Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded the City of Pensacola $9 million from the state’s Job Growth Grant Fund to support the Birdon shipbuilding project at the Port of Pensacola.
The grant will fund infrastructure improvements to expand shipbuilding at the Port to include submarines and warships.
“What a great place to do this,” said DeSantis at a press conference in Pensacola Wednesday. He noted that awarding the grant wasn’t a difficult decision.
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“I’m proud to say today we’re rewarding $9 million to the city of Pensacola to support the construction of two boat-building facilities, including site development, utilities, and facility construction.”
The governor said these state Job Growth Grants “pay dividends for years.” Pensacola’s grant expands the prospects for more industrial capacity.
“It’s good for the economy, good for the tax base, and good for jobs,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Board of Triumph Gulf Coast approved the establishment of Birdon America’s Inc. southeastern headquarters and advanced ship manufacturing facility in Pensacola.
The new facilities will encompass about 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space and create around 2,000 manufacturing and related jobs as part of Project Maeve. About 1,437 of the jobs will have an annual salary of $68,000, and 563 jobs will have an annual salary of $112,000.
The $9 million grant is in addition to a $76 million grant the City secured from Triumph Gulf Coast to further support the project. In 2023, DeSantis awarded the City a $3.9 million Florida Job Growth Grant to help secure American Magic’s High Performance Center.
“There’s moments in the City’s history that define trajectory, for not just years, but for generations, and I think it’s safe to say that this is one of those days,” said Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves. “Maritime activity isn’t just part of our history; it truly is our DNA here in the City of Pensacola.”
Reeves said Birdon will become Pensacola’s largest employer. Later this month, he will meet with stakeholders to map out “an aggressive pipeline” for those incoming jobs.
“The challenge now is to execute a robust workforce strategy,” he said.
