Hi everyone; it’s Kevin. Today is Wednesday, December 16th.
First and foremost, thank you all for the tremendous generosity you’ve shown to our local communities in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Typically, EB employees at Groton and Quonset Point, combined, donate about 1,100 turkeys each year. This year, which has been anything but typical, you donated almost five times that—5,500 turkeys. Due to your kindness, many families will now be able to enjoy a holiday meal and your generosity underscores the significant role we play in supporting our Connecticut and Rhode Island extended family—thank you.
Last week the Navy published its 30-year shipbuilding plan, which is available on the Internet and linked to the podcast transcript for reference. While the Navy has not changed its orders, the details in the report indicate the demand signal for our product is strong and increasing. You’ve heard me push hard on the need for Operational Excellence in all we do. Our nation needs more from us. It needs the submarine enterprise—that’s EB, Newport News and the Navy —to improve our performance today, so we can be prepared to answer the call to build more submarines.
We should be proud that our product is in such high demand, and that the Navy is working with us to increase the throughput and capabilities of our product. It demonstrates how important it is for us to serve our internal customers here at Electric Boat, hire and train the next generation of submarine builders and continue to develop a culture built on a strong foundation of teamwork and communication. It also underscores the importance of the nearly $2 billion dollars we are investing to expand and upgrade our infrastructure and our efforts underway to strengthen our national supply base.
Snow is in the forecast tonight and tomorrow. Please be mindful of communications issued today about parking lot closures and monitor our social media channels and local TV and radio stations for information on any impacts to our operations. Above all, please be safe on the roads.
Thank you all—we’ll talk again soon.
Kevin
