Another big defense construction project is underway on the Mississippi Coast.
Fairbanks Morse held a groundbreaking Tuesday, Oct. 20, for Center of Excellence 3, a $60 million expansion of its Bird-Johnson Pascagoula Naval Propulsion facility, WLOX reported. The project will double manufacturing capacity at the plant.
Built for the Navy's demand
Dan Rediger, Fairbanks Morse president of power and propulsion, said the expansion is about keeping up with shipbuilding.
"It's a game-changer. It means that we can make the product with the velocity that we need to to meet the Navy's demands," Rediger said, according to WLOX. "Capacity is always a challenge in this space. It's a really unique capability, and with the Navy's additional investments in shipbuilding, we need to be able to rise up and make things in the timeline that they need."
Australia chips in
Of the $60 million cost, more than $20 million will come from Australia through AUKUS, the defense partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, WLOX reported.
Representatives of the Jackson County Board of Supervisors, the U.S. Navy, the Jackson County Port Authority and Australia attended the ceremony.
Jobs
The expansion is expected to add 20 high-paying jobs, according to WLOX.
"These are high-end CNC-machining, engineering roles that are really careers," Rediger said. "We've been here a long time. We have a lot of folks that retired here after 40 years of employment, and we expect, with these programs we're doing now, that we'll have people again retire in another 40 years from here."
Jackson County's defense base keeps growing
Mary Martha Henson, CEO of the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, said the county is a leader in the defense industrial base.
"Jackson County has over 12,000 people that currently work in the defense industrial space," she said, according to WLOX.
Henson hinted that more is coming. "Shipbuilding alone is growing significantly. So, we continue to see growth, and we'll look forward to some other announcements about growth here in Jackson County," she said.
Officials said the groundbreaking also marked years of work that went into getting the project ready.
What wasn't announced
WLOX's report didn't name a general contractor, give a construction schedule or describe the size of the new building. Those details would matter to local trades looking for work on the project.
Industrial work on the Gulf Coast
A plant that builds naval propulsion equipment isn't an ordinary building. Manufacturing expansions like this often call for heavy foundations for machine tools, overhead cranes, high-capacity electrical service, compressed air and specialty HVAC to control temperature for precision machining. Security requirements on defense sites can also affect who works there and how.
Pascagoula already has a deep bench of industrial and marine construction experience because of its shipbuilding base. Projects like this one help keep those crews busy between bigger jobs.
Why it matters for contractors
A $60 million industrial expansion is a solid job for Mississippi Coast general contractors, steel erectors, concrete crews, electricians and mechanical contractors. With construction now started, much of the major contracting is likely already set, but large industrial jobs often add specialty subs and suppliers as they go.
The bigger story is the trend. Federal shipbuilding spending and partnerships like AUKUS are driving investment in Jackson County's defense plants. Henson's comment about "other announcements" suggests more projects could follow. For contractors who can meet the safety, quality and security demands of defense work, the Coast's industrial market looks busy.
Keep an eye on Jackson County economic development announcements for the next round of work.