As President Donald Trump prepared Wednesday to address CEOs from Boeing, General Dynamics and other big military contractors in Carlisle, Pa., Sen. Dave McCormick confirmed details of large government projects that will keep workers busy at Philadelphia’s two principal shipyards as they plan to grow.
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Hanwha Philly Shipyard, which employs around 2,000, will get approvals for new ship orders to continue building National Security Multi-Mission Vessels for the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD). McCormick valued the new orders at $1.5 billion, which is about the same as it cost to build the previous five MARAD ships at the yard.
The new orders will enable the yard to keep workers busy as it plans new facilities for civilian and military orders that could double employment and add work for thousands of subcontractors.
General Dynamics, which builds Columbia-class nuclear submarines for the Navy at its New England shipyards, and Rhoads Industries, which builds modules for parts of those submarines, will share $2.5 billion over 10 years in additional orders for submarine construction work in Philadelphia.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive Jamie Dimon visited the Navy Yard district to pledge $13 million in financing for the ongoing construction of Rhoads’ 95,000-square-foot submarine manufacturing facility near its existing ship repair pier, which Rhoads announced a year ago.
Company president Michael Rhoads said his family is paying most of the $100 million cost of that facility, with help from the Navy, state government, and now the loan from JPMorgan.
Dimon also pledged $11 million for subcontractor assistance and labor training programs, which are affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.
Dimon noted that JPMorgan is a banker to Hanwha operations in Korea, where the company has its main shipyard, and may finance larger future Hanwha projects.
JPMorgan is seeking more government, military, data center and energy work as mass-market consumer companies, office construction and other sectors are lagging, Dimon said.
The bank also wants to raise its profile in the Philadelphia area, where it is targeting small businesses and investors as it builds a 100-branch network as part of a larger national system, even as other banks are closing offices.
The $13 million loan to Rhoads will be raised through the federal New Market Tax Credits program, Dimon said.
Rhoads’ current ship repair facilities employ around 700. The company says it will add 450 to handle new work at the complex. President Michael Rhoads said it should open next year.
Employees and contracted labor at Hanwha and Rhoads are represented by the Philadelphia Metal Trades Council. Union tradespeople also work on construction projects and hope for more hiring as Hanwha expands operations, said Ryan Boyer, business manager of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council, who attended Dimon’s announcement.
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Hanwha has promised to invest up to $5 billion in the yard. The company bought the complex in 2024 for $100 million and says it has spent another $100 million upgrading facilities. Larger investments such as new drydocks, giant cranes, or more land may follow as as Hanwha vies for U.S. and foreign contracts.
Shares of the company’s shipbuilding affiliate Hanwha Ocean fell 23% on July 6 after the company was passed over for a Canada submarine-building contract.
U.S. shipbuilding costs are far higher than in industry-leading China, Japan, and Korea.
Hanwha says it can make the Philadelphia yard profitable and bring down costs for building Navy ships if it can increase volume — from the recent one ship every eight months to one or two a month. Hanwha officials have said they will build ships for the company’s own nascent shipping arm to keep workers busy, especially when orders are slow.
Rhoads noted that his father, chief executive officer Dan Rhoads, was with McCormick at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the Army War College in Carlisle, a gathering of military contractors and Washington officials, where Dimon was also on the guest list.
Other funding that JPMorgan promised include:
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$5 million low-interest loan to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.’s Community Capital lending nonprofit to help Navy Yard subcontractors and other small businesses to buy land and upgrade operations
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$1.5 million joint grant to PIDC Community Capital and the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, which helps area manufacturers prepare for military and other business contracts;
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$2.4 million grant to the newly formed Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership to make it easier for people without college degrees get well-paying jobs.
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$2 million grant to the Skills Initiative at University City District to help people without college degrees secure well-paid shipbuilding jobs.
After Dimon’s announcement, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker reiterated her support for shipbuilding, heavy industry, and job creation along the Delaware River waterfront in what she calls Lower South Philly. She has pledged to speed up permitting for large projects.
Parker promised “to make sure government bureaucracy, which is usually the most significant barrier to entry the private sector has,” is kept out of the way of the bank and its clients’ projects.
The former Navy Yard, which includes the Hanwha and Rhoads ship facilities, is co-owned by the city and the Chamber of Commerce. It is home to businesses and government agencies that employ around 16,000.
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“We are eds and meds — and maritime and shipbuilding and defense,” Parker said.
Dimon responded: “God bless you 100%.”