Newsletter: November 2012 VSRA Newsletter

The guest speaker for the November General Membership meeting will be Michael Barakey, District Chief of the Virginia Beach Fire Department.  He was the first on-scene and will be speaking on the Lessons Learned from the April 6, 2012 F/A-18 Crash in Virginia Beach.  His topic will be centered around safety, risk, and preparedness.  Mr. Barakey was the special keynote speaker at the recent VSRA Safety & Health Seminar held on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 at ODU where he provided an outstanding presentation.   

Michael Barakey is currently assigned to personnel and development.  He is the former chief of training and is the department’s accreditation manager.  Barakey is a HazMat Specialist, Instructor III, a National Registered Paramedic, and a Plans Team Manager for VA-TF2 US&R Team.  He deployed to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.  He has also been to various Hurricane deployments, including Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005, and the Haiti Earthquake in 2010.  Barakey has a Master of Public Administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, and is a graduate of the NFA’s Executive Fire Officer Program. Barakey is a classroom instructor for Fire Department Instructor’s Conference (FDIC) and publishes regularly in Fire Engineering Magazine.   

Our guest speaker at the October General Membership meeting was Robin Dunbar, Deputy Director of Education for the Elizabeth River Project.  Robin recognizes the Virginia Ship Repair Association member companies who donated time and materials to the Elizabeth River Learning Barge.  The following member companies were recognized for their significant contributions:  BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Crofton Diving, MHI, and Colonna's Shipyard.

Robin has a twenty-year history in community education, is an Old Dominion University graduate and joined The Elizabeth River Project in 2000 where she is the Deputy Director of Education and keynote speaker, Princess Elizabeth, the river’s namesake, where to date she has educated over 500,000 citizens about the state of the Elizabeth River’s health and was awarded the 2003 Ernie Morgan Award of Service by the Norfolk Environmental Commission.

Robin’s career path reflects the marriage of art and science, finding solutions to roadblocks and implementing one-of-a-kind projects such as her new venture, the 120 by 32 foot steel-deck barge launched in 2009 as the Learning Barge, the Steward Ship. Over 24,000 have come aboard learning how to help make the Elizabeth River safe for swimming and fishing by 2020 and in 2011, the barge won national recognition and received the Environmental Excellence Award from Sea World-Busch Gardens. As America’s Greenest Vessel and the world’s first floating wetlands classroom, the barge was designed by the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture and includes an indoor classroom, an observation pool, live wetlands, rain cistern, composting-waterless toilets and harnesses energy from the wind and sun.

In addition, she recognizes 140 schools and over 25,000 students annually as River Star Schools that implement environmental projects that have a positive impact on our home river and over 30 schools and 2,500 students participate in her program “Wetlands in the Classroom” where students grow native wetland plant and transplant them to restoration site around the river.

This year over 6,000 students will participate in Project Periwinkle, this year’s barge program that focuses on wetland education including all Norfolk Public School 4^th graders, all Portsmouth Public School preschoolers and students from the river’s cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Robin’s programs are made possible by National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Chesapeake Bay License Plate Fund, Honda Foundation, Virginia Environmental Endowment, Portsmouth General Hospital Foundation, Hanbury Evans Architects and Captain Planet.

Robin is most proud of being a part of the heartwarming partnerships that make her projects a reality.  The barge stays afloat with the generosity, time and support of many members of the Virginia Ship Repair Association that serve on the barge’s Maintenance Advisory Committee and includes the generous tug community that continues to make sure the barge is safely docked at over a dozen sites annually. 

For more information on the Learning Barge, go to http://www.elizabethriver.org/projects/the_learning_barge.aspx.

At the October meeting, the Board of Directors approved two new member companies.  The new member companies are APS Marine Services and On Point, LLC.  This brings our membership total to 233 companies.

APS Marine Services operates five Navy-owned and one company-owned workboats in Hampton Roads.  They are also members of the San Diego Ship Repair Association.  They perform workboat operations, boat and harbor equipment and repair, custom marine stainless and aluminum welding and fabrication, and port operations center management.

Please visit their website at www.adeptworks.net

On Point, LLC is a consulting business specializing in federal, state, and local procurement policies and procedures.

Please visit their website at www. www.onpointllc.org

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) hosted its annual Fall General Membership Meeting October 15-17 in Portland, ME.  After kicking off the week with a Welcoming Reception Monday night, SCA members received presentations on Tuesday morning from the SCA staff.  Through the Commercial, Government, Maintenance and Modernization, Industry Partner and Regulatory reports, the attendees learned of the various challenges facing both the shipbuilding and ship repair industries including the updates on the current Congress, sequestration, fiscal year 12 and fiscal year 13 federal budget implications and pending federal labor regulations.  

After the morning presentations, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works’ (BIW) President, Jeffrey Geiger, and Business Operations Manager, Andrew Bond, welcomed the visiting SCA members to a tour of the BIW shipyard in Bath, ME.  SCA members were privileged to see current construction of both DDG-51s and DDG-1000s being built in the yard.  Following the tour, SCA members were invited to the Maine Maritime Museum and learned of the history of ship construction on the Kennebec River in Maine where the BIW shipyard is located.

After the excellent tours and museum stop, a reception was held at Dimillo’s on the Water Front in downtown Portland.  The restaurant is a refurbished ferry, and Bath Iron Works had previously reconstructed the hull of the vessel to give new life to the ferry as a restaurant.  The restaurant pays homage to the great work that SCA members do every day and the importance of the maritime repair industry.

On Wednesday, SCA was privileged to welcome the following speakers who addressed the group:  Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Maine’s 1^st District; Jack Barney, Vice Chairman of Marine Machinery Association; Pierre Chao, Renaissance Strategic Advisors; and Dr. Habib Dagher, Director, the Advanced Structures and Composites Center; Director DeepCwind Consortium, Professor of Structural Engineering, BIW Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Maine Orono.  Each speaker provided unique insights and perspectives on the various challenges and opportunities facing the shipbuilding and ship repair industry.  Additionally, SCA President Matthew Paxton gave a 2012 Election update and explained the potential Congressional and Presidential outcomes.

Overall, the meeting was extremely successful, with over 70 people in attendance, including representatives from 17 shipyards and 33 industry partner companies and associations.  The next SCA General Membership meeting will be held January 28-30 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, FL.

For further information about the meeting and the Shipbuilders Council of America, please feel free to contact Paula Reever at preever@balljanik.com or at 202-772-5577.

11/14/12 –ASNE Tidewater Section Dinner Meeting is held at the Springhill Suites, Newtown Rd., 1800-1900 Social Hour, 1900-2030 Dinner and Program.  The Guest Speaker will be RDML Rick Berkey, USN, Fleet Maintenance Officer, US Fleet Forces Command.  To register, go to www.asne-tw.org.

11/21/12 - TASC Luncheon Meeting held at the Norfolk Airport Hilton, 11:30 A.M.   To register, go to www.tasc-tgic.org.  The guest speaker will be CAPT John Polowczyk, USN, Comptroller at US Fleet Forces Command.

12/18/12 – VSRA General Membership Meeting held at the Renaissance Hotel, 12:00 p.m.  To register, go to www.virginiashiprepair.org.  The guest speaker will be RADM Robert O. Wray, Jr., USN, President, Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV).

01/28/13 through 01/30/2013 – SCA General Membership Meeting, at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL.

VSRA Members_

Please click here to view a copy of the 2013 Sponsorship Packages.  For a quick view at a glance of the 2013 Sponsorships, please click here to view the 2013 Sponsorship Flyer. 

The Sponsorship Packages were developed to give VSRA member companies an early sponsorship choice of the activities that best match their own outreach goals.  Many of our industry focused projects allow companies to increase their leadership and exposure footprint through sponsorships. The package is divided into two sections, sponsorships for the Virginia Ship Repair Association and sponsorships for activities conducted by the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation.

We would like to highlight a few areas for your consideration and that we believe you will find of interest:  

• On page 6 of the brochure, you will find information about the Annual Contracts Committee Seminars which consists of an annual series of four seminars throughout the year addressing topics of interest to our members. Past topics have included Ethics and Standards of Conduct, Cost Accounting Hot Topics, Proposal Pricing strategies, Small Business programs, Insurance coverage issues, and Protests and Claims updates.  This seminar targets Contracts Professionals that would be more likely to engage with or utilize your services. 
• On page 8 of the brochure, you will find information regarding the Annual Tradesmen of the Year Award established by the Virginia Ship Repair Foundation.  Each year we receive numerous nominations in two categories to determine the winners for the year. These applications go to every member and their users. The sponsors are also featured at the Awards event, hand-out the awards and have their logo on the award ad at National Maritime Day festivities.
• On page 8 of the brochure, you will find information regarding the Annual Middle School Ship Design LEGO Competition. The Lego Competition began with two pilot teams in 2007, and increased to five teams in 2008 and reached a peak of 14 teams in 2011. The event was so successful that VSRF has already received calls from other school districts that want to participate in 2012. This is wonderful news for the industry as we try to build awareness of the job opportunities available to our emerging workforce. However, the increase in participation will significantly affect the costs associated with holding the event. Sponsorships help pay for T-Shirts, school awards and the competition venue.

Please plan on supporting these and many other events which bring positive attention and awareness to the ship repair industry. Contributions to the 501(c)3 Foundation are tax deductible. Together we are the Strength Behind the Fleet. 

At the VSRA General Membership Luncheon meeting on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, Robin Dunbar, Deputy Director of Education with The Elizabeth River Project, presented the Learning Barge Steward Ship Awards to the following VSRA Member companies for their support this past year and especially their efforts to maintain the Learning Barge, the Floating Classroom:

Marine Hydraulics International, Inc. – Tom Epley 

Marine Chemist Atlantic – Ron Morris      

BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair – Russell Tjepkema       

Colonna’s Shipyard – Tom Godfrey       

Crofton Diving – Jay Crofton       

The National Maritime Education Council (NMEC) met in September, in tandem with the ASNE Conference in Virginia Beach. This consortium of companies from around the United States continues to work together to develop a cohesive assessment strategy that will enable new and existing workers to meet the skill levels demanded by the singular work in our ship repair maintenance and modernization environment; and gain credentials that will make placing them in higher skill area project assignments both easier and more cost effective. For more information on this program please contact Michelle Tomaszewski Ph.D. at 757.233.7034.

7th Annual Lego competition has officially been launched! Application packets have been mailed to all Public and Private schools in our area. Just as we have in past years, this year we will need technical advisors, judges, and volunteers. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community and represent your company!

Duties of technical advisors include:

1. Contact the Team Leader (teacher)
2. Attend the Team Event Kick-Off on the date the Team Leader has set.  You will meet the team and the teacher to discuss their design ideas.  The VSRA office will make sure you are well stocked with VSRA give-aways to bring to the meeting. Please let the VSRA office know when you plan to meet with your team so we can give you VSRA branding items / giveaways to bring to your introductory meeting.  
3. Review their progress by e-mail/phone 2-3 times during March
4. Visit the team when the design is almost complete – offer advice for improvement (this is the ‘Mid-Engineering Critique’)
5. Watch the students practice their presentations and offer feedback
6. Attend the Preliminary Competition
7. Attend the Final Competition (accordingly)
8. Required Time Spent:  10 hours (minimum)

Judges:

1. Expected to attend “Judges” meeting to review the score sheets (accordingly)
2. Arrive on the day of Preliminaries, and judge performances according to the scoring sheet (accordingly)
3. Offer advice/feedback

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee met on October 25, 2012  to review the November Newsletter. The committee invites anyone interested in participating to join them at the next meeting. The committee meets the Thursday following the General Membership Luncheon meeting at 9:00 a.m. at QED Systems, Inc. at 4646 N. Witchduck Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23455. The next meeting will be in November and the date is TBA.

Contracts Committee

The Contracts Committee met on October 4, 2012.  The Contracts Committee has hosted three highly attended mini-seminars this fall. The remaining schedule for the Contracts Committee 2012 mini-seminar series is as follows:

Nov 8th: Government Contracting Alphabet Soup – ORCA to FAPIIS which will be led by Jeff Estes and Mike Gardner.  Location:  Troutman Sanders offices, 2200 Central Park Ave, Virginia Beach.

The Contracts Committee meets the 1st Thursday of every month at the Norfolk offices of Troutman Sanders, Sixteenth Floor, 150 West Main Street, Norfolk, Virginia. The next committee meeting will be on November 1, 2012.

Environmental Committee

The Environmental Committee did not meet in October.  The committee meets the second Thursday of the odd numbered months at 10:00 a.m. in the General Dynamics NASSCO-Earl Industries (formerly United Coatings Corp.) Training Room, 650 Chautauqua Avenue, Portsmouth, VA 23707. The next meeting will be on November 8, 2012.

Human Resources Committee

The Human Resources Committee met on October 3, 2012. The committee had a roundtable discussion on what each of our members view as the "hot" topics they are facing at work these days and how the other member companies are dealing with those same topics. The committee began plans for the HR Seminar for the spring of 2013 identifying topics, speakers, location, date, and format for its 2013 HR Seminar. The HR Seminar will be held on April 24, 2013 in the Willcox & Savage Board Room.  The next regularly scheduled committee meeting will be at the Norfolk offices of Wilcox & Savage – 22nd Floor, 440 Monticello Avenue, Suite 2200, Norfolk, Virginia, at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, November 7, 2012. 

Quality Assurance Committee

The Quality Assurance Committee met on October 9, 2012. The committee discussed the QA Audit Database and reviewed the past due audit list.  All members are requested to send an e-mail to Dennis Robbins if there are any errors.  The committee reviewed recent changes to the system.  The committee discussed the Sub-committee's charter which will be to review and revise the audit and revise the Auditor training. The items discussed during the Industry/CNRMC QA Monthly Conference call were shared with the QA Committee. Fire Drills and 009-24 training were reviewed. The committee meets the 2^nd Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. at Q.E.D. Systems, Inc., 4646 North Witchduck Road in Virginia Beach. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Tuesday, November 13, 2012.

Safety Committee

The Safety Committee met on Thursday, October 11, 2012. The Committee noted that the 2012 17th Annual Safety & Health Seminar, held on September 26, 2012 at the Ted Constant Convention Center at ODU, was a great success. This year’s theme was “Safety Begins with You – Make it Personal.”  There were over 188 in attendance, and 14 Vendors represented.  The Safety Handbooks for Supervisors and Employees are now available - $4.00 each for VSRA members and $4.75 each for non-members.  The VSRA Safety Orientation sub-committee reported on their recent meeting and revisions to the Safety Orientation slides.  A Safety Training Program for Safety Personnel is being developed and will be addressed to the VSRA Board for their review and approval.  The committee meets the second Thursday of the month at 9:00 a.m. in the General Dynamics NASSCO-Earl Industries (formerly United Coatings Corp.) Training Room, 650 Chautauqua Avenue, Portsmouth, VA 23707, however, the next meeting on November 8, 2012, and will be held at AMSEC, LLC for a Mock Inspection with Mr. Kyle Hopf, at 550 Woodlake Drive, Chesapeake, VA  23320.

Security Committee

The Security Committee met on October 9, 2012.  The committee was updated on the latest discussions from NSSA’s security team.  In order to further protect an individual’s Personal Identifiable Information (PII), the social security number column on the Contractor Visits Spreadsheet (MARMC spreadsheet) is going away, effective 31Oct12.  A “Visitor ID” will take the place of the SSN.  You can use any other means to identify your personnel i.e., employee #s, company badge #s, or a DoD ID # found on the back of the newer CAC's to enter in as "Visitor ID".  The next Security Committee meeting will be held Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 10:00am at GDIT, 1545 Crossways Blvd. Chesapeake, VA.  Please click here to view the  “Welcome Package” for directions and information for the November meeting. 

Worker’s Comp Committee

The Worker’s Comp Committee met on October 11, 2012. The committee meets the second Thursday of the even numbered months at 10:00 a.m. in the General Dynamics NASSCO-Earl Industries (formerly United Coatings Corp.) Training Room, 650 Chautauqua Avenue, Portsmouth, VA 23707. The next meeting is on December 13, 2012.

VSRF

The Virginia Ship Repair Foundation met on October 10, 2012. They completed their strategic planning retreat on Friday, September 28, 2012.  Changes to the By-Laws were presented to the VSRA Board at their meeting on October 23, 2012. Nomenclature and Compartment Location Courses are now available online. All courses are available in DVD format as well for classroom use. The next meeting is November 14, 2012.

Alphabet Soup of Government Contracting FAPIIS or ORCA Seminar –Speaker(s): Michael Gardener & Jeffery Estes

November 8, 2012 Location: Troutman Sanders 222 Central Park Ave #2000, Virginia Beach, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Mike Gardner and Jeff Estes will present a comprehensive overview of the legal and accounting issues government contractors must address in order to successfully comply with federal contracting regulations.  We will be addressing such topics as:

General update on FAR 31-Cost Principles - General update on CAS - DCAA hot button items (Incurred cost submissions, adequate accounting system audits) - General update on business systems rule and DCAA’s revised audit guidance - General update on SBA & DOL regulations which incorporates accounting data.

Thank you to our sponsors!  Troutman Sanders, Scaffolding Solutions, JoKell, and Kaufman & Canoles.

Try it out today! Nomenclature and Compartment Location are available NOW! Contact VSRA for a FREE trial code. All courses available in DVD format as well for classroom use. http://otraining.virginiashiprepair.org

Nomenclature: An introduction to the words and terms frequently used in ship yard environments, this 45 minute course includes an assessment of student understanding. Terms reviewed include ship parts, tools, activities and location references.

Compartment Location: An orientation to locating compartments and structures on a ship; this course is for anyone who will be working on a ship. It is not only important for locating working spaces, but for evacuation.

Topics:

• Review of Parts of a Vessel
• Review of Directions on a Ship
• How Naval Vessel Compartments are Named
• How Locations are Labeled
• Interpreting Compartment Labels
• Commercial Vessel Compartments

As an initial step to offering more relevant training to VSRA members, we launched entry-level courses in Nomenclature and Compartment Location. We believe these will be not only valuable for new workers, but for students in technical schools that are looking to work in ship repair. The highly successful Safety Orientation on-line program led to members requesting more courses they can use to train workers in ship yard specific topics. As we listened and learned more, VSRA found that the value to members was in two areas: 1.) consistency of course content for the region and 2.) the flexibility of using that material in either a classroom or on-line format. As a follow-on step, In order to determine where VSRA should place its resources and prioritizing efforts, the Safety Committee ran a survey to estimate demand and interest. The top choices were very consistently rated by the 78 responding companies: Hazard Communication, Overview of Confined Spaces Issues, WAF and Introduction to Standard Items. Although we don't have release dates for these new developments, any member company is welcome to join the content review committees.

Emergency First Response

Date/Time: October 31, 2012 (7:30am-4:00pm)

Member Price: $135             Non Member: $175

This certification is a step beyond Red Cross certification and is more oriented to industrial environments. This one day course provides comprehensive instruction in CPR and First Aid, as well as Automated External Defibrillator (AED) use, emergency oxygen administration and conscious choking management skills. Plus! Blood Borne Pathogen Training!

Emergency First Response Refresher

Date/Time: November 1, 2012 (7:30am-11:30am)

Member Price: $100         Non Member: $175

This is a 1/2 day refresher from 7:30am to 11:30am for those who were certified in 2010, and their certification will expire in 2012. The EFR course meets OSHA Guidelines 29 CFR 1920.151 compliance standards for workplace safety.

OSHA 10-Hour Maritime #7615

Date/Time: November 14-15, 2012

Member Price: $195     Non Member: $260

The OSHA 10-hour course awards the 10-hour certification card and meets all of the mandated regulations for Maritime Industry (OSHA Code of Federal Regulations 29 CFR 1915) course 7615 in a format that specifically addresses the challenges and  environmental conditions specific to shipyards.   In addition, ship yard specific      regulations and issues are covered in depth. Instructors are authorized by OSHA   endorsed certification programs.  The completion card is valid for 5 years at which time the course must be repeated. Our instructors are OSHA accepted certified to   conduct this class and grant the award of certification cards. Cards are issued through the Instructor’s certifying body. All books, material and certification costs are covered in the course fee.

 NBPI Prep

Date/Time: November 28-30 (8:00am-3:30pm)

Member Price $320                Non Member: $425

Preparing your students for the NBPI course saves your company time and money. The VSRA NBPI Prep course focuses on the areas students have the most difficulty in learning and passing on the Inspector exam. These areas are math, Standard Items 009-32 and applicable portions of 009-04, proper use of instruments and specific complex coatings documentation. Students will receive a copy of all materials in class, however they are HIGHLY encouraged to pre-read the applicable Standard Items prior to class to maximize their learning experience.

NAVSEA Basic Paint Inspector Certification Course

Date/Time: December 3-7 (7:00am-5:00pm)

Member Price $795                     Non Member: $925

VSRA is one of the few organizations authorized to instruct this very specialized course.  NBPI prepares Inspectors specifically for work on Naval vessels and includes a heavy concentration of Standard Items 009-32/04. VSRA has the highest pass rates in the country. This is partially because we also offer a Prep course focusing on instrument usage, math, and Standard Items 009-32/04 and partially because our Instructors do an excellent job of making sure students fully understand the content. In addition, our Instructors have decades of Navy coatings and QA specific experience.