The same could be said of most other industries in Louisiana and elsewhere. But no single state or local education department can supply all of a given industry's labor requirements. Which is why private industry and higher education entities are ramping up partnerships and programs designed to keep Louisiana's work force trained and its industries competitive. A case in point is Northrop Grumman Ship Systems — Louisiana's largest manufacturing employer with more than 6,000 on the payroll — in New Orleans. Workers at the 265-acre (107-hectare) Avondale Operations shipyard build LPD 17 amphibious assault ships for the U.S. Navy, double-hull

Stuller Inc., a manufacturer of jewelry and jewelry-related products, is a major employer in the Lafayette area with 1,800 on the payroll. Dr. Charles Lein, president and COO (above), supports all efforts to make in-state career opportunities available to Louisiana's students. The Stuller headquarters and manufacturing facility doubled in size with a recent expansion of 300,000 sq. ft. (27,870 sq. m.).

crude oil tankers for Polar Tankers, a ConocoPhillips subsidiary, and other vessels.
      "We have an ongoing and continuous relationship with the engineering group at the University of New Orleans, which has become the largest naval architecture school in the nation," says George Yount, vice president, Avondale Operations. "There are offices and classrooms here at our facility, and two adjunct professors specializing in manufacturing and naval ship design work with our engineers right in the factory. It's a terrific operation in that we benefit from the academic strength of the university in how we manage our manufacturing processes to make better quality products.
      "That expertise gets transferred right through to the craftsmen and women in the factory building where we build these units," he continues. "It's a place where you go from theory to practice in fewer than 1,000 feet."
      Yount takes seriously his role in helping educate the work force. "Schools develop young men and women to be able to enter a work force," he elaborates. "Industry is the other half of their life. I build ships, but I also build careers for people. So we have taken a very serious involvement in the school systems, which I feel is appropriate for industries to do.
      We have set up three shipbuilding academies for young men and women who aren't necessarily at this time in their lives on a college track. But they give these young people an outlet with which to develop skills or a craft so that if they finish school there is a guaranteed job here. In order to sustain a 6,000-person work force, I need about 600 people a year as a replenishment for that. The smarter and better the kids are when they come in, the better it is for the company and for us as a community."
      (Louisiana State University economists predict job growth of 12,700 new positions at Avondale Shipyards, Bollinger Shipyards, Trinity Yachts and Textron Marine and Land, which will help offset chemical industry job losses in the New Orleans area.)