At Ellicott Dredge Enterprises LLC, a more than century-old manufacturer in Southwest Baltimore, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew stepped aboard a "Dragon" dredge bound for Indonesia, saw how dredging impellers are made and watched welders at work in a shower of sparks.
During a Monday visit to Baltimore, Lew stopped at Ellicott, which built all the dredges used in the original construction of the Panama Canal, to "highlight the Obama administration's commitment to investing in infrastructure," said Casey Hernandez, Treasury's acting deputy assistant secretary, public affairs.
The Cabinet secretary toured the cavernous plant that has designed and made more than 2,500 dredges for customers in more than 80 countries for functions such as harbor and navigation maintenance, river and channel dredging, erosion control, environmental cleanup, sand mining, and other uses.
Lew, joined by Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin and led by Ellicott executives and managers, did not address reporters or take questions during the hour-long visit. It's the same facility President Barack Obama visited in May 2013.
The company said its work illustrated the importance of infrastructure-related industries. Its equipment is heavily used in developing countries, where products help in mining, environmental cleanup and acquisition of raw materials, said Craig Murdock, Ellicott's general manager.
"A lot of people don't equate dredging with infrastructure," he said. But "dredging is right in the center of that."
The company, founded in 1885 and located on Bush Street since 1900, is the largest maker of dredging equipment in the United States. Companies in Germany, the Netherlands and China are among its biggest rivals.
To stay competitive, Ellicott has had to scale back, shedding about half its factory workforce over the past few years. It now employs 110 in Baltimore, including about 34 plant workers as well as engineers and designers at its headquarters.
It is focusing on building a future work force through training and apprenticeship programs and producing new and redesigned dredge models as well as offering service around the globe to repair or replace parts, Murdock said.
"It's no longer just about selling," Murdock said.