The City of Pensacola has secured initial approval for a $76 million grant that would transform the Port of Pensacola and fuel the creation of 2,000 jobs.
On Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, the Board of Triumph Gulf Coast gave initial approval to Project Maeve, an investment that will establish shipbuilder Birdon America Inc.’s Southeastern headquarters and a Tier 2 advanced ship manufacturing facility in Pensacola.
The facility would create 2,000 jobs with 1,437 jobs at an average salary of $68,000 annually and 563 jobs at an average salary of $112,000.
“This project will change the trajectory of our city for generations to come,” said Mayor D.C. Reeves, who is in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with federal agencies on the project. “I promised careers for our hardworking taxpayers. Today shows that we are delivering on that promise. We’re focused on building Pensacola’s future and Triumph’s investment helps us do just that.”
When fully approved, this investment will support a 400,000 square-foot shipbuilding facility at the port, strengthen the local economy, and support U.S. military interests through the production of critical modules for ships and submarines.
It will become the largest job creation project in the city’s history and would be one of the largest grants approved by Triumph Gulf Coast, the nonprofit corporation created to manage funds recovered for economic damages from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Next Steps
The city and Triumph will enter a term sheet negotiation, which will outline the components of the grant agreement. The third and final step is the grant agreement approval.
The total project cost is $275 million, with additional funding from the company’s own capital investment and other grant funding, including a pending $14 million request to the Florida Department of Commerce.
Triumph funding will be used for construction costs associated with two new shipbuilding facilities at the port. The $105 million construction program includes a Phase 1 panel line and module fabrication warehouse and a Phase 2 assembly bay, together housing advanced ship manufacturing and office space.
The city will retain ownership of the facilities as public infrastructure and will enter into a long-term ground lease with Birdon America Inc. for its use. Established in 1977, Birdon is a globally established maritime engineering and shipbuilding company with over 15 years of proven performance delivering major defense contracts for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and allied defense forces worldwide.
The new facility will be able to produce complex Navy ship modules for Tier 1 yards, submarine modules, and complete surface vessels up to 400 feet, directly supporting the federal objective of restoring America’s maritime dominance and expanding the U.S. maritime industrial base.
The overall goal is to catalyze a broader maritime and defense cluster, attract suppliers, and leverage partnerships with the University of West Florida’s WAVE Center, Pensacola State College, and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition to create a sustained talent pipeline and applied research ecosystem.
