DoT: Governor Doyle Announces $6 Million Harbor Assistance Award for Port of Sturgeon Bay

Contacts:
Ethnie Groves, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2156
Peg Schmitt, Department of Transportation, 608-266-7744

Overall $9.2 Million Investment Will Help Companies Create 600 High-End Jobs

STURGEON BAY – Governor Jim Doyle today announced a $6
million budget proposal to help provide for the construction of a new boat
launch facility at the Port of Sturgeon Bay. The investment into a new,
state-of-the-art boat launch facility will help Bay Shipbuilding Company and
Palmer Johnson create about 600 high-end, family-supporting jobs over the
next three years.

“Companies like Bay Shipbuilding Company and Palmer Johnson
are long-standing Wisconsin companies that provide some 900 jobs in the
Sturgeon Bay region – and this new facility will help them remain
competitive, while they create 600 more family-supporting jobs,” Governor
Doyle said.

The $6 million that is part of the Governor’s budget is part
of an overall $9.2 million investment. An additional $2 million through the
Department of Commerce to Palmer Johnson will help build a new facility that
would consolidate production facilities and another $1.2 million to the
community through the Department of Transportation will provide road access
and road improvements to the new boat launch facility.

The Port of Sturgeon Bay provides more than 1,100 jobs, and
generates an estimated economic impact of $47 million in personal income and
nearly $150 million in gross regional product.

“The Port of Sturgeon Bay contributes a tremendous amount to
the area,” Governor Doyle said. “We will continue to focus on the high-end,
so that Wisconsin continues to lead the nation in job growth.”

The port’s current floating dry dock is 90 years old,
restricted to warm weather use, and is well beyond its service life. The
new state-of-the-art boat launch facility will dramatically enhance the
efficiency for Bay Shipbuilding and Palmer Johnson to remove vessels from
the water for service and repair, and allow new vessels to be launched.

The $6 million award to the city of Sturgeon Bay will be
administered through the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Harbor
Assistance Program (HAP), which assists harbor communities to maintain and
improve waterborne commerce. Last year, Governor Doyle announced four HAP
awards totaling over $3.3 million, including a $1.2 million grant to allow
for dredging and rebuilding of the dockwall in the Sawyer Dock area of the
Port of Sturgeon Bay.