Page 39: of Marine News Magazine (November 2020)

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WORKBOATS he Great Lakes Towing Midwest states became the great-

Company (GLT) and the est industrial dynamo in the world.

Great Lakes Shipyard are Waterborne transport was critical to core businesses within The that success. The Great Lakes Group

T

Great Lakes Group of Companies, has been a dominant maritime player based in Cleveland, on the Old Riv- during that entire century. Over the er, a shipping channel that runs west decades, the company continuously from where the Cuyahoga River meets evolved to meet the changing de-

Lake Erie. Company towing opera- mands of the agricultural, steel and tions extend from Buffalo, N.Y. in construction industries, and the needs the east to Duluth, Minn. in the west. of the ships and tug/barge units which

Great Lakes Towing owns and oper- serve those industries.

ates the largest U.S.-? agged tugboat Today, The Great Lakes Towing ? eet on the Great Lakes, serving more Company (a privately owned sub- than 35 ports in all eight U.S. Great chapter S corporation) has about 100

Lakes states. Services include harbor full time employees. Joe Starck, who towing, docking and undocking as- joined the company in 1991, is cur- sistance, ice breaking and inter-port rent president.

towing of vessels and barges. Many of GL’s executives have been with the company for over 20 years.

GREAT BONES Their expertise ranges from vessel de-

The Great Lakes Group has deep sign, to project management, to vessel roots in America’s industrial business construction and repair. “As a small history; almost mythic, really. Con- company,” Starck commented, “most sider: in 1899 John D. Rockefeller employees wear many hats. One core was the founding shareholder. strength across our team is the ability

Over the next century America’s to multitask, maintain ? exibility and www.marinelink.com