SHOP 01
Controls and Electronics
Electronics for animated, MIDI, theatrical and Christmas lighting since 1985, plus show programming and real-time control.
Lighting control software, Hull 217
PASCAGOULA SHIPBUILDERS · GULF COAST TECHNOLOGISTS
From Wooden Boats to Technology.
F.B. Walker Company builds working technology for the public sector and the people who serve it: software platforms, lighting and control systems, and AI that does real work.
1933
F.B. Walker buys the Pascagoula yard, a shipbuilding site since 1860
1985
F.B. Walker Company begins building software and lighting electronics
1,000+
Interactive clinical tools in the ClientWorksheets library
8,600+
GitHub contributions in the past year, most of it private client work
THE SHOPS
Four shops, one yard.
A shipyard had a machine shop, a pipe shop, an electrical shop and a drafting room, all working toward one launch. We work the same way.
SHOP 02
Software and Platforms
Production SaaS on a modern stack: Cloudflare, Supabase, Stripe, and code that ships every week.
FutureSpec, ClientWorksheets, nSPIRE tracker
SHOP 03
AI and Automation
We design and deploy multi-agent AI systems with persistent memory, custom tools and real guardrails.
Walker Agent Fleet, Hull 222
SHOP 04
Public Sector Know-How
HUD programs, 2 CFR 200 procurement and Mississippi housing law. We build for agencies because we know how they run.
Serving housing authorities statewide
THE FLEET REGISTER
The yard closed in 1978. The register didn’t.
Every vessel the Walker yard launched got a hull number. We picked up where the yard left off. Each system we build gets the next one.
Numbered in order of launch
| HULL | NAME | TYPE | STATUS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 217 | Lighting Control Software Unattended control of audio for light shows and theatrical lighting. Since 1985. | Show programming and controllers | IN SERVICE |
| 218 | CAD Symbol and Detail Libraries Custom libraries built at Entre Computer Center, 1988 to 1992. | Autodesk vertical applications | RETIRED |
| 219 | MedAccount Our own practice management software for medical offices on Windows, 1992 to 1998. | Medical practice management | RETIRED |
| 220 | FutureSpecOnline Specifications, procurement and compliance for public housing authorities, since 2010. | Housing specification platform | IN SERVICE |
| 221 | ClientWorksheets 1,000+ branded, phone-first tools. Client responses never leave the client’s device. | Clinical worksheet SaaS | IN SERVICE |
| 222 | Walker Agent Fleet Persistent AI agents with custom memory and tooling, running on our own hardware. | Multi-agent AI systems | IN SERVICE |
| 223 | nSPIRE Defect Tracker Pre-inspection defect tracking inside FutureSpec. | HUD inspection compliance module | ON THE WAYS |
| 224 | Munifix Details at launch. | Municipal technology | ON THE WAYS |
Scroll for type and status
HERITAGE
From wooden boats to tugboats to technology.
Five generations of Walkers have built things on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The tools changed from adzes and steel plate to code and controllers. The job didn’t: build it right, deliver it on time, and make it work in the real world.
[PHOTO: Walker yard or a launched tug, from family archives]
- 1860
A shipyard on the Pascagoula
The site that would become the Walker yard begins building boats.
- 1933
F.B. Walker buys the yard
He runs it with his sons, Arnold and John.
- 1940s
Building for the war effort
More than 40 ocean-going tugs, plus Army ST tugs and Corps of Engineers towboats.
- 1974
A research vessel for NOAA
The yard launches the Laurentian, a science platform for the federal government.
- 1978
The yard closes
John Walker runs the yard until it closes, ending its hull register.
- 1985
F.B. Walker Company opens
Software and electronics for animated, MIDI, theatrical and Christmas lighting.
- 1988
Entre Computer Center
Through 1992. Gulfport, Mobile and Pensacola. A vertically aligned CAD reseller with its own libraries, factory trained by Compaq, Apple, IBM, Novell, Microsoft and Autodesk.
- 1992
MedAccount
Through 1998. Our own practice management software for medical offices.
- 1998
Rep work and the drafting room
The company adds manufacturer representation in computing, technical components and lighting. Rusty joins F Walker & Associates, Architects, as construction administrator and specifier.
- 2010
FutureSpec Consulting
Specifications, procurement and compliance for public housing authorities across Mississippi.
- Today
Hull 217 and onward
SaaS platforms, control systems and AI, under the family name.
FOR MY FATHER
[TRIBUTE HEADING]
[PHOTO: Rusty’s father, at the yard or the drafting table]
[PLACEHOLDER: tribute text to Rusty’s father, retired architect who grew up building on the family shipyard. Pending Rusty’s approval.]
STARTED SMALL
Some of the best things on the Coast started small.
See what could be, sketch it out, and see it through. It’s the same instinct behind everything F.B. Walker Company builds.
[PHOTO: the original front-yard display]
The front yard
Mississippi’s largest Christmas light show grew out of the display in my front yard. Today Gulfport Harbor Lights covers 40 acres of Jones Park with more than 1.5 million lights.
[PHOTO: the napkin sketch]
The napkin
The Mississippi Aquarium started as a sketch on a napkin over lunch with architect David Hardy and Kevin Coggin, then director of the Coast Transit Authority. It opened in downtown Gulfport in 2020.
Rusty Walker serves as Council President for the City of Gulfport. Gulfport Harbor Lights and the Mississippi Aquarium are projects of the City of Gulfport and its partners. F.B. Walker Company had no contract role in either.
TRAINED IN THE YARD
Factory trained by the platforms that built modern computing.
Compaq, Apple, IBM, Novell, Microsoft and Autodesk, from low-level network topology up through horizontal and vertical applications.
What should we build next?
Tell us about the problem. You’ll talk to Rusty directly.