Ryan Blythe

The Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium is dedicated to advancing the shipbuilding and ship repair workforce. Photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

BY RYAN BLYTHE

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium (GSSC) annual meeting in Mobile, Alabama. It was the first meeting of the GSSC since the COVID-19 pandemic, and we welcomed a host of speakers, many of whom I hope to introduce in future articles. The conference began with a keynote address from Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh, who is responsible for 3,200 shipbuilding professionals in Mobile, as well as operations in Washington, San Diego and Singapore. Austal joined the U.S. defense market in 2004 and is under contract with the U.S. Navy to build the littoral combat ship and the expeditionary fast transport. The company now is the fifth-largest shipbuilder in the United States, and most impressive is the fact that, given its size, Austal is one of the safest yards in America.

Next, we heard from Ben Bordelon, president of Bollinger Shipyards. Bordelon might be a familiar name to SEC football fans, as he was a standout lineman at LSU and later played for the San Diego Chargers. The grandson of Bollinger’s founder, Bordelon oversees 13 shipyards and 40 dry docks in Louisiana and Texas. For 76 years, Bollinger has built ships for the Navy and Coast Guard. Bordelon said he would like to see more long-term planning by the Department of Defense, particularly as it relates to procurement, a key issue given the supply-chain disruption. He also would like more bipartisanship in Congress, especially on defense matters.

Additional speakers included Marietta resident Keith Williams, who has produced more than 90 podcasts on the skilled-trades industry, interviewing business owners, plumbers, welders and other craft workers. His Skill Stadium is a road map into the skilled trades, with videos, blogs and, of course, his popular podcast. Nichole Thompson from The Lab on Dexter in Montgomery, Alabama, is producing a white paper on where the American workforce has gone since the pandemic. She is an award-winning author, serial entrepreneur and expert on diversity, equity and inclusion and challenging the status quo. One of her key takeaways was looking at diversity beyond race or ethnicity to include gender, social class, education, religion and sexual orientation.

Delivering our final keynote address was Cam Marston, an expert on workplace and marketplace trends who has appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes and been featured on “Good Morning America” and the BBC. Marston focuses on our fourgeneration workforce and how an understanding of each generation can help organizations become more effective leaders. I learned that, as an Xennial tweener, I can relate to both Gen X and millennials.

Why does this matter to Cobb County? Well, the shipbuilding industry is so large, the halo effect is felt in every congressional district in the country. Additionally, we are in an unprecedented labor market, and companies must innovate to remain competitive.

Ryan Blythe is the founder of Georgia Trade School, which for the seventh consecutive year, was named one of the Cobb Chamber Top 25 Small Businesses of the Year.