EB details future growth in R.I. and elsewhere as new subs are built

IN ITS ANNUAL UPDATE ON EMPLOYMENT, General Dynamics Electric Boat officials said that the manufacturer expected to add 1,800 jobs this year, including at least 300 jobs at its North Kingstown facility, with hiring to continue through the next decade and a half.  / COURTESY GENERAL DYNAMICS ELECTRIC BOAT
IN ITS ANNUAL UPDATE ON EMPLOYMENT, General Dynamics Electric Boat officials said that the manufacturer expected to add 1,800 jobs this year, including at least 300 jobs at its North Kingstown facility, with hiring to continue through the next decade and a half. / COURTESY GENERAL DYNAMICS ELECTRIC BOAT

WARWICK – General Dynamics Electric Boat expects to greatly expand its workforce in the next several years, including at its Quonset Point facilities, to accommodate production of a new class of submarine.

The long-term projection, presented on Monday by Electric Boat President Jeffrey S. Geiger, would increase the defense contractor’ employment at Quonset Point from 3,500 to more than 5,000, with the most significant hiring increases starting in 2020.

In 2016, it expects to hire another 300 people at Quonset Point, 600 in Groton, Conn., as well as 400 additional employees in engineering and design, and 500 support personnel.

The manufacturer is ending one of its strongest years on record for revenue, according to Geiger, who said Electric Boat had sales of $5 billion last year and added 1,300 new positions for growth. The manufacturer hired 2,300 across its facilities last year, but 1,000 replaced workers who had retired or left the company.

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“A very significant level of activity across our business, one of the highest revenue years we’ve ever seen,” said Geiger, who delivered the 2016 business outlook for Electric Boat in a presentation at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick.

Two-thirds of the company’s activity was in construction of the Virginia-class submarines, according to Geiger, while 30 percent is in engineering and design activities.

The company is under contract with the U.S. Navy to produce 28 of the Virginia class submarines, and has delivered 12 to date. Another 16 are in process, with 10 under active construction at Quonset or other facilities, he said.

A new class of submarines to replace the existing Ohio class will drive production and hiring at Electric Boat over the next 15 years. The new submarine is large, and carries a work requirement more than twice that of the Virginia class. It is a critical component in the nation’s defense, he said.

“They are very, very hard to find. They carry nuclear weapons, and they offer the threat, the retaliatory threat, to aggressors to our nation or our allies.”

The long-term projection for employment to produce the new Ohio submarines, as well as modifications to additional submarines and the manufacture of training modules, will bring the Electric Boat workforce to 18,000 by 2029, according to information provided by Geiger, up from 14,000 in 2016.

In November, the company completed a new, 113,000-square-foot building at Quonset that will produce sections of the new submarine. It is the first of several expected to be needed for the new class, which is now in design.

The full Rhode Island delegation attended the economic outlook briefing, as well as Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, and other legislative and state leaders.

In brief comments, Raimondo said she was encouraged by the information from Electric Boat and promised state officials would work to improve the business climate in Rhode Island to allow the manufacturer to continue to thrive.

“We are in this with you. This is my primary message to you,” she said to Geiger.

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