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VSRA 101 RELAUNCH

On Tuesday April 11th, the Communications Committee along with the VSRA Staff and VSRF Board launched the newly enhanced VSRA 101 presentation to a group of excited members. The last presentation was pre-COVID and was presented as a Lunch & Learn meeting to smaller groups at the VSRA office. This new format opened it up to a more expanded version packed full of great information.

The presentation was kicked off by VSRA Board Chairperson, Kevin Terry of General Dynamics NASSCO - Norfolk. Kevin reviewed the slate of VSRA Board Members with the group, listing every member and their employer. He went on to discuss an overview of VSRA with data on the number of current member companies, its Mission and its History; did you know the organization was originally named “Tidewater Maritime Training Institute”? Kevin then turned it over to Bill Crow, VSRA President.

Bill’s part was pretty extensive and covered topics like the VSRA staff along with their titles and duties, and highlighted some of the larger events. For instance, the Monthly Member Luncheons always include interesting speakers and a great opportunity for networking with other members. And let’s not forget the Annual Social Networking event, which is one of the Association’s premier events not to be missed! Bill then turned it over to the VSRA Office Manager, Sylvia Bell, who went into great detail on navigating the VSRA website. And if you ever have any trouble accessing information on the site, the VSRA Staff is always available to help.

The next section of the meeting covered each committee, including details on their purpose and their efforts in serving the Association. Every Chairperson or their designee spoke for every active committee:  Communications (Kathy Bryan-Shipyard Staffing), Workforce Development (Tim Richardt-Fairlead Boatworks), Contracts (Tony Mazzeo-Wood Rogers Vandeventer Black), Cybersecurity (Bill Crow spoke for Tracy Gregorio-G2 Ops), Human Resources (Bill Crow spoke for Chris Abel-Willcox & Savage), Quality Assurance and QA Audit Database (Dave Johnson-BAE), Security (Leigh Kennedy-NASSCO), Safety and Environmental and Safety Suggestion Award (Donna Watkins-NASSCO), OSHA-VSRA Partnership (Nate Stanton-NASSCO).  Most of the committees are open to the entire membership, so don’t hesitate to sign up. And when you do join, know that you are not obligated to attend every meeting; just register to attend either in-person or virtually when your schedule permits. You can sign up to receive email notifications on committee information and meeting details on the VSRA website. If you’re unsure how, reach out to the VSRA Staff.

The program was then turned over to VSRA Training Director, Sallena Nikitas, who reviewed Online Training (OTraining) and Classroom Training. She discussed the all-important online training, such as Safety Orientation, WAF, Hot Work, etc. as well as some free courses that are helpful for new employees (Compartment Location and Shipboard Nomenclature). Sallena then reviewed the busy classroom schedule that includes everything from OSHA 10-Hour Maritime training to NAVSEA Cableway. And did you know that if your company needs training that is not currently on the list, you can contact Sallena to see if it can be added? Now that is great membership value!

Last on the agenda was a discussion on VSRF, Virginia Ship Repair Foundation. Chairperson Robbie Walker with Marine Chemist Service started off with a review of the list of Board Members and then went on to discuss the goals of the Foundation. VSRA Development and Programs Manager, Joe Frommelt, then took over to review MTT (Marine Trade Training), sharing some great details on how the program works and the current course listing. Since the program began, 2,609 students have graduated! Joe then turned it over to some of the Association’s dedicated volunteers to review the Foundation’s events; Annual Foundation Golf Tournament (Leigh Kennedy-NASSCO), Langley Speedway (Carina Phillips-VSRA), Tradesperson of the Year Award (Brian Daugherty-kSARIA), Annual Ship Repair Digital Innovation Competition (Chris Murray-HII Fleet Support Group), and VSRF in the Classroom (Terry Stead-sort of retired Tecnico).  Robbie Walker closed it out with the VSRF Awareness and Outreach efforts and informed the attendees that over 32,000 students, teachers, parents and administrators have been reached via VSRF; that is community impact! Needless to say, the session was packed full of information.

We wrapped up just about six minutes over schedule, so not too bad for such a large event. And did I mention lunch was served? We did receive a few comments that the lunch selection could be expanded a bit, so we will work on that! And we do want to thank all of our attendees for coming out and also for their great feedback. It was very positive, so we felt that the attendees did get a lot out of this session. If you missed it, we have another one scheduled for August 9th, so please mark your calendars. And this is not just for new members. Even our ‘seasoned’ veterans can expect to get a lot out of this session. We will also plan a few minutes for networking next time, which is always a great benefit in this Association. WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AUGUST 9TH!

Click Here to See Pictures from the event: Password : 2023VSRA101!

This Article was written by: Kathy Bryan of Shipyard Staffing

 


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