Reinvigorating America’s shipbuilding capacity is a well-known urgent objective of Donald Trump’s second Presidency. One company – drone ship maker Saronic Technologies – initially planned to do its part in that national initiative with a massive $3.2 billion investment in a new port facility and autonomous shipyard planned for Solano County, California, across the bay from San Francisco.
But then reality intervened: Some of the county’s elected officials were indifferent towards the project amid pressure from state officials to aggressively pursue it even though it was publicly known since last year that Saronic was also evaluating the booming Port of Brownsville, Texas as another potential site. Vacaville Mayor John Carli was a stout proponent for the project, urging his peers at both the county and state levels to move aggressively and offer fast-track permitting for it, saying “The proposed national shipbuilding initiative aligns perfectly with our county’s rich legacy, deeply rooted in service to our nation, exemplified by the proud history of Mare Island Naval Shipyard.”
Last week, Saronic announced its decision: Its new facility and the 10,000 jobs and estimated $264 billion in economic impact it creates will be located in Brownsville. Thus, California’s loss is Texas’s gain, yet again.
Twenty years ago, Brownsville was a mid-size backwater border city with little going for it in terms of economic development. But that has all changed in recent years, spurred initially by Elon Musk’s decision in 2014 to locate SpaceX’s big private launch facility on the nearby Boca Chica peninsula. That development along with aggressive planning by leaders in Brownsville and Cameron County have transformed the area into a very real modern boomtown, with much of the economic development centered at the Port of Brownsville.
