J. Goodison Co. expanding marine services business 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 – J. Goodison Co. will expand its marine services business onto a newly improved, waterfront site at the Quonset Business Park, and with a new mobile ship hoist, begin servicing vessels as large as barges and passenger ferries.
The company has purchased for $4 million a Marine Travelift 820 C, which is capable of lifting 820 metric tons. It can accommodate a range of vessels, from 60-foot boats up to 263-foot mega-yachts, as well as fishing boats and tugboats. By spring, the hoist will be incorporated into an expanded, 6-acre site for the company with direct access to Narragansett Bay.
Jack Goodison, a company co-owner, said he expected to begin dry-dock services at the new shipyard in July. When the boat lift arrives, it will provide J. Goodison with the tallest and widest capacity in the Northeast, he said, second only to a shipyard in Norfolk, Va. for lifting capacity.
The size of the hoist will allow the company to compete for the repair and service business of tugboat and ferry companies in New York, he said, as well as the commercial fishing fleets in New England.
J. Goodison, which now has 30 full-time and 50 part-time employees, anticipates adding another 30- to 50 full-time workers to accommodate the anticipated business, Goodison said.
The company recently signed a lease for the waterfront property at Quonset Business Park, which is operated by the Quonset Development Corp.
While the Northeast has many facilities for repair of pleasure boats, the shipyards that can service heavy commercial vessels are few and far between, Goodison said. The investment locally will pay off, he said, as the Rhode Island location is strategic.
“In the Northeast, shipyards have been dying off, one at a time,” Goodison said.
The lift was purchased with the assistance of a federal small business loan, Goodison said. The company is making another $4 million investment into equipment and improvements for its shipyard at Quonset Business Park.
The federal Economic Development Agency had provided a $6 million grant to spur cleanup of the site on the waterfront, which was formerly a Navy-era power plant, according to a spokesman for Quonset Business Park. The Quonset Development Corp. provided $1.5 million in matching funds for improvements, including a replacement of the Zarbo Avenue bulkhead, said Ted Kresse, a Quonset spokesman.
J. Goodison Company, which was founded by Jack Goodison and his son, Jamie, in 1999, already services vessels such as NOAA and U.S. Coast Guard cutters and ice-breakers. The new hoist will accommodate repair work to vessels such as commercial fishing boats, dinner cruise vessels and passenger ferries.
Goodison said the new waterfront shipyard will allow J. Goodison to service customers more efficiently, provide a broader range of services and at more competitive prices.
The fishing vessels, for example, often now visit dry docks in Fairhaven, Mass., but because the incoming lift will be able to carry greater weights, the boats would not have to offload weight, if they need speedy repairs, Goodison said.
In statements released Wednesday, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and other elected officials representing Rhode Island praised the private-public investment at Quonset.
“The federal and QDC resources resulting in J. Goodison’s investments show that our state can help companies succeed here and bring more jobs to the Ocean State,” Raimondo said.

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