Momentum Grows for Relaunching Bay Area Shipbuilding Industry

The Bay Area Council for years has envisioned relaunching a Bay Area shipbuilding industry that once dominated the globe, and an exciting plan unveiled recently by Council member company California Forever to locate a significant shipbuilding and maritime facility on more than 1,400 waterfront acres in Solano County has helped generate a strong burst of momentum for making it a reality. Council CEO Jim Wunderman, who recently toured the Solano site near the small town of Collinsville, has been appointed by Assemblymember Lori Wilson to a special working group aimed at fostering shipbuilding and maritime opportunities. California Forever CEO Jan Sramek also serves on the working group. Sramek’s group is working on separate plans for building a new community not far from the shipbuilding site whose residents would benefit from the many good-paying jobs that a West Coast shipbuilding and maritime hub would provide.

The California Forever plan and its strong logistical and strategic advantages comes as Congress considers bipartisan legislation, the SHIPS for America Act, to restore American naval and commercial shipbuilding capacity and as President Trump prepares to sign an Executive Order, possibly as soon as this week, on restoring U.S. shipbuilding might. Rep. John Garamendi, whose district sits immediately adjacent to the Solano site, is an author of the SHIPS Act.