And Babb said Terral RiverService fit the bill.

“We had to take care of our guys and girls (that work in those departments) and make sure they weren’t shutting it down and that they had a shop to go to on Monday,” Babb said of the 33 employees working in the two divisions now owned by Terral. Babb added selling to a local company was also a large part of the final decision for Big River.

“It ended up being a great fit,” he said. “(Terral) are extremely, extremely great people and they are local. They live here. Their kids go to school here. So this was not turning it over to some outsiders and people that would come in and rip it apart. It’s people we trust that we have a great relationship with, so it all worked out great.”

And now, Babb said, Big River Salvage and Construction, Inc. can turn its attention to exactly what is in its new name.

“We are focused on the marine construction side of the industry,” Babb said. “We do pile driving, dock repair. We’re looking at large-scale jobs. We have a land-based unit that can still go and do things on the fabrication side, as well as doing some stuff in-house. We may not be out there repairing barges anymore, but we also have a unit that goes out and handles sunken boats, sunken barges, distressed barges. Anything that needs rapid response.”

Babb said, at the end of the day, the goal is for Big River Salvage and Construction, Inc. to be the best at what it does as a company.

“We just narrowed our focus,” he said. “Instead of being good at three things, we’ve streamlined it and let’s be great at one. We had the perfect opportunity with Terral to let them come in and let them be great at what they want to do. It seems like everyone is happy there and our guys are happy. And when you can do this and nobody loses a job, it works out great for everybody and that makes a big difference.”

Big River Salvage and Construction, Inc. now employs 24 people. The company was originally founded April 1, 1988.