Baldwin County has seen exponential growth due to economic development and industry moving it into the position of the second fastest-growing county in Alabama.
However with the inward flux of industry, the availability of skilled and highly trained workers is a concern for some business leaders, but it does not concern Bill Harrison, president of Harrison Brothers Dry Dock and Repair Yard, Inc.
Located on the Cochran Causeway of Mobile next to Austal, Harrison said he has no trouble finding the skilled workers I need for jobs.
"Being a smaller yard, I usually employ between 20 and 40 people," Harrison said. "A large shipyard has trouble because they have to ramp up to 300 workers overnight."
Harrison said the general desire along the waterfront is to double the 2,000 to 3,000 employees currently working in the shipyards.
"To accommodate that amount of labor, there has to be the facilities and it would take everyone that could be trained now to do that," Harrison said.
Harrison stressed that the ship building industry was plagued by unpredictability.
"Anyone looking to work in the [shipbuilding] industry has to understand that it is radically impacted on the outlook from one month to the next."
Harrison said there is no guarantee the industry will follow through on the projections because it is dependent on the price of petroleum fuel, the value of the dollar against other currencies, the cost of raw materials and many other factors.
"I have been involved in shipbuilding for more than 20 years, and I can tell you that there have been brutal cycles," Harrison said. "There are periods of prosperity when there are not enough people, materials and equipment to get all the work done that needs to be done, and there are periods of depression where you cannot find things for workers to do."
Harrison said there are reasons for optimism because of the diversity of industry moving into the Mobile and Baldwin area.
"The Port [of Mobile] did a wonderful job of marketing itself after Hurricane Katrina, people think the steel plant will bring in vessels and materials and there is the possibility that oil-field exploration will be at our doorstep," Harrison said.
Standing on the back porch of the two-story building on the canal housing Harrison Brothers, Harrison pointed out the Austal shipyards.
"That is the combat ship they are going to christen soon, and that is one of the most high-tech ships in the world," Harrison said. "We are the flip-side. We work on the most basic and low-tech ships. The shipyards along the water are a matter of sharp contrast."
Cedric Sargent, a foreman at Harrison Brothers, a 12-year veteran of the shipbuilding industry, said that the differences between the classroom and actual workings of skills is also a contrast.
"It is almost like night and day," Sargent said. "You can get straight As in a classroom, but on the job, you could not even get in the top 50."
Sargent said he would advise perspective shipbuilders to learn as much as they can before and after entering the industry.
"Learning a skill is something that can never be taken away from you, and the skill will get your jobs,"' Sargent said.
Sargent credits his skills and knowledge, including welding, shipbuilding, electronic and mechanical maintenance and management to his work at the large shipping yard Benders, but he said he enjoys the recognition he receives by working at a smaller yard.
"There is the opportunity to hone skills," Sargent said. "People need to understand the common practices and daily operations of a shipyard. You have to be constantly aware of what is going on around you."
Constant awareness and safety is the recurring mantra of a shipyard.
"Definitely, there is a tremendous amount of awareness involved," Harrison said. "One of the biggest problems facing a boatyard is safety. By definition, it is a dangerous place because people are around metal that is heavy and often hot. They are welding, they are burning, there is water and the danger of drowning and you can be in confined areas where there are atmospheric concerns. There is always something swinging over your head, or hauling, or lifting or any other of the numerous activities that makes up the daily operations of the yard."
Harrison said the first criteria he looks for in a prospective employee is a level head.
"We look to see if they have a history of safe working around them," Harrison said. "I am not going to hire a risk taker."
Harrison said the second criteria is skill and the capacity to acquire new skills.
Harrison said his business does not have any formal internships or training programs, but it uses an apprenticeship model.
"I will hire a worker who is not fully-skilled and has limited experience, but who has a general knowledge of the principles," Harrison said. "They may not have been in an environment that garnished experience, but working one or two years in the field, they will gain knowledge through osmosis."
Harrison said that small shipyard workers have to be multi-crafted.
"We do not have the crews that large shipyards have," Harrison said. "People have to be willing to learn new things where there is a need. Welders have to know how to work with the docking equipment and everything else, but I think that not being on a production line where you do the same thing every day gives workers a greater satisfaction."
