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Two Connecticut House members have launched a new "maritime workforce campaign" in conjunction with the Navy and industry that aims to attract workers to the shipbuilding industry and improve submarine output, according to a Tuesday announcement from House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee Ranking Member Joe Courtney (D-CT).
The initiative, titled “Hire Hartford,” is a collaborative effort between Courtney, fellow House Democrat John Larson (CT), the Navy, Connecticut-based shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat and other workforce partners and suppliers, according to the announcement.
Its purpose is to “build awareness for jobs across the maritime industry and connect workers to job training and employers,” the notice states, emphasizing the need to “meet submarine demand.”
Electric Boat’s Groton, CT shipyard is responsible for building both the Navy’s submarine programs -- Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and multimission Virginia-class boats -- in collaboration with HII’s Virginia-based Newport News Shipbuilding.
The companies are struggling to meet the Navy’s desired production schedules for both vessels due to a variety of factors including workforce and supply chain challenges. Both Electric Boat and HII are working to improve hiring and retention, with HII aiming to hire approximately 6,000 new personnel in 2024.
According to today’s announcement, the new initiative is based on the prior “Project Providence” campaign of 2023, which resulted in the hiring of 155 personnel at Electric Boat’s 2023 and 2024 Rhode Island signing day, compared to just 14 hires during the previous year’s event.
Additionally, Project Providence “more than doubled the number of workers who completed Rhode Island Trades Training, which prepares workers for metal trade jobs across the entire supply chain,” the notice adds.
While the Navy’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposes a five-year, $11.1 billion submarine industrial base investment intended to get Virginia submarine production back on track by FY-28, the service also moved to cut Virginia procurement to only one boat in FY-25 -- a move that prompted a backlash from many lawmakers, including Courtney.