STURGEON BAY – The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a $5.2 million contract to a Sturgeon Bay-based business to build a new boat hoist for the federal agency.
Marine Travelift, which specializes in manufacturing boat hoists and other boat handling equipment, won the competitive bid to build a 620-ton mobile boat hoist for the Coast Guard. It would have the largest lift capacity of any such unit any U.S. federal agency ever has acquired and will be used to support maintenance and repairs of the Coast Guard fleet.
The announcement of the contract came in a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, who said in the announcement the Coast Guard followed regulations in the federal Build America, Buy America Act, which requires all iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects are produced in the U.S., when awarding the contract to Marine Travelift.
“Marine Travelift is honored to be selected for this critical task to support the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard,” Marine Travelift president and CEO Erich Pfeifer said in the release. “They deserve the best U.S.-built equipment to help accomplish their lifesaving missions, and supplier opportunities like this are a direct result of Sen. Baldwin’s relentless push to ensure fairness for Wisconsin manufacturers in federal agency purchasing.”
The release also said the hoist will support an estimated 50 to 60 jobs. A spokesperson from Baldwin’s office said those jobs are at Marine Travelift, its sister metal fabrication company ExactTech and 19 other firms across Northeast and Central Wisconsin that will fabricate or supply parts for the hoist, ranging from the engine and pumps to pins and tires. Other Sturgeon Bay companies involved with the project are Hi Tec Fabrication for fabricated parts (along with Olson Fabrication in Algoma), the local Fastenal center for hardware, Key Industrial for tube blocks and Maple Street Sign Co. for decals.
Speaking to the Advocate, Pfeifer said Marine Travelift and ExacTech are looking to hire an unspecified number of new workers to help fulfill the contract, while noting they’re always looking to hire welders, fitters, machinists and other positions. One hundred and eighty people currently work for Marine Travelift, ExacTech and ShuttleLift, another sister company that manufactures non-maritime lifts.
He said Marine Travelift, which was founded in 1954, has built a number of hoists and other boat handling equipment under contract for not just the Coast Guard but also the U.S. Navy, Naval Academy and Merchant Marine Academy over the past 30 or so years. It also has built equipment to handle rocket fuel tanks for NASA.
Pfeifer said the bid for the contract was submitted about a month ago, but discussions with the Coast Guard about the hoist began about 10 years ago. Those discussions centered on the Coast Guard’s needs and design specifications, and then the project of course had to await approval from the federal government once the design was finalized.
The build of the hoist will take about a year, Pfeifer said, with delivery to the Coast Guard planned for fall of 2025 in Baltimore.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County manufacturer wins $5.2 million contract from Coast Guard
