HOLLAND — The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest coalition speaking for shipping on the Great Lakes, will present U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga with its Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at a 4 p.m. ceremony hosted by The King Co., a Holland marine construction and dredging company.

The 25-minute program is scheduled to end at 4:25 p.m., according to a copy of the ceremony program obtained by The Hollander. Eric Peace, the task force's secretary and vice president of the Lake Carriers' Association, will open with introductions and a talk about the coalition. Brian McCauley, operations manager for The King Co., will welcome guests as host. Peace and other task force members will then present the award, and Huizenga, R-Holland Township, will accept it.

Who is giving the award

The task force has nearly 80 members, according to the program. They include labor and management from U.S.-flag shipping companies, shipboard and longshore unions, port authorities, cargo shippers, terminal operators and shipyards. The coalition says the Great Lakes commercial shipping industry supports more than 147,000 American jobs in eight states and more than $25 billion in economic activity. The King Co. is a member of the coalition.

The group gives an annual Great Lakes Legislator of the Year award. Its awards page lists one earlier Lifetime Achievement honoree: former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who received it in April 2024. This year's Legislator of the Year award went to U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., in April.

Huizenga's record on Great Lakes shipping

This is not the first time the coalition has honored Huizenga. It named him its 2014 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year, when then-president Jim Weakley credited his "laser-like focus" on the dredging backlog at Great Lakes harbors. Weakley also pointed to Huizenga's work on dredging provisions in that year's federal water resources bill and his support for icebreaking.

• Harbor dredging money: In 2015, the House approved an amendment from Huizenga and Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., that restored $36 million to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, the fund paid by shippers that pays for dredging. His office says he also helped increase the share of that fund that goes to the Great Lakes in 2020.
• Holland Harbor: The Army Corps of Engineers' 2025 work plan included $20.3 million for Holland Harbor, along with money for Saugatuck, South Haven and St. Joseph harbors.
• Icebreaker: In June 2025, Huizenga led Great Lakes House members in asking Senate leaders to restore money for a new Great Lakes Coast Guard icebreaker that the Senate had cut from its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill. He said the U.S. economy lost more than $1 billion and 5,000 jobs in the winter of 2018-19 because of inadequate icebreaking on the Lakes.

The King Co. was started in 1983 by father and son Dean and Randy King and now has more than 50 employees, according to its website. The company does maintenance dredging of federal harbors for the Army Corps of Engineers. It dredged Grand Haven's inner harbor last fall and has repeatedly held the contract to dredge Manistee Harbor. Its offices are at 13520 Barry St. in Holland.

Huizenga, who has represented West Michigan in Congress since 2011, is seeking a ninth term in the 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, Nov. 3. He faces Democrat Sean McCann, a state senator from Kalamazoo, and Green Party candidate Shafina Barnett. The Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up, the Detroit Free Press reported Oct. 20.