NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Hampton Roads' largest private employer has joined the Virginia Ready Initiative.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, parent company of Newport News Shipbuilding and its 25,000 employees, has signed on to be a business partner with a nonprofit that retrains unemployed Virginians.
The idea is to help unemployed residents across the commonwealth get back to work quickly, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virginia Ready, in partnership with businesses and the state's community colleges, equips people who are out of work with the required skills for in-demand jobs in high-growth sectors.
"We look forward to always joining these kinds of organizations. I mean, we are the largest employer, private manufacturer in the state of Virginia," said Bill Ermatinger, HII's executive vice president and chief human resources officer.
More than 800,000 people in the commonwealth have filed for unemployment benefits since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
At the same time, demand is projected to grow for specialized jobs in the fields of technology, healthcare and skilled trades - including manufacturing.
That is especially true at Newport News Shipbuilding, the world's only maker of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and one of only two yards in the country that makes nuclear-powered submarines.
They need workers now, and anticipate needing them for years to come.
"The reason why Huntington Ingalls got very much interested in this is, this just adds another tool in our tool bag as it relates to work force development in a space that we could use help in, and especially the underemployed," said Ermatinger.
They've built more than 800 ships at Newport News Shipbuidling since 1886.
They plan to continue that mission, even during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company hopes to help to lower unemployment along the way.
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