Newsletter: December 2006 Newsletter

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A Message from the VSRA President

Since we cannot do this alone, one of the first endeavors of the Communications Committee was to develop a comprehensive survey to get your inputs on improving your association. From the inputs we received, we will develop programs to better serve you. The survey is web-based and could be accessed through the VSRA website. The survey results are reported in the article, "VSRA Members Weigh In on Communications Plan" in this issue of the VSRA Newsletter.
Speaking of the website, I hope you have taken the opportunity to take a look at the information on it. The site has been under development for most of the year. Our developer is David Mann, a fellow VSRA member from Data System Services. New capabilities and features are being added weekly. We want the site to be a value-added membership benefit for you, so your comments concerning its capabilities and suggestions for improvement are important to us.
We would also like your inputs on content for the newsletter as we move forward. Our goal is to share the upcoming association events, committee meetings, seminars, and training courses by publishing a monthly calendar. We will also feature important newsworthy events that have taken place in the association and in your companies. Additionally, we will include updates on the work of the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation, which is focused on creating strategies for ship repair work force development and training.
Help make this newsletter a valuable tool for you and your company. We want your inputs.  I am,
Sincerely yours,

Mal Branch

"The Scoop" on Beating the Heat at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, By John Kowalczyk

Did the ice cream man in your neighborhood wear a hard hat? Well, here at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, where things are always a little different, ours does. And on August 4th, the traditional mold of the paper-hatted, white-aproned servant to hot and hungry money-waving children we all know as the "Good Humor Man" was shattered like the day’s heat records.
With temperatures peaking at a ridiculous 102 degrees and a humidity-driven heat index well above that, this steamy August day on the Norfolk waterfront was about as bearable as a middle aisle coach seat on an overbooked airplane ride to the sun. Sure, 102 degrees is hot enough if you’re running, no, crawling from air conditioner to air conditioner, taking breaks only to change a soaked shirt or two on the way. But imagine welding, grinding, and blasting while donning full protective gear inside the sweltering hull of a ship during this heat. "No way!" you say? Well, the dedicated employees who work around the clock to keep our nation’s premier war vessels in ship shape live it every day, all day. Here, the weather reports are more than just a gentle morning harbinger of the temporary discomfort you’ll feel as you stand in the outside ATM line. No, here a bum weather report warns you of a day that can slow operations, break morale, or worse – seriously injure someone. Today, like any other day, there was work to be done. Ships had to be fixed – weather or not.
Undaunted by these "routine" summer hardships, at noon that day employees welcomed the familiar sound of an old friend. At exactly 12:00, just as regularly as the sun rises, the Norfolk Ship Repair crew received minor relief by the deep, sonorous bellow of the lunch whistle, cutting through the thick muck of summer "air" like a morning wake-up call. Finally, a time to relax a bit and try to "beat the heat," a concept that Dave Moore, Safety Manager, had been drilling into employee heads and bodies throughout the summer months with free Gatorades, Camel Bak personal hydration systems, and countless safety briefings on how to avoid heat-related injuries. Little did they know though, on this lunch break, the Norfolk Ship Repair team was to be greeted by more than that cold soda and PB&J familiarly peering out of their lunch pails. Instead, they would be welcomed by some other familiar, but different looking, friends.
What they saw was Bill Clifford, President, BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair. Sure, "Bill," as he prefers to be called by all employees, walks the yard to check in all the time. What could be so different today? Well, in place of his familiar golf cart, Bill was cruising in a state-of-the-art, road-tested ice cream truck – genuine down to every square inch of its doorless, ice cream treat picture-laden chassis. What a sight! One can only imagine the thoughts going through these employees’ heads when they saw their yard President happily greeting them with the melodic "jingle" of those universal bells that signal certain summer relief for suburban kids across the country.
 
Courtesy of Teresa Sessor from Purchasing, who orchestrated the entire event, and Bob Claffey, Cafeteria Manager, who drove, this unorthodox ice cream man made his way across the entire yard, from quarterdeck to quarterdeck, spreading cheer with over 600 soothing (and FREE!) Italian Ices delivered right from the truck. Bill served up smiles and refreshments to BAE Systems employees, subcontractors, customers, and of course the many men and women in uniform that day onboard the vessels in repair availabilities. All were reacting as if they were the parched residents of some faraway desert planet meeting ice cream for the first time. On this day, relief didn’t discriminate, and the shipyard heat melted away under the excitement of childhood dreams come true.
 
Recounting that strange, special event, Bill stated, “The entire shipyard was energized. It was a small investment that went a long way in “delighting” our customer and our employees; we will do this again!!”
 

VSRA Members Weigh in on Communications Plan

Thank you to all of our members who took the Communications Survey in October! Eighty-seven responses were collected and represented every membership category: Ship Repairers, Suppliers and Subcontractors. Respondents also represented a diverse array of positions from the CEO level to managers and technical supervisors. The following represents a sample of our findings and the priorities the Communications Committee is adopting in response to the data.
 
Our Members are engaged! A majority of VSRA members indicated they value and utilize the General Membership meetings (65%) and special seminars such as the Annual Safety event (50%). Members also indicated they utilize training opportunities (42%).
Members are also very engaged in committee work:
 
Our members have distinct issues: The top priorities for members are: the need for a continued focus on filling training gaps and addressing workforce issues (28%); leveraging partnerships and resources to improve ship repair outcomes/capabilities (26.5%); and developing consistent and consolidated communications strategies (15%).
 
Priority #1: The Communications Committee is developing a communications strategy to ensure information consistent with VSRA goals is passed to members and external stakeholders.
 
Our members believe the VSRA mission is valuable and we are headed in the right direction: Respondents were generally favorable towards the existing VSRA strategic plan: 75% rated it as generally favorable/good, with the remaining respondents indicating they had either not reviewed it (12.5%) or had no position/comment (12.5%).
 
Our members value the information, and communications provided by VSRA: VSRA members who responded found the information disseminated by VSRA as being very to somewhat valuable (89%), with less than two percent indicating VSRA communication is too frequent. A majority of respondents prefer electronic correspondence (98% email, 20% website postings), with 35% desiring a monthly newsletter.
 
Priority #2: The Communications Committee is striving to deliver its communications plan in a consolidated approach using simple, web-based systems to enable consistent delivery of information and empower members with the ability to share information within their network.
 
Our members like the new website, but need more guidance on its capabilities: Members are favorable to the new website (60%), but many respondents indicated they had not yet fully explored the new website information (30%) . Respondents commented that they would like the information on the website to be more robust to include committee and meetings archives. The Communications Committee is making it a priority to educate VSRA members on the capabilities of the website and to continue to solicit input on improvements.
 
Priority 3#: The Communications Committee is working to disseminate information in the form of tips, links and guides to better inform its members and to encourage them to better utilize the resources available on the website.
 
Additional results from the survey include recommendations for monthly newsletter inclusions and focus items, the communication of member benefits and opportunities, and ideas for partnerships with other association and industry groups.
 
For a complete copy of the survey results, please contact Ann Howell at VSRA at ahowell@virginiashiprepair.org.

Committee in the Spotlight: The Contracts Committee

The Virginia Ship Repair Association Contracts Committee is chaired by Mr. Mike Gardner and meets on the first Thursday of each month from 9:30 to 10:30. Committee members include contracts managers, senior managers, contracting officers, government representatives, accountants, insurance professionals, bankers and attorneys.
 
The primary committee functions are as follows
 
1.  The committee works on current contract developments and issues. Both private sector and public sector members bring issues to the committee. For example, when the Navy started planning implementation of the CPARs program, the committee provided a subcommittee to work with the Navy to draft the language for the forms. Recently, the committee has been working to resolve issues related to the Navy’s implementation of the “Consent to Subcontracting” clause on MSMO contracts. The committee’s work ranges from “spreading the word” on current development and new issues to preparing position papers and letters for use by the VSRA Board of Directors.
 
2.  The committee offers training in both a regular seminar series and on a specific “as needed” basis. For example, as part of the regular seminar series, the committee offered seminars in March, April, May, September, October and November on issues as diverse as “Building Forward Pricing Rates” to “Maximizing the Benefits of SBA Programs.” VSRA offers a variety of pricing formulas for the seminars to allow member companies to select the program that best fits its requirements. In response to the increased frequency of Federal Compliance investigations, the committee set up a special program in July 2006, which provided participants with all the tools necessary to start a company-wide contract compliance program.
 
3.  Committee members participate in a variety of national industry activities such as JIINI, ASNE, Ship Builders Council and NCMA. Members often brief the committee on the status of initiatives underway in these other groups.
 
The meetings are informal and conducted on a non-attribution basis. Come on out and speak your mind!

New VSRA Officers Elected

In October, the Board of Directors elected new officers.  Congratulations to the incoming officers:  Chairman Bill Clifford of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair; Vice Chairman Thomas Godfrey, Jr. of Colonna's Shipyard; and Secretary/Treasurer Michael Torrech of Tecnico Corporation.  Many thanks to the outgoing officers:  Chairman Jerry Miller of Earl Industries and Vice Chairman Bill Clifford of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair

 

New Communications Committee Created

The VSRA Board of Directors has authorized the creation of the Communications Committee to fulfill some of the goals of the strategic plan. Specifically, the committee has been tasked to “Provide continuous improvement in communications with the Association’s members.” The following strategic objectives will guide the committee’s mission: Improve the overall capability and effectiveness of the Association’s website, survey the Association’s members on an annual basis to ensure that the Association is meeting their needs, develop and implement a branding campaign (secondary goal), develop and implement a marketing/public relations campaign (secondary goal), and strengthen the Association’s relationships with, and involvement in, other associations or organizations across the nation that are in pursuit of common goals and objectives for the ship repair industry.
 
The committee members include Kathleen Hinton of Metro Machine Corp. khinton@memach.com; David Mann of Data System Services david@datasystemservices.com; Phil Davenport of CE Thurston & Sons, Inc. pdavenport@cethurston.com; John Kowalczyk of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair John.Kowalczyk@baesystems.com; Stacy Lilly of Metro Machine Corp. slilly@memach.com; Ron Ritter of Earl Industries rritter@earl-ind.com; and Joe Yurso of QED Systems, Inc. jyurso@qedsysinc.com. 
If you have suggestions for articles or would like to submit an article to be considered for the newsletter, please feel free to contact any of member of the VSRA staff or any member of the committee.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Annual Holiday Luncheon

Congresswoman Drake, 2nd Virginia Congressional District, is scheduled to address the VSRA membership at the association's annual holiday luncheon and membership meeting on Tuesday, December 19th. Congresswoman serves on the House Armed Services Committee along with Congressman Randy Forbes from Chesapeake. She is also on the Education & Workforce Committee, as well as the Resources Committee of the House.

She will update us on the last year in Congress, as well as her perspective of the future. As a member of the HASC, she has a critical view of the Department of Defense. We will be most interested in her assessment of the direction that the Navy ship repair funding is moving.

At the same meeting, we will renew our strategic partnership with OSHA. The Acting Area Director of OSHA, Mr. Leo Edwards, will be on hand to formally sign the new OSHA - VSRA Strategic Partnership Agreement. This significant event is the culmination of a great deal of work by our Safety Committee and its Chairman, Phil Smith of BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair.

The previous partnership agreement between OSHA and the association (then the South Tidewater Association of Ship Repairers [STASR]) was the model for other partnerships throughout the country. The signing of the new agreement will mark a very important date in the strengthening relationship between OSHA and the member companies of VSRA.

The partnership is established to collectively improve the safety performance of all partnership members. It also provides an ideal forum to share ideas and develop processes to "raise the tide" of worker health and safety for the entire ship repair industry.

Make your reservations early. This is a very heavily attended luncheon.

Biography of Representative Thelma Drake

The biography for Congresswoman Drake may be found at http://drake.house.gov/Biography/

Access to Members Only Site

Some areas of the VSRA website are restricted to members only.  If you need a password to access the Members Only section of the website, please make your request to info@virginiashiprepair.org.

Educational Opportunities in January

We are pleased to sponsor three very valuable classes in January.
 
Blueprint Reading and Technical Drawing for Shipfitting
January 15, 2007 at 8:00 A.M.
United Coatings Corp. Classrooms, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
This new course is directed towards intermediate learners who need blueprint reading skills for ship fitting and ship repair activity. This course provides 26 hours of instruction with take-home activities, 3 quizzes and a final exam. Attendees will receive critical drawing analysis experience, as well as hands-on diagramming activities. For a complete syllabus please contact Ann Howell via e-mail (ahowell@VirginiaShipRepair.org) or by phone at (757) 233-7034.
 
 
First Aid/CPR/AED Responder Certification
January 25, 2007 at 7:30 A.M.
United Coatings Corp. Classrooms, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
This course is tailored for emergency first responders. It is OSHA approved and internationally accepted. This certification is a step beyond the Red Cross certification is oriented toward industrial environments. If you would like to register or receive additional information, please contact Ann Howell via e-mail (ahowell@VirginiaShipRepair.org) or by phone at (757) 233-7034.
 
 
NBPI Course
January 29 - 31, 2007 at 7:00 A.M.
MARMC Building, Norfolk Naval Base
 
This course is sponsored by VSRA and NAVSEA. If you are interested, please make your reservations early. Attendance is limited to 25 participants. Applicants must meet experience requirements in order to receive their Inspector Certification. If you would like to register or receive additional information, please contact Ann Howell via e-mail (ahowell@VirginiaShipRepair.org) or by phone at (757) 233-7034.

Making Ship Repair the Career of Choice!

For the past year, the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation has been working on some exciting new initiatives to strengthen the visibility of ship repair in the region. Specifically, the VSRF Board made it a priority to reach out to the next generation of workers. Recently VSRA members have visited more than 5 schools. Auxiliary Systems and Tecnico teamed up to promote ship repair occupations to 300 6th - 8th graders at Hugo Owens Middle School in Chesapeake, Michelle Carrera spoke to 360 K-2nd graders at P.B. Young Elementary in Norfolk and BAE and Metro promoted ship repair careers to more then 200 high schools Senior and their parents at a Career Night event. In January three companies are signed up to reach out to the trade school students at the Norfolk Technical Center.

We need the participation of all of our ship repair members at least once during the academic year to make these efforts successful!
 
Career Day Outreach
During this academic year, we expect to visit more than 20 schools to deliver occupational and career related information to elementary, middle and high schools students on 7 cities across the region. We are currently building a volunteer list to give companies an opportunity to directly connect with these future workers.
 
What we Need Career Day Volunteers to Do:
  • Sign up for a school
  • Use the pre-packaged materials supplied by VSRF to set up a kiosk or conduct classroom activities that highlight ship repair
  • Pass out ship repair brand goodies and information to students supplied by VSRA
  • Spend 2 to 3 hours per school interacting with more than 300 students to promote ship repair as a great career choice
Career Day Schedule:
Ship Repair Career and Design Competition
This is a pilot project of VSRF and VSRA to build awareness of ship repair among middle school students. Each school has a team that designs a portion of a ship using the LEGO digital 3-D designer software. The team also prepares a written and oral presentation on occupations involved in repairing or maintaining the ship in their design. 
 
What we Need Competition Volunteers to Do:
  • Advise teams on occupational information for ship repair jobs (one company rep per team. Estimated 12 hour investment)
  • Sponsor competition day (three sponsors at $250.00 each for location, snacks, materials, and winner ad in the Virginian Pilot
  • Serve as a competition day judges (5 judges. Estimated 3 hour investment on competitioin day)
Participate and help VSRA promote ship repair to the region!
Call Josephine Anderson at VSRA at 233-7034 or send e-mail to janderson@virginiashiprepair.org.

Coming in January's Newsletter

We are very excited to have completed our first issue of the VSRA Newsletter, and we have begun planning for our next issue. In January, look for the following articles:
 
Virginia Ship Repair Foundation in the Spotlight
OSHA-VSRA Strategic Partnership
Career Day Outreach
Highlights on Transportation Worker ID Card (TWIC) Program
 
We hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

January VSRA Meetings

The following VSRA- sponsored meetings are scheduled for January:
Human Resources Committee
1/3/07 at 11:00 A.M.
Troutman Sanders Office, conference room, 150 Main Street, 16th Floor, Norfolk, Va. 23510
 
Contracts Committee
1/4/07 at 9:30 A.M.
Troutman Sanders Office, conference room, 150 Main Street, 16th Floor, Norfolk, Va. 23510
 
Communications Committee
1/8/07 at 1:00 P.M.
Q.E.D. Systems Inc., conference room, 4646 North Witchduck Rd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23455
 
Quality Assurance Committee
1/9/07 at 10:30 A.M.
Q.E.D. Systems Inc., conference room, 4646 North Witchduck Rd., Virginia Beach, Va. 23455
 
Security Committee
1/9/07 at 10:00
United Coatings Corp., conference room, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
VSRF Board Meeting
1/10/07 at 11:30 A.M.
TBA
 
Safety & Environmental Committee
1/11/07 at 9:00
United Coatings Corp., conference room, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
Worker’s Compensation Committee
1/11/07 at 10:00 A.M
United Coatings Corp., conference room, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
Blueprint Reading and Technical Drawings for Ship Fitting
1/15/07 at 8:00 A.M.
United Coatings Corp., conference room, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
Board of Directors Meeting
1/16/07 at 11:00 A.M.
Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel, 425 Water Street, Portsmouth, Va. 23704
 
General Membership Meeting
1/16/07 at 12:00 A.M.
Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel, 425 Water Street, Portsmouth, Va. 23704
 
First Aid/CPR/AED Responder Certification
1/25/07 at 7:30 A.M.
United Coatings Corp., conference room, 650 Chautauqua Ave., Portsmouth, Va. 23707
 
NBPI Course
1/29/07 – 1/31/07 at 7:00 A.M.
MARMC Building, Norfolk Naval Base