J. Goodison Co. debuts Marine Travelift, completes expansion at Quonset

J. GOODISON CO. is expanding its marine services business onto a newly improved, waterfront site at the Quonset Business Park, and with a new mobile ship hoist, will begin servicing vessels as large as barges and passenger ferries. Pictured is the mobile ship hoist. / COURTESY J. GOODISON CO.
J. GOODISON CO. is expanding its marine services business onto a newly improved, waterfront site at the Quonset Business Park, and with a new mobile ship hoist, will begin servicing vessels as large as barges and passenger ferries. Pictured is the mobile ship hoist. / COURTESY J. GOODISON CO.

NORTH KINGSTOWN – Boats can now can come directly to J. Goodison Co. for repairs, thanks to a new Marine Travelift billed as the biggest in the Northeast that the company debuted this week.
“In the past, we had to go to wherever the boat was to work on it,” Jack Goodison, who co-owns J. Goodison Co. at Quonset Business Park with his son Jamie, said Friday. “Now, they have the ability to come to us. It’s part of our long-term strategy to self-perform all the work.”
“This is the first time in 17 years that we’ve had direct waterfront access,” he said.
The 820C Marine Travelift Mobile Boat Hoist allowed the ship repair company to start work this week on a commercial fishing vessel from Point Judith and a crane barge from Reagan Construction Corp. in Middletown. They are undergoing steel repairs and will be painted.
The Travelift is 60 feet tall and 58 feet wide, and can lift 900 tons, Goodison said. He said it was custom-built specifically for the company as most Travelifts are only 30 feet wide.
“Boats can fit inside the machine,” he explained.
“It’s kind of breathtaking when you drive down and see this machine. It has 16 tires and each tire is 9 feet tall,” Goodison said, adding the machine by itself weighs 400 tons.

They can service boats up to 240 feet long, he said. The Travelift will allow for servicing of barges, tugs, passenger ferries, fishing vessels and more.
J. Goodison, which was founded in 1999, moved to Quonset in 2010 after being located in East Providence and Coventry. Goodison said they just finished a $9.4 million expansion of the business that included leasing approximately 6.5 acres on the waterfront from the state and the purchase of the Travelift.
Goodison said they think that once the new part of their business “gets fully up to speed,” they will hire between 30 and 50 new employees. He said they’ve already hired 12, and are looking for marine mechanics, welders, an electrician apprentice and junior engineers. They had 29 full-time employees before the most recent hiring round.
“We’re just excited that after a lot of hard work and cooperation from [Steven J.] King at [the Quonset Development Corp.] that we’re in business and the customers are on their way,” Goodison said.
The lift and business expansion was made possible by a U.S. Small Business Administration 504 loan package totaling $9.4 million that allowed J. Goodison Co. to purchase equipment for the Travelift, according to a news release from the SBA.
The loan was made possible by Coastway Community Bank, which financed $4.7 million; the $3.3 million SBA debenture was through the Ocean State Business Development Authority, SBA’s certified development authority. The remaining $1.4 million was contributed by J. Goodison Co.

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