Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he is backing Pensacola’s effort to bring Birdon and 2,000 jobs to the city with a $9 million grant.
DeSantis made the announcement and presented Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves with a ceremonial check during a press conference in Pensacola on Aug.12.
Pensacola is working to find funding to bring the Australian shipbuilding company and a 400,000-square-foot shipbuilding facility to the Port of Pensacola. The city is in final talks for a $76 million grant paid for with BP oil spill settlement funds through Triumph Gulf Coast.
The new facility will cost an estimated $275 million, with Birdon itself expected to contribute $152 million of that cost. The city had previously said the remaining funds would be $76 million from Triumph Gulf Coast, $14 million from the Florida Job Growth Fund, and $33 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
DeSantis announced the Florida Job Growth Fund would back the project at $9 million, and despite the amount being $5 million less than the city had hoped for, Reeves said the Aug. 12 announcement marked a new “clear era of growth” for the Port of Pensacola.
Birdon is expected to bring 1,437 jobs based at the Port and another 563 jobs off-site but still in the Pensacola area.
The 1,437 jobs at the port will have an average salary of $68,000 a year. The 563 off-site jobs will have an average salary of $112,000 per year.
In its application with Triumph, the city said the shipbuilding facility at the Port of Pensacola will be capable of producing large modules for U.S. Navy ships and submarines, as well as complete ships of up to 400 feet in length.
Birdon’s primary business in the U.S. is as a defense contractor. The company has done work for the U.S. Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marines, as well as civilian customers.
In April, Birdon announced a partnership with Florida-based startup Mythos AI, a maritime defense company building autonomous systems for ships, to power its entry into the competition for the U.S. Navy’s unmanned medium vessel contract, according to a report from the industry publication Workboat.
Birdon was one of seven finalists selected to compete for the contract. The contract is designed for the Navy to fund the development of different naval drone designs that it can later purchase.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.
Jim Little is the City Government Accountability Reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. If you have a news tip, please send it to jwlittle@pnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Gov. Ron DeSantis backs Penscola’s Birdon project with $9 million
Reporting by Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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By Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
