General Dynamics Corp.’s Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat Corp. has received nearly $1.1 billion more from the Navy to continue building Virginia-class submarines, and its teammate, Newport News Shipbuilding, has received a $305 million chunk of that award to procure long-lead time material and components for the next two hulls.
The contract modification, announced by the Pentagon and Reston-based General Dynamics Tuesday, brings the total contract value to $10.2 billion. It includes procuring materials and major components for the future submarines 812 and 813, which are part of the Block V in the Virginia class of fast-attack nuclear submarines. Newport News Shipbuilding announced its portion of the award, which it received from General Dynamics, Wednesday.
“These funds are critically important to stabilizing and providing predictability to the thousands of suppliers across the country who support the Virginia-class program,” Jason Ward, Newport News Shipyards’ vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction, said in a statement. “The submarine industrial base is crucial to our shipbuilding success and we look forward to continuing to build these vital national security assets that will deliver to the U.S. Navy with the latest technology.”
Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., are the nation’s only two shipyards capable of building nuclear submarines. General Dynamics in 2019 won the largest-ever Navy contract for construction of the Block V of the Virginia class, which are capable of launching Tomahawk missiles. The two companies teamed up on a construction agreement to produce the class.
The Navy has said its submarine industrial base needs to hire as many as 100,000 workers in the next decade to keep up with the construction of its new submarines.
Madeline Davis has never set foot on a Navy submarine, so she doesn’t get to see the products she makes in action.
Davis is a CNC (computer numerical control) machinist at Fairlead Integrated in Portsmouth, where she makes metal parts for the Navy’s silent service. The defense contractor supplies shipboard integrated parts, including for the Navy’s Virginia- and Columbia-class nuclear submarines. Davis has worked in her position since May 2022, after she completed a 16-week CNC machining program that March at the Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing Program, a Navy-funded, three-year pilot program managed by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research in her native Danville.
“It taught me exactly what I needed to know,” Davis, 22, says of her experience.
About 200 miles from the sea service’s largest base — Naval Station Norfolk — the program is helping transform Danville from a textile town into a critical player in national security.
ATDM, a public-private partnership between IALR, Danville Community College, the Navy, the Department of Defense and industry stakeholders, is seen as a crucial pipeline to train workers who will be essential to the nation’s defense, particularly in producing parts to repair, upfit, and build nuclear-powered nuclear-powered submarines, in coming decades. In addition to CNC manufacturing, ATDM offers four-month tracks in additive manufacturing, quality control inspection — also known as metrology — and welding. Nondestructive testing (a process by which a material is evaluated without causing damage) was added in January. With ATDM, the Navy is seeking to help meet workforce demands by condensing into four months what might otherwise take a year or two to learn.
The Navy’s nuclear submarine industrial base, which includes 17,000 suppliers and two main shipyards, including Newport News Shipbuilding, expects to need to hire as many as 100,000 workers in the next decade just to build new submarines, says Whitney Jones, who manages the program for Naval Sea Systems Command.
“That is just to build new construction submarines, not the rest of the Navy, not in-service sustaining and service platforms,” Jones says. “It’s a huge number. And when we looked at that number, we were like, OK, technology and the scale of technology is not a nice-to-have; it is an absolute imperative that we go do that.”
ATDM started training its first students in July 2021. As of May, it has produced 217 graduates, says director Debra Holley. Starting this year, it will ramp up to train 528 students, with a goal of graduating 800 to 1,000 students each year by fiscal 2025. For now, students attend the program without charge — though some may be sent by their employers for upskilling while being paid. They also receive free housing and transportation in Danville.
The program recruits nationally and, in addition to the general population, has recruiters who focus on transitioning military members and Afghan refugees who have evacuated to the United States, Holley says. About half of the participants, however, learned about the program through word of mouth, including Davis, who previously worked in retail. Another recent participant came from Texas, where she worked at a convenience store. “She heard about us … came up here, went through our program and then went to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a welder,” Holley says.
After applying online, applicants are interviewed and then reviewed by a committee, Holley says. While previous experience isn’t required, motivation is key, she says, adding that the program has recently received about three applications for every available slot.
The Navy-funded Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing Program is producing skilled manufacturing workers needed for projects such as building nuclear-powered submarines. Photo by Jamie Nabers, Boss Motion Picture Co.
Dropping anchor
ATDM, which currently has 25 staff members, including 10 instructors, announced plans in early March to fill an additional 38 positions, including 24 instructors, through late summer as it prepares for growth. It plans to hire even more support staff, including recruiters and employment outreach personnel, within the next year. Classes are currently held at IALR and have also previously been taught at DCC. The program is anticipated to move to a new, 100,000-square-foot facility in 2024. The $56 million ATDM Regional Training Center is being funded through a Navy partnership with the DoD’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program.
As of March, about 45 of ATDM’s 217 graduates have remained in Virginia for work, including some machinists and welders who have been hired by Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. The shipyard plans to fill 2,200 skilled trade positions this year and anticipates hiring as many as 19,000 more during the next decade, says shipyard spokesperson Todd Corillo. The nation’s largest builder of military ships is “committed to continuing our participation in future cohorts,” Corillo says, adding it encourages its suppliers in Southern Virginia to take advantage of the program for their hiring needs.
As ATDM grows, so too does another Navy investment in the region. In October 2022, the Navy opened its Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) within IALR’s Center for Manufacturing Advancement. That center, adjacent to the future Regional Training Center, is working with industry and academia to grow the Navy’s industrial supplier base by establishing production-ready manufacturing standards and qualifications for 3D-printed submarine parts.
The Navy sees 3D printing as a crucial technology, and it has been testing components for several years. During 2018 and 2019, a metal drain strainer produced by Newport News Shipbuilding was prototyped aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. The shipbuilder has subsequently been certified by the Navy to use some 3D-printed metal parts on carriers and submarines.
The Navy’s current supply chain can take as long as 18 months to come up with a crucial part, leading to delays in construction and repair, says Troy Simpson, a member of The Spectrum Group, which is working with ATDM and the AM CoE.
Simpson, who also formerly directed ATDM, says the AM CoE has the potential to turn Danville into the “Silicon Valley” of additive manufacturing.
Given the Navy’s needs and its investments in Danville, it appears to have dropped anchor in the region for the long term. Holley says the program is researching a tuition model if necessary. Jones says the Navy no longer sees the program as a pilot.
“I cannot overemphasize the importance of what we’re going to do down there … [for] national security,” Jones says.
The Pentagon has announced nearly $1 billion in Navy contracts for work on vessels in Hampton Roads.
Under one contract, valued at $847 million, Reston-based General Dynamics Corp.’s Norfolk-based shipyards will support emergent work, continuous maintenance, pre-refueling complex overhaul availabilities, ship terminal offload program availability and scheduled work on aircraft carriers in the mid-Atlantic through April 2030. The contract was announced Friday.
Under a second contract, valued at $115 million, Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.’s Newport News Shipbuilding division will continue its engineering overhaul of the USS Columbus, a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine, with work expected to be completed in December. The contract was announced Monday and is among two others valued at more than $1.8 billion that were received by HII from the Pentagon in April.
Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. on Tuesday announced more than $1.8 billion in contracts awarded to its mission technologies and shipbuilding divisions.
The company’s McLean-based Mission Technologies was awarded a $1.3 billion U.S. African Command Personnel Recovery Enterprise Services and Solutions (PRESS) task order, which has a one-year base period with up to six one-year options. The task order was issued by the General Services Administration’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center. Under the order, HII will provide a large-scale network of medical, rotary and fixed-wing solutions to support AFRICOM’s Warfighter Recovery Network.
Since 2021, HII has supported 91 casualty evacuation missions across East Africa area of operations under a personnel recovery and casualty evacuation services task order, the company said in a news release. HII’s work is expected to improve evacuation response and transport timelines and maximize survival rates for personnel operating in the AFRICOM area of responsibility.
AFRICOM is one of 11 united combatant commands under the U.S. Department of Defense. Headquartered in Germany, the region includes 53 African states.
“The PRESS mission goes hand-in-hand with HII’s mission to support and deliver all-domain solutions that create the advantage for the Combatant Commands in their mission to protect our national security around the world,” Mission Technologies President Andy Green said in a statement. “We are proud to partner with USAFRICOM to provide life-saving operations to the women and men who serve our nation.”
Also on Tuesday, HII announced that its Newport News Shipbuilding division received a $567.6 million subcontract modification from General Dynamics Corp.’s Groton, Connecticut-based Electric Boat Corp. to provide long-lead material and advance construction activities for Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines.
HII is currently under contract for construction of submarine modules for Build I, the first two submarines in the class: the future USS District of Columbia and USS Wisconsin. The advance procurement funds from the subcontract modification, awarded April 4, will allow the shipbuilder to purchase major components and commodity material and to begin advance construction on Build II, the next five submarines in the class.
“This contract modification underscores the critical manufacturing work our shipbuilders do for the U.S. Navy, as major contributors to the Columbia-class,” said Brandi Smith, the shipbuilder’s vice president for Columbia-class construction. “When delivered to the fleet, these submarines and their crews will protect peace and freedom around the world, in service of the nation. Our shipbuilders understand the responsibility, commitment and discipline required of them each day, and take great pride in supporting this mission.”
The Navy has designated the Columbia class its top acquisition priority. It will replace the service’s aging fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines.
Electric Boat, a subsidiary of Reston-based Fortune 500 contractor General Dynamics, is currently building the future USS District of Columbia and USS Wisconsin. Electric Boat expects to deliver the lead Columbia-class submarine to the Navy in 2027. At 560 feet long, the submarines are the largest ever built in the U.S. and will have a fuel core that will power them for their entire lifecycle, eliminating a need for midlife refueling. General Dynamics in 2019 won the largest Navy contract ever awarded for the Virginia-class nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine.
NNS is a major shipbuilding partner in the Columbia-class program, constructing and delivering six module sections per submarine under contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat.
Virginia Business asked five Hampton Roads leaders to discuss how regional cooperation could directly impact their industries, how they’re coping with staffing shortages and what their hopes are for the region’s future.
XAVIER BEALE
XAVIER BEALE
Vice president of human resources and trades, Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News
Most Hampton Roads leaders say they’d like to see more regional cooperation. What specific project or sector of the local economy do you think would benefit
most from this?
Education and workforce training. Newport News Shipbuilding is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, with more than 25,000 people, so we draw employees from throughout the region. Arbitrary lines that designate localities, school districts or community college territories have no effect on our hiring. Regional collaboration among training providers would create more effective outcomes for trainees and employers. There’s been positive progress, but more work is needed to meet the needs of the region’s current and future employers and workforce.
Which jobs are hardest for you to fill, and what is being done to improve that?
The biggest challenges right now are welders and shipfitters, as well as attracting and retaining experienced professionals with portable skills, such as engineers, business management and human resources [professionals]. Newport News Shipbuilding is taking aggressive action to recruit and retain talent — however, this is not a short-term problem. We need to hire around 21,000 people over the next 10 years, so enhancing regional pipeline programs is key. Our goal working with our community partners is to ensure we have enough skilled talent to support NNS, but also our suppliers and other businesses across our region.
ANNA BONET
ANNA BONET
CEO, Elizabeth River Crossings OpCo LLC, Portsmouth
What specific project or sector of the local economy do you think would benefit most from regional cooperation?
All companies can relate to the labor and staffing challenges right now. Together we could work to create a robust, empowered workforce.
Sustainability is another opportunity for a collective approach. Coming from Spain, I continue to be amazed by the amount of waste that is generated [here] and the lack of recycling programs. In the region, more electrical vehicles and alternate power resources such as wind and solar are needed. Together, we can become greener.
Your company finances, operates and maintains the Elizabeth River Tunnels connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth. How is toll technology changing, and can it help improve traffic congestion?
We need to provide mobility solutions for drivers, and that means making their trips more convenient. Technology is moving faster to provide solutions, some of which we are seeing already with free-flow tolling.
Free-flow tolling [using an electronic system instead of toll booths] reduces travel times for everyone, reduces crashes and creates a more reliable, predictable travel experience. Additionally, it reduces carbon emissions and improves fuel usage for drives, which is critical for the high gas prices everyone is experiencing today.
Additional technology we’re seeing more of is in-vehicle telematics, a technology built directly into the vehicle [using GPS]. In the past, telematics was only available in higher-end vehicles, but more and more manufacturers are building it into new vehicles. In-vehicle telematics communicate vehicle and travel information to improve safety and vehicle operation. In-vehicle telematics are already being used in Virginia’s new Mileage Choice Program that launched on July 1.
MARCIA CONSTON
MARCIA CONSTON
President, Tidewater Community College, Norfolk
What specific project or sector of the local economy do you think would benefit most from regional cooperation?
Supporting the development of offshore wind in Hampton Roads will require regional cooperation to recruit, train and upskill an emerging workforce. Today and in the coming years, the need for skilled laborers to support the various areas required to build, install and maintain offshore wind turbines will continue to increase. This growing industry will provide generations with opportunities for employment as the region comes together to support this innovative technology.
Community colleges are a critical provider of workforce training in Virginia. How does that impact TCC’s goals and offerings?
As one of the largest providers of higher education and workforce services in Hampton Roads, TCC’s vision is “to be our community’s first choice for education, opportunity, partnership and innovation.”
To achieve this vision, the college remains focused on providing our industry partners with a skilled workforce to help support their goals. We continue to expand our workforce and career and technical offerings to meet the increasing demands of the region in health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and, eventually, wind technology. This growth is a common thread in our strategic plan, Innovate 2026, which aligns the college’s goals with current and future endeavors for our region.
As we continue to transform training throughout the region, it is important that TCC is serving not only adult learners looking to change careers or expand their industry knowledge, but also the next generation of skilled technicians through our dual-enrollment program. This program offers high school students an opportunity to earn college credit before graduation in areas that will propel Hampton Roads’ workforce forward.
STEPHEN EDWARDS
STEPHEN EDWARDS
CEO and executive director, Virginia Port Authority, Norfolk
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A. is renting part of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal to build its first North American factory to manufacture turbine blades for offshore-wind farms. Is the port open to leasing more land to other companies?
We are always open to the possibilities of private investment inside of our terminals. While Siemens Gamesa is a good example, it is not the first company to lease space on Virginia Port Authority property.
At Richmond Marine Terminal, Scoular Co., a large international grain exporter, has operations, and at Norfolk International Terminals, another larger grain and feed exporter, Fornazor International Inc., has operations. We are also talking with a company about the possibilities of developing an export operation inside the terminal at Virginia Inland Port. The goal is to find the best fit and a long-term commitment with a growing company that needs to reach markets across the globe.
How is the port handling hiring and retaining employees, particularly in the current labor market?
To remain competitive with current workforce challenges, our recruitment efforts have shifted to focus on tapping into local talent partners for support and networking with skill-specific partners. We have also enhanced our partnerships with local associations and institutions to create a talent pipeline for both current and future hiring needs. Internally, we are elevating our workforce by being more intentional in our leadership and development programs [and] benefit and compensation offerings, as well as other engagement initiatives.
DENNIS MATHEIS
DENNIS MATHEIS
President and CEO, Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk
Sentara is collaborating with Old Dominion and Norfolk State universities and Eastern Virginia Medical School to establish a collaborative academic health center and school of public health. How do you expect this to improve the region’s health care and workforce training efforts?
Working with our regional health care and educational partners to create an integrated, state university-based medical school is something I am very passionate about.
All four organizations — ODU, NSU, EVMS and Sentara — are committed to tackling health care access, health equity and other pressing public health issues in our region. The ONE School of Public Health will help us closely align efforts that have traditionally been fragmented, to address these issues more efficiently and effectively. It also will strengthen our region’s educational research capabilities, help attract and develop the talent we need in the future and secure more robust funding through federal, state and private resources.
How is Sentara working to attract and retain employees, especially in-demand health care professionals?
Over the years, we’ve implemented numerous creative strategies to help us address staffing challenges and hard-to-fill positions, including the development of an internal staffing pool that allows us to deploy our own highly qualified clinical professionals throughout the system when and where they are needed.
Nonetheless, long-term solutions must be implemented alongside shorter-term changes. Prior to the pandemic, a national clinician shortage was predicted to slowly extend through 2030. The pandemic exacerbated the confluence of factors contributing to the labor shortage, accelerating and amplifying it. Sentara is expending considerable effort, education and resources toward workforce pipeline development, especially around school-age children and young adults. This work is vital to the long-term sustainability of our collective health and well-being.
Newport News Shipbuilding has announced several leadership changes as the shipyard attempts to optimize and speed operations.
Matt Needy is now vice president and chief transformation officer, after previously serving as vice president of Navy programs. In his new role, Needy is responsible for executing Newport News’ strategies, advanced development of business growth — including the next-generation attack submarine — enterprise-wide improvement, operational health and risk-opportunity management. He has worked for the shipyard for more than three decades.
With Needy’s promotion, the shipyard named Bryan Caccavale as vice president of Navy programs, a promotion from vice president of material and manufacturing. Caccavale’s leadership and financial experiences will benefit program execution and financial performance of the ships built and maintained by Newport News, the shipyard said in a news release Wednesday. Caccavale has worked in several roles at Newport News since joining in 2012, including director of business management for submarine programs, director of business management for Navy programs and vice president of supply chain management, according to his LinkedIn account.
Along with the leadership shifts, the shipyard is restructuring its material and manufacturing parts back into separate stand-alone divisions. Cullen Glass, who has served as director of supply chain management, has been promoted to vice president of supply chain management. He is responsible for all procurement, outsourcing and material logistics for the shipyard. Glass joined the shipyard in 2019 as corporate director of enterprise after spending 18 years at Honeywell.
Julia Jones will remain in her position of vice president of manufacturing.
The changes build on the shipyard’s multi-year modernization efforts to safely and efficiently deliver aircraft carriers and submarines to the Navy. That includes an integrated digital shipbuilding program, which Newport News said has been critical in the completion of the recent completion of modernization of the county’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford — built at Newport News — as well as the launch of Virginia-class submarine USS New Jersey and construction of the first digitally designed and built Ford-class carrier, the upcoming USS Enterprise.
“We have been on an aggressive journey to transform the way we run our business. Accomplishing this transformation while running our complex business is not a simple task,” Jennifer Boykin, president of Newport News Shipbuilding, said in a statement. “Our Navy customer expects us to deliver ships on time and on budget so they can meet the evolving demands of the global security environment. Our ultimate success depends on the acceleration of these efforts led by experienced leaders.”
Newport News Shipbuilding is a division of Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries. HII is Virginia’s largest industrial employer with a workforce of more than 44,000 people, including Newport News Shipbuilding.
Shipbuilders at Newport News Shipbuilding got to see some of their work on the big screen when they were treated to early viewings of “Top Gun: Maverick” this week.
The latest film about Navy aviator Pete “Maverick” Mitchell – starring Tom Cruise – is touching down in theaters across the country and features the aircraft carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Theodore Roosevelt. Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the country’s only builder of nuclear aircraft carriers.
About 800 shipbuilders were invited to two screenings of the new movie and 1,200 vouchers have been provided for additional shipbuilders to satisfy their need for speed.
“This team builds the most powerful and survivable ships in the world in support of national security,” Danyelle Saunders, who leads the shipyard’s engagement, diversity and inclusion office, said in a statement. “We’re excited that the movie shines a light on their hard work, and showcases how these incredibly capable platforms function on behalf of the country.”
The Abraham Lincoln now calls Bremerton, Washington, home but the flattop spent seven years in Hampton Roads while it underwent its mid-life refueling and overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding, a process that takes four years. During that time, the carrier, which left Hampton Roads in 2019, became the first in the Navy’s fleet of 10 Nimitz-class flattops capable of accommodating the service’s F-35C Lightning II aircraft. The San Diego-based Theodore Roosevelt completed its refueling at the shipyard and was redelivered to the Navy in 2013.
Retired Navy Vice Adm. DeWolfe “Chip” Miller contributed to the production of the movie when he commanded Naval Air Forces, a position he held from 2018 through early 2021. He is now corporate vice president of customer affairs for HII.
“The aircraft carriers we build are the most technologically advanced in the world,” Miller said. “We deliver them to the U.S. Navy who man, train and equip sailors who breathe life into these magnificent machines and take them to sea. Together, we are an unstoppable team: shipbuilders and sailors. Our country needs that team now more than ever.”
The original “Top Gun” movie, released in 1986, became a recruitment tool for the Navy. As the service and its shipbuilders celebrate the centennial of the aircraft carrier, its sequel could fuel interest once again.
HII is Virginia’s largest industrial employer and includes a workforce of more than 44,000 people, including at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries has named Brandi Smith vice president of the Columbia class submarine program at its Newport News Shipbuilding division.
Smith succeeds Charles Southall, who is retiring July 1 after more than 35 years, HII said in a news release Thursday.
Charles Southall
The Columbia class has long been the Navy’s top acquisition priority. The 12 boats from its class are eventually expected to replace the service’s aging fleet of 14 Ohio-class nuclear submarines.
Southall started at the shipyard in 1986 as an engineering intern in the submarine program and has served in various roles of increasing responsibility. He established the Columbia-class submarine program office during his tenure as director of advanced submarine programs. Southall also served as the division’s chief engineer and engineering vice president, responsible for leading engineering efforts across all Navy programs.
“Since the very beginning of his career, Charles has demonstrated deep commitment and ownership for every program, every assignment and every ship he has supported,” Newport News Shipbuilding President Jennifer Boykin said in a statement. “His leadership and technical acumen have shaped the design and construction of our nuclear fleet for more than three decades, and his impact will endure for generations to come.”
Smith will start her new role June 1. He responsibilities will include leading companywide management and leadership of the Columbia program, including overseeing costs, schedules and technical performance. She started at the shipyard in 2002 as an engineer in the aircraft carrier overhaul program and has held varying roles, including interim director of construction engineering for the Ford class as well as engineering lead for integrated digital shipbuilding. She most recently served as construction program director for the Columbia class.
“Brandi’s experiences encompass a breadth of service on every ship class in our portfolio from ‘design-build’ through ‘in-service’ maintenance,” Boykin said. “Her academic, technical, industrial and proven leadership has uniquely prepared her for this role.”
Smith received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s degree in business administration from William and Mary.
HII is Virginia’s largest industrial employer and includes a workforce of more than 44,000 people, including at Newport News Shipbuilding.
Leaders from Virginia’s maritime and logistics industries share their thoughts about where their sectors stand amid labor shortages, growing cargo volumes and the pandemic’s lingering impacts.
Devon C. Anders. Photo by Norm Shafer
Devon C. Anders
President, InterChange Group Inc.;
Chair, Virginia Maritime Association Valley Logistics Chapter
Harrisonburg
VB:How is your company hiring and retaining staff?
Anders: We have intensified through omnichannel recruitment, including social media, local television, testimonials, referrals and sign-on bonuses. These, along with a commitment to a positive culture, leadership training, increased compensation, a new health clinic and other initiatives, have helped retain and add to our team. We are continuing to implement automation and other ways to optimize handling in a shrinking labor market.
VB:How is the supply chain strain affecting your business and clients?
Anders: The last two years have caused a higher demand for space due to e-commerce and removing pre-pandemic just-in-time inventory models. However, the utilization of this space remains a challenge.
Customers cannot procure all the necessary ingredients and packaging to manufacture to meet demand. Products are turning faster, but inventories are not rising. This appears to be far from over as supply chains are still very strained due to raw material shortages and geopolitical concerns. I believe continued inflation and increasing interest rates will soon dampen demand, and that will produce other opportunities.
VB: What do you hope to see happen in terms of federal or state policy that will help the logistics industry?
Anders: All participants in the supply chain will benefit from modifications of commercial driver’s license requirements, thereby increasing the candidate pool. A significant constraint in the supply chain comes from the pre-pandemic truck driver shortage that has been further exacerbated [since then]. Additionally, legislation and regulations surrounding demurrage and detention of ocean containers is sorely needed.
Nancy Grden. Photo by Mark Rhodes
Nancy Grden
Executive director, Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation; Associate vice president, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Norfolk
VB: What will be the biggest factor impacting the maritime industry in the next five years?
Grden: The biggest factor — and opportunity — for the industry is innovation! A recent report, “A Pathway for Maritime Innovation in Hampton Roads,” by TEConomy Partners, noted the unique mix of major economic drivers … related to maritime. The study names four cross-cutting areas of innovation — autonomous systems, digital transformation, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing — that present immediate opportunity for Hampton Roads and the commonwealth. The report also recommended four specific pathways, which are in various stages of planning and implementation.
VB:How will the collaborative play a role in that?
Grden: HRMC is an umbrella organization and was formed to recognize and coordinate the array of assets and initiatives Hampton Roads has in its broad maritime and water ecosystem. HRMC identified innovation as a major area of focus for the future, and through Reinvent Hampton Roads and Old Dominion University, sponsored the TEConomy report mentioned above. In addition, HRMC was an early and strong supporter for Old Dominion University to play a leadership role in the region’s maritime economy; build and expand its existing related academic programs and research centers; and be globally recognized as an institution focused on maritime. ODU President Brian O. Hemphill announced the ODU Maritime Initiative last November, and there is an active national search underway now for the leader.
VB: What is your biggest challenge in hiring and retaining employees?
Boykin:To do the work that we do, we need to hire and retain a highly trained workforce with a wealth of knowledge and experience.
An important component to retaining this key talent is listening to our people and acting on the valuable feedback we receive. Based on these conversations, we’re taking action to enable our workforce by providing development opportunities and fostering a work environment that inspires our shipbuilders to be their best. The labor pool is smaller and the competition for talent is greater than it has been in years past, and we’re seeing the same recruitment challenges as employers across the country. Yet, despite these challenges, I am confident we will continue to hire and retain future generations of shipbuilders.
VB: Are there any supply chain issues affecting your current backlog of projects?
Boykin:The shipbuilding supply base faces many of the same challenges that we experience at Newport News Shipbuilding. After two years of pandemic impacts, many of our suppliers are now challenged with securing, developing and retaining a proficient workforce in a tight labor market. These factors can impact production schedules and also the price of materials. NNS actively partners with our suppliers to mitigate risks and minimize the pressure on ship construction efforts.
Our Navy partner also plays a critical role in managing supply base risk. Specifically, some of our contracts include funding for investment in supplier development and risk mitigation strategies. This provides an opportunity for suppliers to prepare their facilities, processes and workforces to meet the no-fail mission of delivering quality ships to the Navy.
Deborah C. Waters
Deborah C. Waters
President, Waters Law Firm PC; Commissioner, Virginia Port Authority
Norfolk
VB: What’s the biggest challenge facing Virginia’s maritime industry?
Waters: The biggest challenge is development of a pipeline for an educated and skilled workforce sufficient to satisfy and promote steady growth in the maritime and extended supply chain. In the past five years, Virginia invested over a billion dollars to upgrade its state-owned port facilities to some of the most advanced and efficient in the world; invested hundreds of millions of dollars to support Virginia economic development and growth in a variety of ways that are making a difference; and nurtured and developed cohesive relationships in the industry in Virginia and around the globe to create a network of cooperation to further the economic interests of the commonwealth and its citizens. The resulting past and anticipated commercial success have showcased the urgent need for targeted avenues of education and training in the field.
Due to market forces exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused an unprecedented demand for goods, the flow of the global supply chain — of which the maritime industry is a significant part — has been crushed and clogged as businesses and their workforces strained to maintain business continuity. Yet, new and established businesses using modern technology opened in all parts of the commonwealth, creating high demand for an educated and skilled workforce at all levels.
Virginia must rise to the challenge of supplementing its existing workforce by providing avenues such as STEM programs, apprenticeships [and] technical training and management education, such as ODU’s Maritime and Supply Chain Management program. The need to support education of our workforce is urgent but will pay long-term dividends in the form of quality jobs for families who live in the region and beyond.
David C. White
David C. White
Executive director, Virginia Maritime Association; Executive vice president, Hampton Roads Shipping Association
Norfolk
VB: What will be the biggest factor affecting the maritime industry in the next five years?
White: The overall amount of work and change, which will occur on multiple fronts, and having the people to meet those demands. Cargo volumes, shipbuilding and ship repair workloads, offshore wind development, and maritime and transportation infrastructure projects are all positioned for growth. Concurrently, we expect to see deployment of innovative technologies, many designed to meet increasing pressures to improve supply chains, mitigate cybersecurity threats and meet decarbonization goals and requirements. It is important to also consider the effects of higher costs and that Russia’s war on Ukraine is a sudden wild card, with particular implications for cyberthreats, trade relations, and energy policy.
VB: What do you hope to see happen in terms of federal or state policy that will help the maritime industry?
White: The VMA continues to inform lawmakers and executive branch leadership about the challenges and opportunities in front of our industry and encourage them to make needed investments. We must complete the dredging to make our shipping channels the widest and deepest on the East Coast, increase the cargo handling capacity of our marine terminals and freight corridors, increase our inventory of shovel-ready sites for industrial development, and seize on the opportunity to become a hub for offshore wind.
Beginning in K-12, we must modernize and expand our education and training programs, so they better prepare more people who are interested [in] and prepared for the opportunities our employers offer. The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but there will be fierce competition between states for these dollars. Winning requires coordination and collaboration between industry, Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, the General Assembly and Virginia’s congressional delegation.
Tommy White
Tommy White
Vice president, California Cartage Co.; Director, Virginia Maritime Association
Suffolk
VB: What will be the biggest factor impacting the maritime industry in the next five years?
White: There are several areas that will play a big role in the next five years, from labor to port congestion, which have had a negative effect on the supply chain. I would expect after the next five years, we will see more manufacturing return stateside if we can solve the labor issue. Our warehouses and distribution system will become more automated over the next few years due to the increase in competition for — and lack of — labor.
VB: How is the supply chain strain affecting your business and clients?
White:Over the last two years we [have seen] record volume levels, but [have been] working with fewer resources … from personnel to equipment due to pandemic. My staff has worked from the office the entire time to make sure that, as an essential business, our customers and end users received
high-quality service.
VB: What do you hope to see happen in terms of federal or state policy that will help the maritime industry?
White:On a federal level, I’d like to see some reforms on how much steamship lines are allowed to charge beneficial cargo owners and trucking companies for goods that remain at the ports due to lack of ability to move them, and investment from the state recognizing the importance of the maritime industry.
On March 20, 1922, the U.S. Navy commissioned its first aircraft carrier: the USS Langley.
A century later, the Navy is hosting centennial events around the country, including in Norfolk, where the USS Langley was converted into the Navy’s first carrier from the USS Jupiter, the Navy’s first electrically propelled ship. The Jupiter was decommissioned in Hampton Roads in 1920, and workers at the Norfolk Navy Yard worked on it for two years, leading to its recommissioning as the Langley.
Today, the aircraft carrier business is a much bigger deal in Hampton Roads, where Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division, which began building carriers in 1934, is the country’s only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier builder and the state’s largest industrial employer.
“The business environment, the industrial base and the workforce are all absolutely vital to our ability to operate and continue to maintain our ships,” says Rear Adm. John F. Meier, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic. “We literally could not do it without the Hampton Roads area.”
Aircraft carriers “revolutionized combat at sea,” playing a major role in World War II, says retired Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, executive director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance.
Today, NNS is working on the next generation of carriers. The nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford-class includes four flattops planned for delivery to the Navy by 2023.
The Ford-class is a dramatic advance from the aging 10-ship Nimitz-class, the first of which was commissioned in 1975. Among the 23 new technologies on the Ford-class carriers are Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems (EMALS) — replacing steam-driven systems — and electric elevators, which require less maintenance than the hydraulic ones they’re superseding. EMALs allow for better control and put less stress on aircraft, says Brian Fields, NNS’ vice president of aircraft carrier construction. Upgraded electromagnetic weapons elevators are expected to move ordnance through the ship more efficiently, helping it achieve its mission of launching and recovering aircraft faster.
Ford-class carriers are designed to dock for maintenance less frequently, Fields says, and will require about 600 fewer sailors than the Nimitz-class carriers. Over a Ford-class carrier’s 50-year lifespan, the Navy estimates it will spend $4 billion less per ship than on a Nimitz-class carrier, thanks to reduced maintenance and crew member requirements.
The first ship in this class, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has been delivered to the Navy, with its maiden deployment expected this fall. The Navy originally estimated the Ford would cost about $10.49 billion, but the ship’s cost escalated to $13.3 billion, making it the most expensive Navy ship built to date.
The Ford’s keel-laying ceremony —similar to a construction site’s ground-breaking — took place in 2009, when NNS was Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. NNS delivered the Ford to the Navy in 2017, two years later than targeted, and then-President Donald Trump commissioned it in July 2017, although it still required more work before deployment.
Each new major technology system on the Ford came with its own challenges, says Meier, who was the Ford’s first commanding officer. “If there’s a lesson learned here,” he says, “it’s probably you don’t want to put that much new technology on a ship at a single time.”
In March, NNS announced it had finished a six-month maintenance period on the Ford. “We’re really proud of her and what she’s going to be able to do for the Navy,” Fields says.
Meanwhile, the next Ford-class carrier, the USS John F. Kennedy, has about two years’ more work to go before its delivery, Fields says. The ship is in the process of being turned over to the Navy.
Along with the Kennedy, two Nimitz-class carriers are at NNS: the USS George Washington and the USS John C. Stennis are at the shipyard for their midlife refueling and complex overhaul. NNS is the only shipyard that performs that work, a process that costs billions of dollars and takes several years to complete.
The Navy completed a double-ship buy for the third and fourth Ford-class carriers — the USS Enterprise and the USS Doris Miller — which allows for quicker and less expensive builds. NNS is working with the Navy and the ship’s sponsors — U.S. Olympians Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky — to find a date this year for the Enterprise’s keel-laying ceremony. (Traditionally women, ship’s sponsors perform ceremonial duties for a ship, including smashing a bottle on its bow during the ship’s christening.)
The USS Doris Miller, named for the first Black American awarded the Navy Cross after he was killed in action during World War II, is in the initial stages of construction but, thanks to the block purchase, her design and parts procurement has advanced, Fields says. Currently, NNS is building structural pieces for the craft.
More than 31,000 people in Virginia work on aircraft carriers or in indirect jobs related to the industry, and 403 businesses in the state supply carrier parts, according to the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition. NNS employs about 25,000 people total, and approximately 8,000 hourly workers are assigned to new carrier construction and Nimitz-class overhauls.
“It’s kind of a part of our DNA, of who we are as a region,” Quigley says. “We’re very proud of our wide and deep association with the Navy in Hampton Roads, and to be the only producer in the nation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers is something the region is very proud of.”
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