WARREN – Blount Boats Inc. was awarded $937,933 Friday from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration’s Small Shipyard Grant Program.
The award will help Blount purchase a telehandler, two 3-ton overhead cranes, a single forklift, and four scissor lift to significantly improve their material handling.
The Small Shipyard Grant Program awarded a total of $19.6 million to 24 small shipyards across 19 states, including the Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding Duclos Corp., in Somerset, which received $949,899 to support the purchase of a set of hanging shop doors; a 35-ton self-propelled boat transporter and a 1-ton overhead crane
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, and small shipyards play a critical role in America’s maritime industry, helping us get the goods we depend on every day,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “These grants will help modernize small shipyards in communities across the country, creating and protecting local jobs, strengthening America’s maritime industry, and securing our economic future.”
Since 2008, the Maritime Administration Small Shipyard Grant Program has awarded $282.2 million to nearly 300 shipyards in 32 states and territories throughout the U.S.