An apprenticeship program at the Philadelphia Ship Yard is bringing in a new generation of workers, helped along by Delaware County Community College, writes Catherine Dunn for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Shipyard is seeing an uptick in employment, with 400 employees there now compared to 200 in January.  Its goal is 1,400 by 20222.

Bryan Robinson enrolled in the program to learn welding. 

Last year Robinson took an introduction to welding course at All-State Career School in Essington, which is where he learned about the shipyard training program.

“I felt like this is my career,” said Robinson, 26,. “I can look forward to retiring here.”

The apprentices are paid as employees, with retirement benefits and time off.

“This is my first and only job where I even had the option for benefits,” Robinson said.

They get 6,000 hours of on-the-job training and 500 hours of technical training through Delaware County Community College. .

After graduation, the apprentices achieve Journey-worker status. That gives them 22 credits toward an associate’s degree at DCCC.

Contracts have been coming into the shipyard for national security multi-mission vessels, at $300 million each. It’s also building four training ships for state maritime academies.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about the apprenticeship program at the Ship Yard.

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