1fjzeJ0

TRAINING & RECRUITMENTWeeks Marine, Inc.PORT ENGINNERSJR PORT ENGINNERSwww.weeksmarine.compecov@weeksmarine.com985-875-2575Tradesmen: National Coverage &a Skilled, Diverse WorkforceAccording to Matt McClone, Tradesmen International VicePresident Workforce Development, the key advantages of engagingTradesmen as a staffing partner is rooted in their abilityto meet the distinct trade requirements of shipyards, beginningwith their national team of shipyard coordinators: formermariners, merchant captains, shipbuilding professionals, navalofficers, and enlisted men. “With these insights, they havethe unique ability to understand the unique and dynamic needsof the shipyard industry. That, along with our national reachincluding a permanent presence in 36 port cities allows us toaccess a very large pool of skilled marine craftsmen and provideuniform service in all shipyard locations.”Tradesmen International’s screening process is stringent: aminimum of two interviews; skill-testing using MOCode testsand available hands-on testing; verification of a minimumthree years of experience; reference checks with a minimumof three employers; background checks that meet client standards;drug testing as required by the client; E-Verification toprove U.S. Citizenship; a valid driver’s license and reliabletransportation verification and confirmation of PPE and appropriatetools-of-the trade ownership. Not just anyone gets towork under the Tradesmen umbrella.Arguably the ideal fit for a cyclical industry such as shipbuilding,Tradesmen’s biggest challenge is often just educatingthe clients to understand the benefits and importance ofchoosing the right staffing firm. McClone Adds, “With thesevere shortage of skilled craft professionals weighing onthe industry’s shipyards, the emphasis is not on convincingshipyards to include a variable labor partner into their staffingsolution; the recession did a good job of explaining that tothe shipyards. The recession certainly opened the door for ourbusiness model but it also flooded the market place with staffingfirms, temp agencies, and similar companies. It’s importantthat shipyards choose the right firm researching the company’shistory, treatment of employees, standards of businessand overall ethical standards. Can the firm do what they saythey will and stand behind their employees? We can, and do.”Today, Tradesmen International’s strong suits include shipyardand yacht trades; both repair and new construction. Thefirm prides itself on its ability to staff all size marine projectsranging from extremely specialized mega yacht constructionprojects that may only require a handful of niche craftsmento large repair jobs that require several hundred craftsmen ina short amount of time. McClone calls it “local presence andnational reach.”Bollinger BelievesAccording to Bollinger Shipyard Human Resources ManagerJerome Eymard, Bollinger’s primary reason for becominginvolved with NMEC was to actively support an associationwhose initiative is to address a major concern of theshipbuilding and repair industry; namely, workforce development.Eymard told MarPro in November, “Bollinger has beena member of Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium (GSSC)since 2008 and we were involved in the GSSC’s creation ofthe NMEC to address industry workforce development issueson a national level, so we were a member of the NMEC fromits inception in 2012.”The NMEC/NCCER curriculum models offers flexibilitywith training. For example, member organizations can takessteps through the NCCER to become an approved accreditedtraining sponsor and/or assessment center. With these options,companies can rate their current workers through assessmentsin order to identify areas for skill improvement. The assessmentsin turn determine what modules workers would need tocomplete in order to attain a higher classification. Also, companiescan utilize their NCCER accredited local technical andcommunity colleges to train their existing workers and extendthe training to high schools to generate new skilled workersfor the industry.Bollinger’s Eymard explains further, “Overall, we will use26 | Maritime Professional | 4Q 2013