USA: Construction on NWTC’s New Shipbuilding Training Center Starts Next Week

October 14, 2011

Construction is set to begin next week on a new Northeast Wisconsin Technical College training facility designed to meet the needs of the region’s booming shipbuilding industry. The College signed papers yesterday to purchase and lease building space in Marinette for what will become the NWTC North Coast Marine Manufacturing Training Center.

Opening in January 2012, NWTC’s newest learning facility will provide two key training pieces for industry, according to Lori Suddick, vice president, NWTC Learning Division. “The center will help train incumbent workers in marine manufacturing. Parallel with that, the center will provide hands-on learning experiences for students in the Marine Construction technical diploma and the Marine Engineering Technology associate degree programs – delivering a future pipeline of skilled shipbuilding workers,” Suddick said.

The marine manufacturing training center will occupy 16,000 square feet of the Goodwill Industries building located on Main Street in Marinette, a major hub of the shipbuilding industry. Marinette Marine Corporation alone is expected to hire about new 1,000 workers, thanks to a U.S. Navy contract to build 10 Littoral Combat Ships. The center will also serve to deliver training for general manufacturing companies in northeast Wisconsin.

Signs of job growth potential in the shipbuilding industry were evident even before the U.S. Navy contract was approved late last year. An aging workforce and skilled worker shortages in nearly all areas of the industry prompted the region’s seven marine manufacturers to join together with NWTC and two other higher educational institutions to form an industry sector partnership, the North Coast Marine Manufacturing Alliance (NCMMA).

Together, the NCMMA partners are working on strategic workforce development planning to provide a skilled workforce now and in the years to come. NWTC’s new marine manufacturing training center and new degree and diploma programs are designed to play a key role in training that workforce. There are currently over 60 students in the marine programs that are offered in both Marinette and Green Bay.

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Source: nwtc, October 14, 2011