By GRETA SHUSTER Beacon Media Staff Writer
This story was originally published in the Warwick Beacon, a publication partner of Ocean State Stories.
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WARWICK — To meet the growing workforce needs of the national shipbuilding industry, New England Institute of Technology is partnering with General Dynamics Electric Boat and the U.S. Navy Submarine Industrial Base to expand the institute’s capacity for submarine building training.
To meet Electric Boat’s need for 8,000 new employees, NEIT is completely transforming their Warwick campus on Post Road to serve as the company’s primary workforce training center in Rhode Island. The new facility – known as the Shipbuilding Advanced Institute for Learning (SAIL) – will triple training capacity, preparing 3,000 new employees annually.
These new hires are expected to go through (SAIL) for at least the next three years before transitioning to Electric Boat’s Quonset Point location. In addition to new hire training, the space will also accommodate recurring training, recertification and upskilling.
Through the renovations, the training space will triple from 30,000 sq. feet to 100,000 sq. feet, serving as Electric Boat’s primary workforce training center in Rhode Island.
“It’s not just a 100,000 square foot expansion. It’s not just a $45 million project. It is truly revolutionizing how we prepare our shipbuilders to execute their work,” said Charles Montalbano, vice president and general manager of Electric Boat, Quonset Point.
Montalbano explained that, to meet the nation’s needs for ships and submarines, Electric Boat needs more skilled tradesmen and women. NEIT will play a major role in educating those new workers in this new facility. “What we have here…is really the new model. It is going to be the new standard,” he said.
This partnership and new space were unveiled at a press conference on Monday, Aug. 24, bringing together educators, industry professionals and federal and local politicians.
“This is a culmination, for me, of 54 years of this work,” said NEIT President Richard Gouse. “It is symbolic of our commitment and our mission to educate people and bring them skills that would enable them to live a fruitful life in this great country of ours.”
SAIL will be home to more than 20 classrooms designed for a blended learning environment, integrating hands-on skills development with high-quality classroom instruction in the areas such as welding, shipfitting, pipefitting, machining, sheet metal, paint and electrical. The space will also feature Electric Boat’s future hiring center.
“A major development like this transforms Post Road and contributes to the continued economic development of our city,” said Mayor Frank Picozzi. “This project demonstrates, once again, why Warwick is a good place for employers, educators and workers to come together.”
NEIT’s shipbuilding training expansion is supported by $20 million from the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base and $25 million from General Dynamics Electric Boat.
“This partnership and NEIT’s new expanded campus here in Warwick will strengthen, accelerate and increase the capacity of the local defense manufacturing pipeline, connecting people to career pathways and a variety of job opportunities,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who helped make federal funds available to the Navy for this type of workforce training expansion program in his role as the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
According to a release, for more than ten years, NEIT has trained new Electric Boat employees in welding, shipfitting and machining through its Shipbuilding and Manufacturing Institute (SAMI). To date, more than 4,500 new employees have been trained, and thousands of career employees have experienced ongoing continuing education.
To learn more about NEIT’s offerings, visit neit.edu.
To explore Electric Boat jobs, visit ebcareers.com.
