Without financial aid, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard will close by July

Pennsylvania's share was $182 million for reconstruction of the yard. The remainder, largely for job training, came from the federal and city governments and the Delaware River Port Authority.

An analysis commissioned by Ridge and conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, estimated it would take two decades - until 2017 - to recoup the public spending in taxes.

In 2006, the Heinz School's Center for Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon assessed the shipyard's impact on the region: 1,069 jobs, with wages of $55.2 million; an "indirect" economic benefit, including suppliers and construction, of 7,874 jobs, with wages of $217.2 million; state taxes of $2.7 million, and total local taxes (city wage, property, and business income) of $7 million annually.

"We have the best shipbuilding facility in the United States, bar none," Stamatakis said. "We have averaged 1,000 jobs a year in that yard. The economic impact has been hundreds of millions of dollars."

The Shipyard's Economic Impact

Jobs: 1,069, with wages

of $55.2 million.

Direct and indirect employment (including suppliers and construction): 7,874 jobs,

with wages of $217.2 million.

Pennsylvania state taxes:

$2.7 million.

Philadelphia wage taxes:

$3.0 million.

City property taxes: $3.8 million.

City business income taxes: $246,882.

Total city taxes: $7 million.

SOURCE: A 2006 assessment by the Heinz School Center for Economic Development

at Carnegie Mellon University.