From left, Jesse Gervais, Cody Ouellette, Sen. Murphy, Sen. Blumenthal and Secretary Acosta in the Machinist Interactive Learning Lab during the April 16 tour of Electric Boat.
U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta visited Electric Boat yesterday as part of a visit to Southeastern Connecticut focused on workforce development. Acosta was accompanied by Senator Chris Murphy and Senator Richard Blumenthal.
While at EB’s Groton shipyard, Acosta and other officials saw how recent hires in piping and machining learn and practice new skills in the Active Learning Centers (ALCs) and did a walk-through of building 260, where the forward section of the Oregon (SSN 793) rolled in last week. Later on in the day, the visitors met with EB President Jeff Geiger and Maura Dunn, Vice President of Organization and Facility Development, to talk about proactive steps EB has taken to build its workforce in response to the needs of the Navy.
“The work we have done, in collaboration with state governments, educational institutions and organizations like the Eastern Workforce Investment Board, is a national model and has helped grow the pool of qualified candidates for positions at EB as well as many other manufacturers in the region,” said Dunn. “We welcomed the opportunity to talk with Secretary Acosta about the tremendous value that sustained investment in similar, broader programs could have to help Electric Boat and our supply chain.”
Secretary Acosta was nominated to serve his current position by President Donald Trump and sworn in on April 28, 2017. He has served in three presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed positions. In 2002, he was appointed to serve as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, where he participated in or authored more than 125 opinions. In 2003, he was appointed Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and from 2005 to 2009 he served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
