The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard have entered into another year as a partner in St. Martin de Porres High School’s Corporate Work Study Program. Four students, one from each grade level, work one day a week in various departments at the Company headquarters to help fund about 50% of the cost of their education. The relationship between the school and the Company is aimed at assisting the young men and women develop habits that give them an introduction to the marine industry and enable them to be successful in college, careers, and life.
St. Martin de Porres, a Cleveland-based Cristo Rey Network school, aims to “to transform urban Cleveland one student at a time” by offering college preparatory education to students of modest economic means.
Stephon Fisher, freshman, works in Accounting and Purchasing; Te'Sante Benjamin, sophomore, works with Human Resources; Tatayana Moore, junior, works in Accounting and Purchasing; and Regine Phillips-Collins, senior, in her second year with the Company, is working in the Operations Department.
Great Lakes Shipyard is a full-service yard specializing in new construction and repairs of all types of vessels and barges. Current projects include repairs on the US Coast Guard Cutter Buckthorn and the US Army Corps of Engineers tug Mike Donlon and the construction of two state-of-the-art ASD tractor tugs for Caribbean Tugz, LLC, an affiliate of Seacor Holdings, Inc.
The Great Lakes Towing Company also operates the largest fleet of tugs on the Great Lakes serving 40 ports and has been in continuous business since 1899.