Thursday, January 31, 2008

Byron's Bridge Club

...must be having a hard time finding players...
Dirk VanEnkevort wanted to take advantage of a shipbuilding boom when his family's company leased one of the largest dry docks in the Great Lakes region in 2005. But now he is so short-handed he has turned to robots to help keep up.

His company, Erie Shipbuilding LLC, has since hired about 150 workers and equipped the facility on Lake Erie with sophisticated metalworking tools — including robots. It now has orders to build eight oceangoing barges and plans to hire additional workers as needed.

But as his order book fills, VanEnkevort faces a problem hampering dozens of other midsize commercial shipyards across the country: a shortage of skilled, experienced workers capable of assembling and welding freight ships.
...and it ain't getting better. Get it right so we can have a stable industrial base - or you will never be able to build a fleet you need.

Hat tip Mike.

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