Navy to cover tuition for 500 in LI college's submarine workforce training

The Navy will be picking up the tuition of 500 certificate students at Suffolk County Community College in an effort to beef up the pool of talent for building and maintaining submarines, officials said.

The five-year grant will cover the students' tuition of roughly $4,000 each for the certificate programs in welding or operating computer numerical control machines, according to the college.

Computer numerical control machines are automated tools that use programmed instructions to precisely  fabricate parts. 

Long Island companies are widely known  as suppliers of components for military aircraft, but some aerospace companies, such as Hauppauge-based GSE Dynamics Inc., also manufacture parts for submarines.

The Navy issued the noncompetitive grant as it lags behind its stated goal of building one Columbia class and two Virginia class submarines a year. Overall, the service estimates it will need more than 130,000 new workers nationwide between now and 2030 for its submarine programs.

"This investment in our welding and manufacturing certificates will allow us to get more trainees into the workforce more quickly,” said Suffolk Community College president Edward Bonahue. "It's a national priority that the country has the manufacturing capacity to build those subs,"

The certificate programs will launch in the fall at the Brentwood campus. Program applicants will have to sit for an interview and agree to work for an approved company doing submarine-related work.

Bonahue said the certificate programs typically can be completed in a semester or less.

Once in the workforce, certified welders typically start at about $73,000, while salaries for computer numerical control machine operators begin at $60,000, according to SCCC.

Anne D. Shybunko-Moore, owner and chief executive of GSE Dynamics, said about 87 Long Island companies provide parts for submarines.

"There's a synergy with aerospace companies," said Shybunko-Moore, who also chairs Ignite LI, a regional trade group for manufacturers. "Really it's the same core capabilities."

GSE produces periscopes, antennas and mast fairings — structures designed to reduce drag — for submarines.

Bonahue said he expects applicants for the program to come from three sources: high school students who want to enter the workforce immediately; current employees who want to upgrade their skills, and candidates referred from the state Department of Labor and community service organizations.

Modern manufacturing has largely outgrown its historic stigma of being "dark, dirty and dangerous," Bonahue said. "They're none of those things. They're high-tech and high-precision operations."

In addition, the aging of the region's population puts a premium on finding young, talented workers, he said.

"It really throws the door open wide for students interested in manufacturing," Bonahue said.

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.