Master Boat Builders announced a new $60 million shipyard project on Tuesday. The family-owned company will expand its current footprint across Bayou Coden, and
Master Boat Builders announced a new $60 million shipyard project on Tuesday. The family-owned company will expand its current footprint across Bayou Coden, and build a defense shipbuilding facility on a 20-acre site.
CEO Garrett Rice says in the last three years they've already doubled their workforce and now employ 400 people. With the addition, 200 more jobs will be created. "This would be the largest expansion we've ever had. Really, we're building a second shipyard. I mean, we're building a second facility. We'll have commercial on one side of the bayou and our government work on the opposite side," said Rice. "It's hands down, the largest investment we've made." Rice says they're answering President Donald Trump's call to build more ships at home and will be pursuing U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard contracts. Rice says they won't be competing with Austal or Ingalls, which are major, tier 1 shipbuilders. Instead, they're working with Austal and signed an outsourcing agreement with them in September. "In simple terms, we build boats. They build ships," said Rice. "We're sitting here ready to subcontract modules, small bits of work, and then we'll put it up the river to their facility and let them erect it and finish it out." The site was cleared last month and construction is expected to take 18-24 months, but developers like Paige Howard are already anticipating the increased workforce. She says her team is investing $8-$9 million in a 120-site luxury RV site one mile away on Shell Belt Road. It's currently being built in phases. She's expecting more ship workers who want to live on the water. "We're building a new pool. It's going to be really fabulous. It's going to be for families, very resort style. I have a wonderful charter company that's working with me, so we'll be able to do all the charter fishing," said Howard. The growth is welcome news for the seafood capital of Alabama that's struggled in recent years. Master Boat Builders is located just outside Bayou La Batre's city limits, but it's inside the city's police jurisdiction where companies pay half the business license fees to the city. Mayor Henry Barnes says last year those fees covered roughly a third of the city's budget. He says the expansion project will increase the amount owed to the city, not to mention the revenue he's expecting from more workers shopping and eating out.Master Boat Builders Announces New $60 million Defense Shipbuilding FacilityAmid reports of a number of monkeys caged outside, a home on Schimpfs Ln. in Tillman's Corner is marked off with crime scene tape Wednesday as U.S. Fish and WiIf your grandparents or great grandparents grew up in or around Mobile, there's a very good chance they spent some time in this huge, cavernous building in theAirbus investing in blighted area, MAA requests fee waiver from city Airbus is building a warehouse two miles from its assembly facility on land once owned by the Mobile Housing Authority. It's located at Raven Dr and Cardinal Dr
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