NNS earns college award
Published 10:31 pm Thursday, August 28, 2014
Attending an awards luncheon during which Newport News Shipbuilding was honored were, from left: Paul Conco, PDCCC president; Danny Hunley, NNS vice president of operations; Brian Burroughs, NNS manager of product and training; Gary Roy, NNS manager of trades training; Angela Lawhorne, PDCCC Career Development Center and job placement coordinator; Bill Docalovich, NNS director of trades services; and Larry Brunson, PDCCC job placement coach. (Submitted Photo)
Newport News Shipbuilding officials Bill Docalovich and Brian Burroughs were recently honored with a 2013-14 Career and Technical Education Creating Excellence Award for Postsecondary Business and Industry Partnerships.
Paul D. Camp Community College made the nomination for the award, which was presented at a luncheon in Richmond by the Virginia Community College System in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Education.
NNS was recognized for the successful partnership between the industry and the college for its 120-hour Fast Track Marine Welding Training Program.
“This award is a direct result of the great work performed by the PDCCC Career Development Center and Regional Workforce Development Center in partnership with Newport News Shipbuilding,” said Paul Conco, president of PDCCC. “We are fortunate to have received a grant for this program through the Virginia Community College Chancellor’s Innovation Fund. The program is designed to meet the workforce needs of Newport News Shipbuilding.”
Newport News Shipbuilding and the college’s collaboration included weekly technical sessions, the completion of a real-time skills gap analysis, the inclusion of an NNS instructor and curriculum design assistance provided by Thomas Nelson Community College Workforce Development.
“Newport News Shipbuilding has found that by working closely and sharing some of our training materials with local community colleges and technical schools, we create a richer pipeline of talent applying for career opportunities with our company,” said Bill Docalovich, NNS director of trades services.
To date, the program at PDCCC has graduated 29 students in three classes.
“We had nine students in a very diverse first class of the Fast Track Marine Welding Training Program,” said Larry Brunson, coordinator of the project at PDCCC. They graduated in June 2013. Eight of the nine students are employed, with five of them working at NNS.
The CTE Excellence Awards promote best practices in education and recognize exemplary contributions that improve the quality of CTE programs, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
