Legislature(2015 - 2016)CAPITOL 120
02/17/2015 10:00 AM House FISHERIES
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
February 17, 2015
10:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Louise Stutes, Chair
Representative Dan Ortiz
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Neal Foster
Representative Bob Herron
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Charisse Millett
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): ALASKA MARITIME WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
KRISTINE NOROSZ, Director
Government Affairs
Icicle Seafoods
Petersburg, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan.
JULIE DECKER, Executive Director
Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Inc. (AFDF)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan.
MATT ALWARD, Vice President
Homer Marine Trades Association
Homer, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan.
DOUG WARD, Director
Ship Yard Development
Vigor Industrial LLC
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Co-presented the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:00:43 AM
CHAIR LOUISE STUTES called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Representatives Stutes
and Ortiz were present at the call to order.
^PRESENTATION(S): Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan
PRESENTATION(S):
Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan
10:01:37 AM
CHAIR STUTES announced that the only order of business is a
presentation of the Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan.
10:02:13 AM
KRISTINE NOROSZ, Director, Government Affairs, Icicle Seafoods,
began a PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Sustaining Alaska's
Communities and Economy through Maritime Workforce Development."
She said Alaska is as a maritime state and the maritime industry
includes both onshore and offshore activities (slide 2). People
are employed in seafood harvesting and processing; sport charter
businesses; fisheries research, management, and enhancement;
marine transportation; marine support industries serving ship
and boat design, construction, and repair; and stevedoring and
longshoring. Maritime is a complex and global industry engaging
both large and small businesses and agencies that can be unaware
of each other's value to their enterprise. The seafood sector
alone contributes over $6 billion a year in total impact to the
state of Alaska, so it can be concluded that the contribution of
the entire maritime industry is much higher. Alaska's economy
is also highly reliant on marine transportation and services.
Almost all of Alaska's food and household goods comes north by
container ship, while the state's major exports of crude oil and
seafood products travel south on these same ships. Jobs in the
seafood, marine transportation, and other maritime sectors form
the economic backbone of many Alaska communities. The state's
marine highway system operates ferries that are integral to the
livelihood of all of Alaska's coastal communities, moving both
people and goods all over the state. Both Native and non-Native
Alaskans depend strongly on the marine environment for food and
recreation, and subsistence harvest is a unique part of Alaska's
economy and culture. Occupations in the maritime industry range
from the professional in the office to the skilled trade jobs
found on the ground and on the water. These jobs can be found
in every community along Alaska's rivers and coastline,
including Anchorage. These businesses range from large
employers such as the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
and seafood processers to thousands of small proprietorships,
including fishermen, marine fabricators, and other marine
support operations.
10:05:03 AM
MS. NOROSZ noted that until now these occupations have not been
characterized as a unique and related workforce (slide 3).
Collectively, the maritime industry is the largest private
employer in Alaska with over 68,000 workers with over 500 firms.
Examples of the maritime workforce by sub-sector include
commercial fishing, sportfish guiding, water transportation,
boat building and repair, marine engineering, and numerous jobs
with different state and federal agencies. She recalled that
during his State of the State address, Governor Walker talked
about putting Alaskans to work in career occupations as a high
priority of his administration. Resident hire in some sectors
of the maritime economy is high, reflecting localized
demographics while other sectors and areas struggle to find
adequate numbers of Alaskans wanting to, or qualified to,
perform the work required. The goal of the Alaska Maritime
Workforce Development Plan is to connect businesses operating in
Alaska with resident Alaskans who are skilled, knowledgeable,
and desire careers in rewarding and challenging occupations.
MS. NOROSZ noted that marine career opportunities currently
abound in Alaska. The Arctic is a maritime environment that is
commanding more focus daily. A recently released report by the
McDowell Group, "Ties that Bind," describes the value of all the
goods and services exported from Puget Sound coming to Alaska.
These Alaska imports represent the opportunity to diversify and
strengthen the state's economy through value-added activities
currently performed in the Lower 48. To identify high-value
careers available to Alaska residents, a private/public
partnership was formed to create the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan (slide 4). This 18-month effort that engaged
hundreds of Alaskans in defining the needs and priorities to
develop a globally collective maritime workforce.
10:07:30 AM
MS. NOROSZ stated that the goals of this plan (slide 5) are to:
develop a responsive workforce that keeps the maritime industry
and economy strong; guide Alaska's workforce to discover and
prepare for these jobs; and increase the number of Alaskans in
skilled maritime occupations. The plan was created with
guidance from industry, the University of Alaska, and many
others (slides 6-7). The task at hand now is to identify and
develop the best workforce development and investment practices
to create a resilient workforce capable of competing in a global
economy. The members of the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Industry Advisory Committee are committing time and
resource to accomplish this task. Elected officials, five state
agencies, the University of Alaska, and the Rasmussen Foundation
have also provided support for this plan. The university has
allocated legislatively directed funds to this effort and many
hours of staff time. With support from industry countless hours
have been dedicated to creation of this plan. An even greater
effort is going to be required to implement it and with fewer
resources available. As public resources decline, today's
tumultuous economy is driving advances in technology and
production, requiring an adaptive and informed workforce and
workforce investment system for Alaska to be competitive.
MS. NOROSZ pointed out that the challenge to defining and
preparing Alaska's maritime workforce is represented by the
complexity implied by the chart on slide 8. The chart
illustrates that it's not a linear progression as a person goes
on a career path in the maritime industry, but rather a web of
cross-cutting skills that allow a person to go in many different
directions. The skills, knowledge, and abilities required to
successfully perform in the maritime work world can be
transferred across a spectrum of Alaska resource-based and
energy-based industries. An enduring workforce investment
system must cut across economic, geographic, jurisdictional,
seasonal, and cultural boundaries to respond to Alaska's diverse
and demanding workplace.
10:10:22 AM
JULIE DECKER, Executive Director, Alaska Fisheries Development
Foundation, Inc. (AFDF), reported that surveys of the maritime
sub-sectors were conducted during development of the workforce
plan to identify the high demand/high priority occupations.
High demand/priority is where there is a need today to fill
workers in positions. The priority occupations identified in
the seafood harvesting sub-sector (slide 9) include [commercial]
seafood harvesters (both permit holders and crewmembers), vessel
repair and maintenance service providers, and shellfish farmers.
She added that many fisherman are workers in vessel repair and
maintenance during the off-season. She also noted that while
there is not a high need for shellfish farmers today, there is
potential for high growth in the future. Nine priority
occupations were identified in the seafood processing sub-sector
(slide 10), many of which have overlaps with other industries.
Priority occupations were also identified in the research,
enhancement, and management sub-sector (slide 11), a sub-sector
that is vitally important to the seafood industry. To have
fisheries, there must be managers and research, and enhancement
has also become a huge component of that. Many of the
aforementioned priority occupations are highly trained, higher
paid, year round, positions in Alaska's communities. Other
priority occupations were identified in the marine occupations
and support industries sub-sector, which includes the
occupations of ship building; vessel operations - deckhands,
vessel engineers, and captains; and vessel repair and
maintenance service providers.
10:13:56 AM
MS. DECKER discussed the five overall strategies for how to get
to the final goal of employing more Alaskans in the maritime
industry and in these high priority occupations (slide 13).
Many of these overall strategies are also employed in the other
industries that have workforce development plans, such as oil
and gas, health care, and mining. One overall strategy is to
grow awareness of maritime occupations and develop career
pathways (slide 14). This includes working within the state's
school system and in areas where there are folks who have the
skills and may be interested, such as veterans. Two other
overall strategies are to improve workforce readiness (slide 15)
and to train Alaskans for maritime careers through the education
system and technical training organizations (slide 16). Another
overall strategy is supporting recruitment and retention (slide
17), which is common to the other workforce development plans
that already exist. Lastly, an important overall strategy is
promoting sustained industry engagement (slide 18). Workforce
activities are most effective when the industry is sitting at
the table and saying how education programs can be aligned with
industry's needs. How to promote sustained industry engagement
has been a theme for the Industry Advisory Committee and the
committee is continuing to talk about a structure for how to
move that forward long term. The University of Alaska has
provided support to the committee's efforts and industry is now
looking forward within its own structures.
10:18:02 AM
MS. DECKER addressed implementing the Alaska Maritime Workforce
Development Plan (slide 19). She said the Alaska Fisheries
Development Foundation is exploring the idea of helping to
create this new structure for the statewide industry input as
the plan rolls out and is implemented. She noted she lives in
Wrangell and is on the Wrangell Assembly. Wrangell has a marine
service center with two boat haul-outs and over the last 5-10
years the state has generously helped in the building of a good
infrastructure there. To help build that out, Wrangell is now
working with the Economic Develop Committee and staff, the high
school shop teacher, and the marine service center businesses to
identify what the businesses need for workforce development and
to help make those happen in conjunction with the high school
shop teacher. Some excellent things are coming out of that
simple collaboration on a local level. For example, the high
school shop teacher was able to purchase and get running some
high-tech equipment: computers are being used to cut pieces for
the shipyard that the businesses in the community are purchasing
from the high school shop class. Efforts are being made to link
these small local efforts to regional efforts and then look
statewide for how to work together.
MS. NOROSZ added that since the plan has come out, some training
opportunities have been increased in quality control and ammonia
refrigeration, and doing that with vessel repair is also being
looked at. The Industry Advisory Committee continues to meet
and work groups are working on some of the priority occupations.
The University of Alaska has put in a Tier 1 grant application
to the Rasmussen Foundation to create some videos for use in
high schools about career awareness.
10:21:06 AM
MS. NOROSZ, responding to Representative Ortiz, stated that
68,000 jobs are attributed to the maritime sector.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ remarked that that is a significant part of
the economy and workforce. Regarding development of the
workforce and the programs to do that, he asked whether Ms.
Norosz thinks that this effort is being felt coastally across
the state or is limited to specific communities.
MS. NOROSZ replied there are some real specific examples that
are going on in different communities. A lot of things are also
going on in terms of regional training centers and University of
Alaska campuses and some of the high schools. Part of it is
just becoming aware of what others are doing and trying to get
everybody collaborating and working in alignment so everyone is
pulling in the same direction and so nothing is duplicative or
inefficient within the system. If everyone is in alignment with
the plan, it can then be figured out what the best practices are
and use those systems in other parts of the state and reach the
plan goals faster. With declining revenues, it is realized that
no monies will be received to implement this, so everyone must
work smarter and one way to do that is for everybody to get
behind the plan.
10:23:37 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ noted he comes from the field of education
in public high schools. Regarding Ms. Decker's statement about
simple collaboration at the local level, he said he knows that
sometimes it is not so simple to get connected and integrated
into the public school system. He inquired whether there has
been an openness in this regard in the different communities and
school districts around the coastal areas.
MS. NOROSZ responded that that is a hard thing to answer. This
month is Career Technical Education (CTE) Month and it was found
in some areas that there is a lot of emphasis on getting kids to
four-year degree programs. However, there are a lot of jobs in
Alaska that aren't geared to four-year college degree jobs.
There is a wide variety of jobs and many take hands-on skills
that cannot be done in an office or on a computer. The
diversity of jobs in Alaska needs to be recognized and to cater
training and education to meet that variety of needs. A lot was
learned in the process of doing this plan. The University of
Alaska did an inventory of all its classes that are related in
any way to the maritime industries and the university was
surprised at the depth and breadth of the classes that it was
offering. Many of the people involved are still learning about
what the regional training centers provide. For high schools it
is highly variable and probably dependent on the particular
philosophy of the local school board as to what degree the board
is pushing workforce development. Career awareness is a high
priority for the workforce development plan. That can start in
elementary school and continue throughout people's careers at
any age. Sometimes a person doesn't understand how the skills
he or she has might be applied to other occupations or how the
skills a person wants to learn could be applied to many
different occupations. It all starts with career awareness and
the opportunities that abound in Alaska. The Arctic is getting
more and more attention and that will continue to grow, but the
plan talks about jobs that are available right now in the
maritime industries and where there is a real shortage of
skilled workers.
MS. DECKER added that the issue of high schools and the variety
within communities is really important, along with how it is
approached statewide. When working together on a statewide
level, there is the potential to look at things like school
policy and doing things with the school counselors and the
career awareness piece rolls into that. She said she likes to
use the phrase "blue collar, high dollar jobs" because this is
what is really being looked at. Sometimes there is a bias that
those aren't really good jobs, but they are good jobs and they
are high dollar jobs.
10:28:23 AM
CHAIR STUTES inquired whether the Industry Advisory Committee
has informational booths or presentations at fish expositions or
trade fairs to get the word out. Speaking from Kodiak, she said
many young people go to the ComFish Alaska trade show.
MS. NOROSZ advised that the plan just came out in May and agreed
that that is a good suggestion. The advisory committee is
getting the word out by addressing many different types of
groups, such as rotaries, chambers of commerce, school board
gatherings, and superintendent conferences, as well as using
social media. A web site has been established that includes
links with the Department of Labor & Workforce Development,
Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and the university. The
advisory committee is doing everything it can to get the word
out and is always open to more suggestions.
CHAIR STUTES commented that she would think the advisory
committee would want to go where the young people are, and a
chamber of commerce meeting isn't it. She suggested, for
example, that high schools could be targeted outside of
basketball games.
MS. NOROSZ replied that the reason she mentioned chambers of
commerce is because it is incumbent upon the advisory committee
to let employers know what is going on because not all the
employers have been involved in developing this plan. If
chambers of commerce are aware, they may be interested in
establishing some internship or apprenticeship programs. They
can learn how they can become more involved so that they can
find the skilled workers they need. It is about awareness for
both the potential employee and the employers.
CHAIR STUTES agreed it is community awareness.
10:30:46 AM
MATT ALWARD, Vice President, Homer Marine Trades Association,
noted his association is made up of about 70 members in marine
trades businesses. The association was originally formed as an
advertising collective to promote Homer as a place to do boat
work and bring vessels. But, as the businesses started to grow
they quickly realized they had no local workforce to draw from.
So, workforce development, career awareness, became one of the
association's missions. The first thing the association did
with its limited funds was create a scholarship of $1,000 for
high school students as well as community members wanting to go
to vocational school with plans of coming back to Homer with
those skills. This year is the third year of the scholarship
and the hope is to expand it. The second thing the association
did was career awareness by getting together with shop teachers
at the Homer high school. Given the association's lack of
funds, it knew it couldn't make a new program, but the
association was invited to speak at the Focus on Learning class.
For six Fridays in a row the association had a different trade
business meet with kids to explain where they can go with skill
development in a trade. So far there have been fifteen students
and a positive response. The association is emphasizing things
that kids relate to, such as how computer skills relate to
vessel building, maintenance, and repair.
10:33:13 AM
CHAIR STUTES asked what kinds of businesses were at the classes.
MR. ALWARD responded the first class was a general overview and
included a presentation by the owner of a local boat repair,
painting, and hauling business about how local young people with
a commercial driver's license haul boats for him. Other
presenters were people who graduated from the Homer high school
and who now have their own fishing businesses; they talked about
entry level local fishing opportunities. A diesel engine
repairman brought in an engine and demonstrated how today's
engines are computer controlled and let the kids run diagnostic
tests. This showed the kids that to be a diesel mechanic they
have to have computer skills. A local boat builder came in with
the three-dimensional modeling, which really got the kids'
attention. Presentations were also provided on electronics, net
building, and lines and riggings. From these classes the
association hopes to get a good sense of what the kids are
interested in, and how many, and as phase two, take that
information to the school board to get permission to develop
more comprehensive programs that will get these kids actual
skills that they could take to a workplace or carry them on to a
vocational school. The association also became involved with
the Kenai Peninsula College (KPC) when the college invited the
association to create a class that the college would facilitate.
The association began with eight classes that are two-hours
long. The classes include all the different basic skills that
are needed for someone wanting to get into fishing, marine
transportation, or an on-the-water job. Each of the eight
classes was sponsored by a different marine trade that was
responsible for the curriculum and for teaching the class.
CHAIR STUTES inquired as to what skills are needed to get into
the marine industry.
MR. ALWARD answered that first is getting a real idea of what
working on a boat is actually like because it can be very
romantic but there are many parts of it that are not. Another
is understanding the legal relationships between vessel master
and crew. There are also basic line and rigging skills, safety,
engine skills, and hydraulic, electrical, and system skills.
10:36:28 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ asked whether the aforementioned classes in
Homer were part of a career class that was already in place and
the association was granted some slots in that class, or whether
it was a special class that kids voluntarily came to.
MR. ALWARD replied that the Focus on Learning class is something
the high school already had and many times it is just a study
hall. So, it is an open period and was something the
association could come to. In the 1980s the high school had
some good programs that have since gone away, so the association
is re-creating in that regard.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ understood the plan is to get feedback from
the students and then implement an actual class within the
school schedule.
MR. ALWARD confirmed that is the goal.
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ asked whether significant equipment would
need to be funded to get that class going.
MR. ALWARD responded it would depend on what the association
comes up with. Right now the high school has a welding program
that funds itself by building trailers and auctioning them off.
It isn't yet at the level of Wrangell where the high school is
actually working for industry, but that is a goal. Since it is
known more teachers cannot be funded, the plan is to get
industry involved by having industry experts come into the class
and teach the skills.
10:38:18 AM
CHAIR STUTES inquired whether the association is hoping that
these will be credited courses.
MR. ALWARD answered "eventually," and explained that the college
classes are two-hour classes so they are not credited. The cost
is $25 a class and the classes are being promoted to the whole
community, including the high school. At the high school class
the association is giving out four $25 certificates to encourage
the kids to take the next step and go to the college classes.
Responding further to Chair Stutes, he confirmed there are about
15 kids per class at the high school, many of whom are already
in the shop class. While it is hard to judge during the class,
the kids are actually paying attention and do ask a few
questions and the feedback from the shop teacher is that there
is a lot of buzz.
10:39:36 AM
DOUG WARD, Director, Shipyard Development, Vigor Industrial LLC,
noted that Vigor Alaska operates the Ketchikan and Seward
shipyards. He said he has been with the Ketchikan shipyard
since 1994 when he and Randy Johnson started Alaska Ship &
Drydock to bring life back to the shipyard which had been closed
for several years. He and Mr. Johnson had the unique and
beneficial advantage of not knowing anything about the business
before they started. As a result of that, he and Mr. Johnson
did not have a lot of the biases that are built into the U.S.
shipbuilding industrial base, which has been uninterrupted for
250 years. He added that he chairs the governor's Workforce
Investment Board and he has been on that board for over 15
years. Workforce has been an important part of the planning for
the Ketchikan shipyard and that has been built into the
company's development plans. He explained that in shipbuilding
there is a lot of global benchmarking and comparison of best
industrial practices to develop efficiencies and build vessels
faster, better, and cheaper. In 1995 he became involved with
the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) which is
funded by the U.S. Navy to identify competitive weaknesses in
the U.S. industrial base and then have shipbuilders make
recommendations and come up with solutions to those competitive
disadvantages. One of the first things he became involved in
with the NSRP was developing national skill standards for
shipbuilding and the common question from education is, "What is
it you need for us to teach?" Now the shipbuilding industry has
national skill standards that are based on production processes
rather than occupations. By focusing on production processes it
is possible to see those skills and key tasks that cut across
all of the industrial processes and when it gets to education it
can be said that what is being asked to be taught cuts across
industry sectors as well. The basic construction skills that go
into building or repairing a ship or boat are essential to
construction and to oil and gas. Roughly 70 percent of the
priority occupations that Alaska as a state has targeted for oil
and gas exist and reside within the Ketchikan shipyard. The
shipyard is always looking for those cross-cutting capabilities
with any of the initiatives that it undertakes. The shipyard
also looks for benchmarking to ensure that what it is doing is
providing either infrastructure or a competitive workforce.
MR. WARD noted that the 1998 Workforce Investment Act has been
reauthorized. This federal law provides federal training
dollars to the [U.S. Department of Labor] Employment & Training
Administration to the states. The 1998 Act was focused on the
individual worker and how to get disadvantaged and displaced
workers. The 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act,
which is the authorization, recognizes that the demand side of
workforce must be addressed too. A hallmark of the new Act is
it requires that economic developers, the investors in
infrastructure, must work together with workforce development.
It pushes economic and workforce development together and
requires that they be joined at the hip, which is a sea state
change for federal law and for federal investments. Much of
what is being done is to line up with the new Workforce
Investment Act. It talks about performance-based apprenticeship
which is based on a person's ability to perform work rather than
how long a person has been in a position. The significant
changes made to the federal Act are in alignment with global
best practices for a competitive workforce.
10:44:39 AM
MR. WARD discussed what the Ketchikan shipyard is doing that is
based on these national standards. He noted that three years
ago his shipyard was purchased by Vigor of Portland, Oregon and
Seattle, Washington, so the shipyard is now one of the nine
shipyards existing under the Vigor umbrella. While Alaska is an
outlier for Vigor, [the Ketchikan shipyard] is showing that
Alaska can be innovative and can lead in its competitive
practices. The Ketchikan shipyard has adopted the National
Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER)
curriculum for construction trades that in Alaska is managed by
[Associated General Contractors of Alaska] and which has the
Alaska Construction Academies. They administer all the testing
and overview for NCCER curriculum on construction skills. About
15 years ago the NSRP recognized that those construction skills
fundamentally are the same across all industries, so [NSRP]
recommended adoption of NCCER levels 1 through 2, with the
junior level industrial processes being moved over onto the
private sector for that more specialized training. He said
NCCER is affordable, standardized, and has very high economic
credentialing authority. Most importantly, though, is the
affordability - about $40 gets a text book that can be used.
There is a standard curriculum platform on which to build for
entry level, middle skill, and journey level workers. The
Ketchikan shipyard has the contract to build two new ferries for
the State of Alaska. Between that and the Seward shipyard,
Vigor needs about 150 new shipyard workers and this is the
process that Vigor is following to get those new Alaskan workers
into these jobs. Vigor is moving its current entry-level-skill
workers into middle skills, the middle-skill workers are being
moved up to journey, and journey workers are being taught
leadership and supervision. That is making way for new Alaskans
to come into the job. This week the construction academy is
rolling out the Pre-Apprentice Program for Marine Industrial
Skills; it is built into Ketchikan high school as well as an
adult program. Young people are being brought into the shipyard
to see what it does, to become aware of the careers there, and
to actually start learning how to do things. Vigor is looking
forward to about 150 new young Alaskans joining the company in
the next 6-12 months. The University of Alaska is a partner in
this. The university has developed a maritime multi-skilled
worker program that is 8 hours a day for 12 weeks and is a
cross-cutting course in itself. Students completing the course
are qualified to go to work for the Alaska Marine Highway and
other shipping companies as a deck engineer, which keeps the
vessels operating. The modules within that course are about
industrial processes: electronics, electrical, welding,
fabrication. It also prepares people for careers in
shipbuilding and repair.
MR. WARD addressed the question from Representative Ortiz about
how the Alaska Workforce Investment plan is dealing with
distributing the career awareness as well as the tools to learn
this. Because NCCER exists within the state's training
institutions, he said one of his goals by adopting NCCER is to
have one of [Vigor's] young workers get college credit sometime
in 2015 from Ilisagvik College in Barrow since NCCER is a common
curriculum. The Community Development Quota (CDQ) groups in
Western Alaska have expressed interest. They rely on fishing
vessels for Bristol Bay and discussions are being had about six-
month internships for CDQ people to come [to the Ketchikan
shipyard] and learn vessel maintenance, repair, and building for
replacement of the vessels in the Bristol Bay area. So, the
answer to the question is that, yes, what is being done in
Ketchikan is transferable across industry sectors. The
knowledge, skills, and ability to build a boat are needed to
build almost anything. It is transferable across occupations
and it is transferable across both geographic and jurisdictional
boundaries. Workforce development and maritime are almost
equally complex, so this recent growing awareness of and
interest in Alaska's maritime industry is like a school of
dolphins as far as how to control things and where to go with
everything. It is up to industry to help guide that. He said
he is going to accept the invitation from Chair Stutes to attend
the ComFish Alaska trade show and ensure that Kodiak's kids know
what is going on.
10:50:44 AM
CHAIR STUTES understood the Ketchikan shipyard was purchased by
[Vigor Industrial LLC] two to three years ago. She asked
whether the construction and the workforce will remain in Alaska
or whether construction will occur in Washington and Oregon and
then shipped to Alaska.
MR. WARD replied that the two new state ferries are being built
in Ketchikan, which indicates Vigor Industrial's commitment to
the state. To get that contract, Vigor's pricing had to equal
or be better than Gulf of Mexico pricing for building new ships.
For a whole host of reasons there is roughly a 25-30 percent
cost disadvantage to do work in Alaska as compared to the Gulf
of Mexico. Vigor has taken that contract at $101 million, which
started out to build a single boat, but now two are being built
for the same price. This is an indication that Vigor is in
Alaska to stay. Vigor purposely took that contract to provide
four years of stability so that these kinds of workforce
development programs can be demonstrated as well as proven, and
then begin distributing this around the state.
10:52:32 AM
MS. NOROSZ pointed out that the [Industry Advisory Committee]
understands it has a lot of things it needs to continue doing to
fully implement this. Industry continues to meet regularly and
continues to get the word out. [The advisory committee] is
meeting with some of the new members of the administration to
make them aware of this workforce plan. Anything that
legislators can do to help state agencies work with the advisory
committee to ensure implementation of this plan is encouraged.
It is recognized that with dwindling state dollars more must be
done with less. It would behoove the Alaska Department of Fish
& Game and the Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
because of the greying of their workforce. It is within the
mission of the Department of Labor & Workforce Development; the
Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development; and
the University of Alaska to work on workforce development.
Anything the legislature can do to encourage them would be
appreciated, whether it is a resolution or discussions about
work with all the industries that have workforce development
plans. She urged that the Education Tax Credit be retained
because it has been an excellent tool for industry to use to
further invest in workforce development and training. She
thanked the committee for listening to the presentation.
10:54:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ORTIZ commented that most school districts have
career classes that would be a natural place for a presentation.
He asked Mr. Ward how it works in a practical sense to get young
people to the shipyard, given school classroom schedules.
MR. WARD responded that the shipyard is working with the school
counselors and with the career and technical education
instructors. Students who may not be college bound or who don't
know what they want to do are being encouraged to go to the
shipyard to see what the shipyard is doing. For example, the
high school teacher of a girl taking a welding class called him
to say that this girl was a natural and could he bring her to
the shipyard. She spent six months at the shipyard and now
wants a career there. He offered his hope that one day this
girl will be leading the company because she has the drive and
intelligence that it takes to do that. The shipyard works hard
to reach out to the teachers and schools to find students, he
said, and then celebrates those success stories.
10:58:00 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 10:58
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Maritime Workforce Development Plan.pdf |
HFSH 2/17/2015 10:00:00 AM |
|
| Slides Alaska Presentation Maritme Workforce Development Plan Feb 2015.pdf |
HFSH 2/17/2015 10:00:00 AM |