ERIE
SHIPYARD
WHY ERIE
YOUR SHIPYARD BELONGS HERE
Erie offers a powerful combination of history, infrastructure, and strategic advantage that makes it the premier location for your next shipyard. With a natural harbor, existing infrastructure featuring the largest dry dock on the Great Lakes, and a skilled, available workforce, Erie is ready for immediate shipbuilding operations.
OUR
HISTORY
Early settlers chose Erie for its natural, protected harbor, and it quickly became a center of maritime innovation. Long before the city’s founding, soldiers from Montreal recognized Presque Isle as one of the finest natural harbors on the Great Lakes. During the War of 1812, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry built his fleet in Erie, including the iconic Brig Niagara, which helped secure victory at the Battle of Lake Erie over the British.
Erie industrial workers helped build America. During World War II, our city powered the war effort, manufacturing everything from airplane bodies to howitzers. Erie’s skilled workforce went on to build the trains that move America’s freight. Today, the tradition of grit continues. Erie’s workforce is trained, experienced, and ready to build the next generation of vessels to move across our waterways.
photo by Naval Historical Association
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STRATEGIC
LOCATION
Erie sits at the center of the Great Lakes industrial corridor, offering unmatched access to supply chains, ports, and markets. With large-scale shipyards in Sturgeon Bay, Marinette, Superior, and Toledo, the city benefits from a ready network of subcontractors and suppliers. Erie’s location places it in close proximity to both raw material sources and fabricated steel production.
A shipyard in Erie is uniquely positioned to serve this captive inland commercial market that coastal yards cannot access due to Seaway lock size constraints, making it a premier location for efficient shipbuilding operations.
Port access in Erie is reinforced by a strong multimodal transportation network that connects maritime, rail, and highway systems. Direct access to Interstates 79 and 90 enables efficient north–south and east–west freight movement, while regional rail infrastructure supports heavy industrial logistics at scale. The region is also served by a regional airport with a 7,500-foot runway and over 202,000 pounds of cargo handled in 2022, adding flexibility for time-sensitive and high-value shipments.
With convenient access to highway, rail, water, and air, Erie is positioned almost equidistant from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, and is within an 8-hour drive of six U.S. East Coast seaports. Our low cost of living, coupled with a highly skilled available workforce and four major universities, makes Erie an ideal location to build our nation’s next generation of shipyards.
STRATEGIC
LOCATION
Erie sits at the center of the Great Lakes industrial corridor, offering unmatched access to supply chains, ports, and markets. With large-scale shipyards in Sturgeon Bay, Marinette, Superior, and Toledo, the city benefits from a ready network of subcontractors and suppliers. Erie’s location places it in close proximity to both raw material sources and fabricated steel production.
A shipyard in Erie is uniquely positioned to serve this captive inland commercial market that coastal yards cannot access due to Seaway lock size constraints, making it a premier location for efficient shipbuilding operations.
Port access in Erie is reinforced by a strong multimodal transportation network that connects maritime, rail, and highway systems. Direct access to Interstates 79 and 90 enables efficient north–south and east–west freight movement, while regional rail infrastructure supports heavy industrial logistics at scale. The region is also served by a regional airport with a 7,500-foot runway and over 202,000 pounds of cargo handled in 2022, adding flexibility for time-sensitive and high-value shipments.
With convenient access to highway, rail, water, and air, Erie is positioned almost equidistant from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, and is within an 8-hour drive of six U.S. East Coast seaports. Our low cost of living, coupled with a highly skilled available workforce and four major universities, makes Erie an ideal location to build our nation’s next generation of shipyards.