The July General Membership Luncheon meeting was held on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at the Portsmouth Renaissance Hotel. The Guest Speaker was Dr. Edna Baehre-Kolovani, PhD, President of Tidewater Community College. Dr. Baehre-Kolovani was also accompanied by Dr. Corey McCray, Vice President for Workforce Solutions, and Mr. Todd Estes, Director for the Apprenticeship Institute at TCC.

The VSRA will not hold a General Membership Luncheon in August. Instead, the second Tuesday of August will feature the 30th Annual VSRF Golf Tournament. This annual fundraiser for the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation seeks to assist the VSRF's mission of providing training, workforce development, and career outreach to the Ship Repair Industry.

The Foundation Board of Directors would like to thank the generous sponsors who have contributed to this year's event, and extend a special thank you to the Golf Tournament Chair, Leigh Kennedy, for arranging a world-class event year after year!

On June 14, 2016 the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued new sex discrimination guidelines.  The last time it did so was in 1970.  To put that in perspective, in 1970 gasoline was 36 cents a gallon, the Beatles were still recording, telephones had dials on them, Don Draper was hooking up with his secretary, and Caitlyn Jenner was a 21-year-old man.  Needless to say, a lot of things have changed since then.  Small wonder, then, that OFCCP decided that it might be a good idea to update its advice to federal contractors on avoiding illegal sex bias in the workplace—advice that was last written the same year that Ford first introduced the Pinto.  What resulted was the regulatory equivalent of Rip Van Winkle awakening from a 46-year-long nap.

What’s in a word? Most people use the words accidents, mistakes, and failures interchangeably. However, when you’re focused on preventing safety-­‐related mishaps understanding the distinctions can be helpful.

In lieu of our regularly scheduled VSRA General Membership Luncheon Meeting in September, we will be participating in a joint luncheon meeting with the ASNE Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium (FMMS). This luncheon will take place on Tuesday, September 13 -- one week earlier than our regularly scheduled VSRA luncheon!

The keynote speaker for the FMMS Luncheon will be VADM Tom Moore, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command. 

It is almost time again for the annual VSRA Contracts Committee Seminar Series!

This year's seminar topics will be:
Ethics & Standards of Conduct
Growing Your Government Contracting Business
The New World ORder: Fixed Price Contracting
Data Breach: Your Business Has Been Hacked. Now What?

Registration is underway for the VSRA 21st Annual Safety & Health Seminar on Wednesday, October 26, 2016! This year's theme is “When you gamble with safety ... you bet your life.” 

One new member companies joined VSRA in the month of July, bringing the membership total to 248. Please join us in welcoming...