The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Jan. 20 announced the availability of nearly $20 million in federal funding to help modernize small U.S. shipyards and train the workforce.
MARAD’s Small Shipyard Grant Program, the agency said in a statement, strengthens the economic competitiveness of shipyards by providing grants that can be used to purchase equipment or provide employee training.
In addition, the grants can support the purchase of American-made manufacturing equipment that support a wide range of jobs, the Maritime Administration said.
The grants are available to U.S. shipyards with fewer than 1,200 production employees.
Since the grant program was first funded in 2008, it has awarded 323 grants totaling about $282 million, according to the Department of Transportation. In July 2022, DOT announced $19.6 million in grant awards to 24 small shipyards in 19 states through the program.
“Small shipyards play vital roles in their local economies and our national economy,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “With these funds, we are helping small shipyards across the country.”
“Small shipyards are essential to the U.S. maritime industry and critical to ensuring that we have a resilient industrial base,” Maritime Administrator Ann Phillips added. “These shipyards are an economic pillar, strengthening our maritime industry and the communities along and near our nation’s ports and waterways, and employing thousands of Americans, who ensure the nation maintains expertise and skills critical to our economic and national security.”
Grant applications are due by 2 pm Pacific time on Feb. 27. Additional information can be found at https://tinyurl.com/4wek496p or by contacting David Heller, the Maritime Administration’s associate administrator for business and finance development,
at David.Heller@dot.gov.