Last August, Nunez Community College in St. Bernard Parish was one of only six colleges from across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama chosen by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), to begin offering a Certificate of Technical Studies in Maritime Operations, with concentrations available in equipment and transportation operations, maintenance and utilities, and safety and logistics.
Additional concentrations will be added in response to industry needs, which are already forecasting as many as 75,000 new shipbuilding and naval defense jobs by 2028.
“Nunez Community College stood out to us for its strong commitment to serving both students and industry, particularly a community that has demonstrated remarkable resilience over time,” said Cara Pattison, SME maritime manufacturing workforce pipeline Gulf Coast program manager.
Nunez has been offering both academic and vocational classes since 1992, with an ever-expanding curriculum that partners with emerging industries in the region, including nearby NASA, designed to set students on a path to success in a constantly evolving job market.
“Given the burgeoning labor demands to support and escalate the maritime industry for our state, being a partner in this multi-state, federal program initiative allows us to bring visibility to both the demand and the opportunities that our institution can address and help close the gap through training,” said Nunez Community College Chancellor Tina M. Tinney, Ed.D.
Nunez is committed to bridging the gap between industry and education. On January 14, the college and SME hosted the Gulf Coast kickoff meeting for the new program at Nunez’s Student Testing and Career Counseling Center with a goal of connecting stakeholders from K-12 education, higher education, employers, industry organizations, and community partners to begin formulating a plan for the region.
In addition to the Nunez and SME teams, the meeting drew representatives from Venture Global, LED FastStart, GNO, Inc., Boeing, Vivace, LSU at New Orleans, the Crescent River Port Pilots Association, Port NOLA, St. Bernard Parish Government, and the Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ).
K-12 partners in attendance included St. Bernard Parish Schools, New Orleans Public Schools, Jefferson Parish Schools, Plaquemines Parish Schools, St. Tammany Parish Schools and KIPP.
Through brainstorming and problem-solving activities, industry leaders and educational leaders discussed how they could help meet each other’s needs.
“Filling the maritime manufacturing workforce starts with the right people in the room,” said Cara Pattison, program manager for SME of the meetup. “By bridging these conversations, they helped lay the groundwork for a maritime manufacturing workforce pipeline shaped by employers, aligned with local education partners, and rooted in community connection. That kind of connection is what turns partnerships into progress.”
“This region has long been a hub for shipbuilding, repair, energy and maritime manufacturing. The demand for skilled workers is already here — industry can’t afford to wait.”
– Dr. Deb Volzer, SME VP of Workforce Development
The new programs soon to be available to Nunez Community College students promise to offer applications for vessels of both private industry and military usage.
“A strong maritime workforce supports both commercial industry and military readiness,” noted Dr. Deb Volzer, SME vice president of workforce development. “The skills required—welding, machining, advanced manufacturing, electronics, and systems maintenance—are often the same, whether someone is working in a private shipyard or supporting defense-related operations. That shared demand is what’s driving the industry-wide push to build talent pipelines now, rather than reacting later when shortages become critical.
“This region has long been a hub for shipbuilding, repair, energy and maritime manufacturing,” said Volzer. “The demand for skilled workers is already here — industry can’t afford to wait. What’s driving growth on the Gulf Coast is a shared understanding among industry, education partners, and local communities that investing in talent and training now is essential to sustaining the region’s economic strength and maritime legacy.”
$300 Million Expansion in Franklin
Saronic Technologies, an Austin-based firm specializing in autonomous seagoing vessels for the U.S. Department of Defense, Navy, Coast Guard, and allied nations, announced in December that it is investing $300 million toward the expansion of the Franklin Shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, which is rapidly enriching its capacity to produce unmanned surface vessels.
The construction in Franklin of three new slips, a larger warehouse, and a modernized production line for large-vessel assembly will “create 1,500 new jobs with an average annual salary of $87,936 at full employment, which is 46% above the average St. Mary Parish wage,” according to Louisiana Economic Development (LED).
Saronic Technologies — which also purchased the Louisiana shipbuilder Gulf Craft and their 100 acres of facilities in 2025 — was recently awarded a $329 million Navy contract to build a fleet of its Corsair autonomous surface vessels, which are capable of performing “missions ranging from maritime domain awareness to kinetic and non-kinetic strike roles.”
In January, the company announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with Hornbeck Offshore Services to advance the use of autonomous vessels in offshore energy operations.
“Our autonomous maritime capabilities can increase the safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of offshore operations,” explained Dino Mavrookas, co-founder and CEO of Saronic. “Through our partnership with Hornbeck, we will work to responsibly deploy autonomous maritime systems to improve offshore service delivery – advancing energy security, and, in turn, economic and national security.”
Jeremy Marshall was born and raised in Baton Rouge before moving to New Orleans with his wife, Kristin, in 2018. Beginning his career in the Film/TV industry, Jeremy worked steadily on over a dozen projects before transitioning to Renaissance Publishing as their Sponsored Content Coordinator. You can reach him at jeremy@myneworleans.com.
