SeaPort Manatee receives $2M state grant for infrastructure upgrades

Gov. Ron DeSantis visited SeaPort Manatee on March 14 to present a $2 million check for infrastructure upgrades. The grant comes from the Florida Job Growth Grant Fund through the Florida Department of Commerce.

Funds will be used to reconstruct South Dock Street, which links SeaPort Manatee’s South Gate complex with US 41. 

“This award will help fulfill the demand from current and new businesses as they expand their operations and create new jobs,” DeSantis says in a statement. In addition to funding reconstruction and repaving, the grant will help provide critical stormwater mitigation improvements.

The goal is to accommodate heavy truck traffic; since the South Gate opened in 2023, it has experienced a “dramatic increase in activity,” port officials say, noting the two gates combined handle more than 1 million trucks a year, for an average of two vehicles a minute.

Increases in truck traffic mirror activity being up at the port overall. In fiscal year 2024, SeaPort Manatee handled a record amount of cargo, with 11.8 million tons moving through, up more than 7% from 2023.

“Everywhere you look in the region, you can see the impact of SeaPort Manatee on the daily lives of Floridians,” DeSantis says in the statement. Key commodities SeaPort Manatee moves include fresh produce, fruit juices, construction and road-building materials and phosphate rock as well as gasoline and other fuels.

“Seaports are the backbone of Florida’s supply chain and with the growth at SeaPort Manatee, infrastructure investments are critically needed,” Florida Department of Secretary Jared W. Perdue says in a statement.

The project to upgrade infrastructure at the port is expected to create 300 jobs, according to a statement from DeSantis’ office, which says it will support an expansion for Honeywell and attract new businesses over the next five years, including a cold storage warehouse, fuel terminal and manufacturing facility.

“With your support,” Manatee County Port Authority Chairman Mike Rahn says, acknowledging DeSantis, FDOT and the commerce department, “SeaPort Manatee continues to grow and thrive as the best seaport in Florida.”

The $2 million infrastructure grant is the latest from the state, which also provided $9.5 million in recovery funding to jumpstart relief efforts after Hurricane Milton.

SeaPort Manatee, which is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the Panama Canal, is self-sustaining and does not receive any local property tax support. It generates nearly $7.3 billion in annual economic impacts while providing for more than 42,000 direct and indirect jobs.