BOSTON – The state has announced more than $6.4 million in Seaport Economic Council Grants to support maritime-related projects in communities and educational institutions across the state.
The grants will support development to stimulate the expansion and modernization of the maritime sector, research that prepares for shifts in climate and industry, and educational programs that increase participation in the blue economy.
“Expanding capacity, resiliency, and opportunity in coastal communities will ensure the vitality of the Commonwealth’s maritime industry for years to come,” said Governor Charlie Baker.
“Our administration will continue to prioritize Massachusetts’ leadership in the global blue economy through the guidance of the Seaport Economic Council.”
Locally, the Town of Barnstable, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, and the Cape Cod Blue Economy Foundation received $1,000,000 in grants to support Expedition: Blue! The project will create a network of interconnected sites across the region where participants will be able to learn about and experience everyday activities that tie its maritime heritage to the modern blue economy.
“It was a very good day for the Blue Economy on the Cape and Islands and in the southeastern Massachusetts region,” said Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross.
“We were recipients of a $1,000,000 grant, a very significant amount of funding to put into place something that we’ve envisioned for the past couple of years. We’re calling it ‘Expedition Blue.’ It’s essentially a network of interconnected, permanent installations at sites all over the region that tell our story.”
Northcross said that the Blue Economy is the “next big thing for Cape Cod’s economy, just the way tourism was 100 years ago.”
“The Blue Economy is very strong here, but we think it can be stronger and we think it can provide a vast array of jobs and employment for Cape Codders into the future, so we’re trying to grow that,” Northcross explained.
Another $1,000,000 will go to Falmouth and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
Falmouth’s grant will support the next phase of planning to develop a state-of-the-art Complex for Waterfront Access To Exploration and Research (CWATER): a next-generation, world-class, sustainable waterfront marine research complex.
The Massachusetts Maritime Academy will also receive a $1,000,000 grant to support the creation of a coastal emergency management simulator.
The simulator will provide a training platform for undergraduate and graduate emergency management students, as well as assist Massachusetts’ coastal communities in developing and strengthening disaster preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts.
“The blue economy is perhaps the most promising source of year-round, living wage jobs for Cape Codders,” said Senator Julian Cyr of Truro.
“I’m delighted that the Seaport Economic Council is investing in this region-wide collaborative initiative.”
The Seaport Economic Council was re-launched in August 2015 to grow the maritime economy, promote economic development, and support resilient infrastructure in all 78 of that state’s coastal communities, while preparing them to respond to the challenges posed by rising sea levels and increasingly powerful coastal storms.
The council’s capital grant program supports working waterfronts, local tourism, coastal resiliency, and maritime innovation, from the North Shore to Cape Cod and the South Coast.
The grants were approved at a Seaport Economic Council meeting at South Boston’s Flynn Cruiseport.
Since the 2015 re-launch, the Seaport Economic Council has invested over $39 million in 83 projects ranging from local to statewide in scale, with an emphasis on supporting coastal infrastructure.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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