seagull Mar 23, 9:44
Somerset shipbuilding company gets $389K federal grant
Gladding-Hern Shipbuilding has been given a $389,000 federal grant to pay for modernizations at the Riverside Avenue facility meant to increase productivity and efficiency so it can better compete internationally.
The company, which builds passenger, patrol, research and tug boats, was one of 15 small shipyards across the country to receive nearly $10 million from the federal Maritime Administration’s Small Shipyard Grants Program. Gladding-Hern was the only Northeast shipbuilder to receive funding.
The federal funding will be used to help the shipyard improve its heavy-lifting operations, said Tim McAuliffe, the company’s engineering liaison. “As a shipyard, we move a lot of stuff, and we move a lot of big stuff,” he said.
McAuliffe said he hopes the grant will allow the company to pursue larger and more diverse projects, which, he said, would retain or create more jobs for the area.
The company was founded in 1955 by George Duclos, the company’s CEO and chairman, when Duclos was 22. He founded the company with Pret Gladding and Richard Hern, whose stakes in the company he bought out in 1983, according to the company. It employs around 100 people.
Its customers for patrol boats include police departments in Boston, Chicago and New York City.
Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement with the announcement of the grant that shipyards are creating jobs and “keeping our nation’s economy growing.”
“These small shipyard grants reflect the Obama administration’s commitment to strengthening our transportation systems and creating an economy that’s built to last,” LaHood said.
The Maritime Administration received 141 grant application seeking $123 million in assistance from the program. The largest recipient was a shipyard in Charleston, S.C., which received nearly $1.2 million to purchase two 20-ton tower cranes.
en.portnews.ru
USA
