Historic Period of Workforce Growth

Floor Speech

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Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, on May 29, Grasso Tech, a career and technical secondary school located in Groton, Connecticut, was the site of an extraordinary event, the Electric Boat High School Signing Day.

Mr. Speaker, Electric Boat is a shipbuilding company over 100 years old, headquartered in Groton. It has a proud history of building submarines during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, with a workforce of highly skilled men and women who have always answered our Nation's call to deliver perhaps the most complex platform in our Nation's arsenal. These technological wonders operate in an environment that does not support human life, with stealth and power unmatched by any other peer nation.

Today, in 2024, the shipyard is experiencing another historic period of workforce growth. EB is the general contractor for both of the Navy submarine programs, the Virginia-class attack submarines and the Columbia ballistic submarine program. Both programs represent an effort authorized and funded by Congress to recapitalize our Nation's aging submarine fleet, which is in high demand driven by a high tempo of operations all across the globe.

In 2023, EB hired a staggering 5,300 new workers in the metal trades and engineering and plans to double that number in 2024. In order to meet that demand, trade schools, regular comprehensive high schools, community colleges, job training programs, including pre-apprenticeship and full apprenticeship classes, have been ramping up since 2016.

On May 29, Grasso Tech hosted over 200 graduating 17- and 18-year- olds from across Connecticut and neighboring States, who walked across the stage, received their hardhats, a certificate, and a handshake from representatives of the yard, welcoming them to a rewarding and exciting career with great starting wages and benefits.

Many are graduates from Grasso Tech, whose principal, Patricia Feeney, and her amazing staff imparted training as welders, electricians, designers, and other skills that positioned them to take on this work.

In addition to Grasso, other tech schools, such as Norwich Tech, Ellis Tech, Windham Tech, and Vinal Tech, are part of this concerted effort to connect students to this opportunity.

Not just tech schools were part of this ceremony. Regular comprehensive high schools are getting into the act with Career Pathway programs, accessing Federal Perkins grant funding to set up machine booths, welding booths, machine tools, and other equipment to train up high schoolers in collaboration with EB. Westbrook High School, Tourtellotte High School in Thompson, Norwich Free Academy, Daniel Hand High School in Madison, and Waterford High School, just to name a few, are actively creating these pathways for nontrade high school secondary students.

As I said, the plan this year is to hire an additional 5,000 workers. One of the other key engines to achieve that goal is the Eastern Connecticut Manufacturing Pipeline, which provides accelerating job training for adults looking to work in the yard.

MPI will train a job-ready welder in 10 weeks, and electricians and outside machinists in 8 weeks, free of charge. It started in 2016 with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor and, as the chart shows, has grown exponentially, with 945 graduates in 2023, a pace that is continuing as I speak here today in 2024.

Mr. Speaker, what is so special about MPI is that its classes operate in the late afternoons and evenings at Grasso Tech. After the tech school programs end at 2 p.m. and the students go home on their buses or with their parents, the MPI students arrive to use the school's welding booth machine tools that otherwise would lie fallow. It is a brilliant, efficient way to use the facilities to keep the training and hiring process moving forward.

What is the outcome of all this? Mr. Speaker, our submarine industrial base is picking up the pace of production. A month ago, USS New Jersey was delivered to the Navy. USS Massachusetts and Iowa are on track for delivery by the end of 2024. That is the 24th, 25th, and 26th Virginia sub, and the 27th and the 28th are slated for delivery in 2025, the USS Idaho and the USS Arkansas. There were 5,300 hires last year with 86 percent retention; 5,200 hires on track for this year with 90 percent retention, and five attack submarines to be delivered in over a 2\1/2\ year period.

It is a great testament to the American worker who, as in times past, has overcome the skeptics and stepped up to keep freedom's forge moving forward.

I congratulate all the 200-plus students, who now have the clearance badge to show up for work in Groton, on a job well done.

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