VT Halter pursuing $20M MDA grant for expansion

PASCAGOULA — VT Halter Marine is inching closer to its goal of diversification, as it intends to pursue a $20-million grant from the Mississippi Development Authority.

Bill Skinner, VT’s CEO, tells The Mississippi Press he intends to add $12 million in company funds to “get the seed money” ready for a major expansion.

The money would come from the Katrina Supplemental Community Development Block Grant program, a program that requires the county to apply for the funds on behalf of the shipyard.

In exchange for the grant money, the company would promise to create 400 new full-time jobs within three years of project completion. Under the agreement, 51 percent of those jobs would be filled by individuals in low- to moderate-income families.