What the Governor’s Talking about
Today
Thursday, November 4,
2010
Governor, Levin,
Stabenow, Stupak Hail Defense Contract for Navy Ships Creating More Than 3,000
Michigan
Jobs
The governor, Senator Carl Levin, Senator Debbie
Stabenow and Congressman Bart Stupak today hailed the U.S. Navy’s choice of
Marinette Marine-Fincantieri to build 10 combat ships. The company
operates a shipbuilding facility in Marinette,
Wisconsin on the Michigan border adjacent
to Menominee.
Marinette Marine-Fincantieri, partnering with Lockheed
Martin, won a contract from the Department of Defense to build 10 of the U.S.
Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a high-speed, shallow-draft, reconfigurable
warship. The contract means more than 3,000 Michigan jobs statewide with between 40 and 50 Michigan suppliers
providing parts, materials and services.
The governor spoke earlier today with U.S. Secretary of
the Navy Ray Mabus from her investment mission in South
Korea. During a previous investment
mission this past April to Italy and Germany, she met with CEO Giuseppe
Bono and other senior leadership of Fincantieri Marine Group LLC to offer full
state support for the company’s bid.
Key
messages:
- The choice of
Marinette Marine-Fincantieri to build 10 combat ships for the U.S. Navy will
provide an additional economic stimulus for Michigan and create more than 3,000 jobs in
our state. Now Congress must act quickly to ensure that these jobs come
to Michigan
as soon as possible.
- The LCS contract
bolsters Michigan’s homeland security and
defense sector, one of six sectors we’ve targeted to diversify Michigan’s
economy.
- This is also great
news for our national security. These ships will provide a much-needed
capability to our military.
- The building of
the 10 LCS ships will last through fiscal year 2015, and Marinette
Marine-Fincantieri will compete to build more LCS ships in the
future.
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