LORDSTOWN — Mayor Arno Hill is expected to participate in a panel discussion and news conference today regarding a naval shipyard proposal for Lorain and an affiliated supply, equipment and service depot in Lordstown.
The event is noon from the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., by Bartlett Maritime Corporation, the Broadview Heights-based company that wants to locate the depot at the Ohio Commerce Center to service the shipyard to the northwest.
Ed Bartlett, founder, president and CEO, said in January the Lordstown site, the American Naval Depot, would create about 1,000 permanent jobs while the proposed American Naval Shipyard in Lorain, according to project documents, would have two drydocks and employ 2,000 to 3,000.
The site in Lordstown would be designed for growth to service eventually other public Navy shipyards.
“The equipment that will be serviced in Lordstown will be components, parts, assemblies, pumps, valves, hydraulic power plants, electronic controlled systems, you name it, and other components like, for instance, propeller shafts,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett Maritime’s proposal would need approval from the Navy. The plan would include a public / private partnership through existing legislation that allows for capital financing to build the facilities, Bartlett said.
The Navy would lease from Bartlett Maritime and own the facilities after 30 years. Goldman Sachs has been brought on as a financial adviser.
Bartlett said the program is ready to start immediately and if the Navy green-lights phase one, which is a six-month planning and detailed preparation phase, a ceremonial groundbreaking would be ready for both sites in this year.
Joining Hill will be members of Bartlett and representatives of the Metal Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, Goldman Sachs, Fincantieri Marine Group, Squire Patton Boggs and Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley.