Wisconsin Leaders Issue Grant to Support Marine Facility in Marinette
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
Wisconsin officials announced May 6 that $1 million in grant funding has been awarded to support infrastructure at a shipbuilding facility in Marinette.
Located in northeast Wisconsin, Marinette toes into Green Bay and sits about 65 miles north of the city of the same name.
The funding, approved by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, will support the reconstruction of Ludington Street to provide better access to Fincantieri Marinette Marine. Founded in 1942, the marine started with a contract to build five wooden barges and has since grown into a company that has designed and constructed approximately 1,500 vessels. The total cost of the Ludington Street project is $2.6 million.
Evers
The grant funding was issued through WisDOT’s Transportation Economic Assistance program.
“We are proud to be partners with Fincantieri and the city of Marinette in this tremendous project,” said Gov. Tony Evers. “which not only will create jobs and stimulate the local economy but will also show the world the type of high-quality and technologically advanced products that are made right here in Wisconsin.”
The reconstruction project will reinforce the road base and add new pavement and stormwater drainage. The project is expected to begin later this year and wrap up in the fall of 2022.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine, which is working on a contract to build frigates for the U.S. Navy, also is making $200 million in site improvements. The facility also has received funding from WisDOT’s Harbor Assistance Program in recent years. This program helps harbor communities maintain and improve waterborne commerce.
“This significant investment by WisDOT will bring future economic development for years to come,” Marinette Mayor Steve Genisot said. “We appreciate this great partnership and the efforts by all those involved to support and strengthen Navy shipbuilding in our community.”
Established in 1987, WisDOT’s TEA program provides matching state grants for road, rail, harbor and airport projects that help attract employers to Wisconsin or encourage in-state businesses to expand. A municipal or county government agency must sponsor a TEA application. The program’s goal is to attract businesses and create and increase jobs. Local communities must ensure that the number of jobs expected from a proposed project will materialize within three years from the date of the project agreement.
“Time and again, we have seen how investments in our transportation infrastructure help strengthen communities, create jobs and strengthen local economies,” WisDOT Secretary-designee Craig Thompson said. “In 2020, I was pleased to approve 11 TEA grants totaling $5.2 million, which will help create 1,005 new jobs and retain an additional 716 jobs.”
The TEA program also has been active in 2021. On March 22, Wisconsin leaders announced a $1 million grant for road construction in Fitchburg to support business expansions at facilities maintained by two companies: Sub-Zero Group Inc. and Promega Corp.
In early March, WisDOT issued TEA grants to support infrastructure improvements near two manufacturing facilities in the Milwaukee area. Two grants totaling about $1.7 million went to Komatsu Mining Corp.’s new manufacturing facility and headquarters in Milwaukee’s Harbor District. The agency also issued a grant of $250,000 for road construction work at a new Milwaukee Tool facility in West Bend, which is 40 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below or go here for more info:
