The winner of the 2015 Senior Tradesmen of the Year award was announced at the May General Membership Luncheon meeting. This year’s award went to William Coleman with MHI Ship Repair & Services.
This year’s awardee is a Lead Man-2, Pipefitter Supervisor, and Apprentice Program Director. He demonstrates proficiency by routinely overseeing multiple ship repairs and alterations on U.S. Navy and commercial customers. William develops procedures for all shop equipment (pipe benders, bevel machines, treaders, etc.) His outstanding deck plate leadership has been instrumental in the past two BMD modifications, where he received acclaim by the Government’s BMD Project Office as "the best installation ever.” He is the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for NCCER curriculum, working almost singlehandedly on writing the NCCER Maritime Pipefitting 1 and 2 curricula. William mentors, manages and coordinates all aspects of his company’s new Apprentice Program, overseeing all the mentorship and training for apprentices of all shops. He is an active volunteer at Peninsula Rescue Mission, where he purchases, prepares and serves meals to the homeless. William provides support for the Camp Open Arms, which is a summer camp for needy children. He serves as his company’s representative on the committee for the Career & Technical High School at Lake Taylor, providing design and layout recommendations to RRMM Architects to design the CTE high school.
VSRF also recognized the following nominees for Senior Tradesman of the Year:
- Mike Rahn, Advanced Integrated Technologies, LLC
- Patrick Kampman, AMSEC LLC
- Anthony Banks, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair
- Rodney Williams, Colonna’s Shipyard Inc.
- David Perry, Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc.
- Stanley Lilley, General Dynamics NASSCO - Norfolk
- Derek Dickenson, Oceaneering LLC
- Matthew Radford, Standard Calibrations, Inc.
- Clifton Armstrong, Tecnico Corporation
All of the nominees received a certificate recognizing their significant contribution to their trade, $25 gift certificates and two NASCAR Langley Speedway free admission tickets.
William was recognized at the Propeller Club, Port of Norfolk's National Maritime Day reception on May 21 at the Half Moone Cruise & Celebration Center in downtown Norfolk.
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