Government comes through for Wisconsin builder

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Wisconsin lawmakers approved funding yesterday to dredge the Manitowoc River, making it easier for yacht manufacturer Burger Boat to launch its new, larger boats, ABC television affiliate WBAY, reported on its Web site yesterday.

Burger CEO and president David Ross said without the dredging, its boats would just stick in the mud.

“We were in a bind here,” Ross told the station, “and had to come up with some method of dredging and making our water draft even deeper, so we were up against a wall, and fortunately government came through just in time for us.”

“What this does now is give us the ability to launch not only these vessels but to build even larger vessels that are in our plan, and continue to hire more people and grow our company,” Ross said.

The Manitowoc company employs more than 400 people full-time.

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