The Philadelphia Navy Yard Becomes Even More Revitalized, As Billionaires Invest in Our Nation's Ships

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By Jennifer Oliver O'Connell

In 2018, the Philadelphia Navy Yard had been closed for 22 years, and mostly used for art installations and exhibits as the above image attests. In 2000, PIDC, a nonprofit organization, took control of the facility on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, and poured more than $150 million in publicly-funded infrastructure improvements coupled with $750 million in private investment, to create a thriving, commercial, retail, and residential district where 150 companies occupy over 7.5 million square feet of space for industrial, manufacturing, research, and development. 

Hanwha Defense is joining the community, and at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit, held Wednesday at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA, President Donald Trump announced almost $10 billion of new investments to rebuild the defense industrial base right in the heart of Philadelphia.

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The last new ship built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard was the Blue Ridge in 1970. In 1996, the USS John F. Kennedy, received a two-year overhaul before operations at the Navy Yard were shuttered that September. Thanks to Hanwha Defense, and investments by JP Morgan Chase and other billion-dollar corporations, ships will once again be produced from the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase went on CNBC's "Squawkbox" on Wednesday to talk about this. 

Dimon said:

We're sitting in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where we built ships. They built ships here that won the Revolutionary War. That helped win World War II. And so, now you have, the arsenal of democracy has been reignited and shipbuilding people said that couldn't happen, but here you have Hanwha Shipbuilding at the Philadelphia Navy Yard which will be building components for nuclear submarines and major ships. So, we're just aiding here, by doing some financing, you know, a special kind of financing for Hanwha here. 

But, very importantly, and people have to remember, this is just one big complex ecosystem. We're also financing you know, people, we need 300,000 electricians, welders, etc., to build ships in the next five or 10 years.

Dimon recognized that investment in infrastructure does little good if there are no qualified people to manage the infrastructure and do the production.  

So, we're helping to finance people who train people, who train people here. There's 16,000 workers here, that number may very well double over the next five years as it builds more ships, and we build a lot of shipbuilding back to the United States.

There's also a whole ecosystem here. I'm going to meet with Rose Industry later, there's probably over 100 vendors who help supply all the things that take place here. So, we're doing our part to help protect the future of freedom and the future of America. 

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During the Defense & Innovation Summit, President and CEO of Hanwha Defense USA, Michael Coulter thanked President Trump for his work to revitalize the defense industrial base and revitalizing shipbuilding in the United States. Coulter also said to the president and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that, "this is the most business friendly and industry-friendly administration we have ever seen." 

Coulter added that because of that access and President Trump's leadership, these partnerships will be pivotal to the defense of the homeland. 

Coulter concluded:

We're very grateful for the opportunity to build the radar ships that you announced today. They will be a central part of defending the homeland from the missile threats that you have also made a priority.

[...]

You know this better than anybody, Mr. President, but ships win battles, shipyards win wars. And we are going to recreate what has been great in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, home to the nation, home to the Navy, home to Naval shipbuilding with the first frigate. It is going to be the home to make American Shipbuilding Great Again, and we're very glad to be a part of that, sir.

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