Michigan Puts About $8 Million Behind Maritime Growth: Over $3 Million in Training Grants to Five Community Colleges, $5 Million Port Grant Round Opens
LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on October 19 that Michigan will invest about $8 million to accelerate the state's maritime economic growth, putting money behind the first-ever Michigan Maritime Strategy released earlier this year. The package splits into workforce training and port infrastructure.
On the training side, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) is awarding more than $3 million to five community colleges to expand training for high-demand maritime and shipbuilding jobs. Michigan is home to roughly 300 shipbuilding suppliers, and LEO has cited U.S. Navy projections of more than 140,000 skilled maritime and advanced manufacturing workers needed over the next decade. Earlier this month, Washtenaw Community College announced a LEO grant of more than $630,000 to launch a Marine Structural Welding and Ship Repair Certificate, part of the same statewide push.
On the infrastructure side, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has opened a $5 million round of the Michigan Maritime and Port Facility Assistance grant program for port and maritime facility upgrades, with applications due December 23.
The Michigan Maritime Strategy, a 10-year plan released in January and led by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) with MDOT, LEO and other state agencies, targets port modernization, maritime manufacturing growth, cleaner vessel technologies and workforce development. According to the state, Michigan's 33 active ports support about 17,000 jobs and $3.3 billion in annual economic activity, while water-based tourism supports about 45,000 jobs and nearly $12 billion a year.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 五大湖货轮 Lee A. Tregurtha 号驶入 Sault Ste. Marie 的 Poe 船闸（资料图）。图：美国陆军工程兵团底特律分局（U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District）／Wikimedia Commons，公共领域。The Great Lakes freighter Lee A. Tregurtha entering the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan (file photo). Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
