From a tiny island in Norway to a worldwide institution
: the legacy of Sigurd Golten

Born on diminutive, picturesque Golten Island in western Norway on June 3, 1908, Goltens founder Sigurd Golten had three legitimate career choices – farming potatoes, fishing or becoming a seaman. At the age of 14 he went to sea. Eighteen years later, he set up his first workshop in Brooklyn, New York. And, as the years passed – now 100 years since his birth – the one-man shop became the global entity we know as Goltens today. After Sigurd Golten became better known in the maritime community – with the patents for his crankshaft regrinding process, a knighting from the Norwegian government, and the establishment of Goltens locations the world over – people would ask him where he got his education from. Many assumed NTNU in Trondheim, thought of as the MIT of Norway. His daughter Sylvia Strand remembers his usual response. “He liked to say, ‘Well, I only had up to 7th grade... and Sunday school.’”
The education – along with his truly international focus – came during his eighteen years at sea, in which he sailed the world. While many other seamen whiled away their free time playing cards, Golten used this time to develop his talents both in business and as a person. Not only did he teach himself how to play the mandolin and accordion, but he also continually took engineering correspondence courses. This isn’t to say that Golten wasn’t social. Far from it. This aspect was also important after establishing the Goltens business. “He had a wonderful sense of humour, a love of life, and truly cared about people,” says Sylvia. “People trusted him, and knew that he cared. He was always on the phone worldwide, providing the personal touch.” Indeed, one could say that he took the one-to-one service ethic that one gets from growing up in a small location and made it an integral part of his global company. First New York, then the world Golten eventually landed in New York, and started a marine repair workshop in Brooklyn in 1940. Golten got a good amount of work related to the war effort in the years that followed, expanding his shop with other able-bodied and qualified Norwegians stepping onto American soil. After World War II ended, Golten travelled to Oslo, Norway to establish Atlantic Diesel with his brothers Konrad and Knut. While the brothers stayed in the Norwegian capital to further develop Atlantic, which later became the European hub known as Goltens Oslo, Sigurd Golten returned to New York.
Oslo was just the start of the expansion – and Golten’s global vision of a worldwide organization and network. “He not only became a global citizen by sailing the world, but he also saw first-hand the importance of top-quality machine shops and workshops. He wanted to be able to service his clients wherever they may be,” Sylvia Strand says, remembering the excitement her father had after establishing an office in Hong Kong: “That was the first ‘peg’. He was thrilled to become a true global entity and to be able to put into use the slogan that is still on the wall at the Oslo office today – ‘Around the clock, around the world’.” Saving time by developing a process for grinding a crankshaft in-situ is one of Golten’s true legacies, and for which he was honoured with a patent in 1965. “The grinding was the simple part,” says Sylvia’s husband Eivind Strand. “The difficult part was when the shafts would heat up and bend. He figured out a very simple way of straightening that crankshaft in the engine before he ground it. It was revolutionary.” A man of the world – but he left his heart at Golten Island While Golten and his family – wife Aagot and children Sylvia, Vivian, Norman and Carol – lived in New York, they made it back home to Norway – and Golten Island – many summers. “He was a really hard worker, but we always looked forward to coming back to Norway, because that’s where his roots were,” says Sylvia Strand. “We spent a lot of time on Golten Island, and therefore have very strong feelings for it as well. We took over the cottage there.” Even though the Strands now live in Massachusetts, and Sigurd Golten passed away on January 4, 1986, the family still travels back to Golten Island whenever the opportunity arises. “You look out your window and you see sheep. The fishing and rock climbing are great. It’s just a special, special place,” says Sylvia. “The last time we were out there, one of our grandchildren said that it was his favourite place on the planet.” Local traditions tied to a global viewpoint – the belief lives on in the Golten family to this very day. And the active involvement of Sigurd’s daughters Sylvia, Vivian, and Carol on the Goltens board ensures that Sigurd Golten’s legacy of global quality service is both maintained and expanded upon.