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December 2004 - NC Marine TradeWinds Newsletter
SBTDC NC Marine Trades Services
Topics (click on item or scroll down)
Vendors Wanted: Environmentally Focused Businesses, Products and Services
Marine and Boatyard Stormwater Permit Holders – Top of the List for Inspections
Training and Education Initiatives Growing for Boatbuilding and Marine Trades
Changes in National and Statewide Training and Re-Training Programs
Remembering Ricky Gillikin – East Bay Boat Works
Ricky Gillikin, president of East Bay Boat Works, passed away Thursday, November 25th after a battle against cancer. Ricky was known for his uncanny ability to capture boat designs voiced by an owner and loft those boats with a quality inherent in all of East Bay Boat Works sport fishing boats. He was a third generation boat builder in Harkers Island, following his grandfather and father.
OSHA Inspectors Making Rounds on NC Boat Builders
The “roulette wheel” of scheduled OSHA visits have included a number of our builders in recent days. The reasons are varied, but include the fact that the boat building classification code (3732 SIC) is the same as ship building and this classification has a lot of employee accidents. A key factor seems to be concerns about increased explosion risk. Electric sparking potential related to potential ignition from improper outlets and powerstrips, lighting fixtures, tools, etc. are a big concern. Office areas as well as shop areas are getting attention. Lockout-Tagout on power equipment, respirator programs, basic walking-working surfaces (housekeeping and proper labeling), and dust control related to explosive potential are all being reviewed. It is a good time to take a serious look at your facility. If visited, ask up front for the reason of the visit: it may be scheduled or it may be from a complaint. If from a complaint, provide specific response related to the complaint area and try to avoid general tours. Get a professional from a “friendly company” to take a walk-through with you. They can see things you can’t. It may be worth hiring a consultant to “dust off” your paperwork. The December/January issue of Professional BoatBuilder has timely in-depth OSHA article by Charles Guilford (no web edition, by you should be receiving this at your business).
NC Coastal Boating Guide Update
The map is going to press “tomorrow”. If the information on your business or its location on the map is wrong, fax Mike Bradley (252-728-6988) with corrections and a contact name and number. If your business is not on the map, please fax relevant information immediately. It must be on the water and serve transient boating needs.
Clean Marina Workshops for Manteo, New Bern and Wilmington
Marinas and boatyards: mark your calendars for January 18 in New Bern, January 20th in Wilmington and February 1st in Roanoke Island (Manteo). These workshops will provide opportunity for participants to learn about the Clean Marina program, discuss some “hot” topics like new requirements for power wash discharge and “favorite-son” stormwater permit re-issues, and learn about green products and services that assist your regulatory compliance. For agendas and registration, go to http://www.ncwaterways.com/CleanMarina05.htm or call/email Whitney Jenkins (252) 728-2170 (whitney.jenkins@ncmail.net.)
Vendors Wanted: Environmentally Focused Businesses, Products and Services
Companies providing environmentally-sound products or services, or specialized consulting services that want to participate in the above 2005 Clean Marina workshops, should contact Mike Lopazanski (919) 733-2293 ext. 222.
Marine and Boatyard Stormwater Permit Holders – Top of the List for Inspections
Five years ago, a few dozen waterfront service business owners raised their hands and volunteered for a general permit (NCG1900000) that put them in a group permit. This allowed for some costs sharing and common testing results to be used. That was then. Now each of the current permit holders have been given notice to re-submit for an individual permit, and these businesses are being visited for compliance. These same self-identified businesses are also first on the list being visited for the newest and most contentious review: power wash discharge. Several marinas have been given a Notice-of-Violation for boat washing discharge. It appears that the state (at least the Wilmington Region) is requiring power wash discharge to go into a sanitary sewer or a re-circulation system.
Economic Impact of Coastal Waterways Maintenance
Not knowing the true economic impact of waterways activity in our coastal counties may be the Achilles Heel for growth in 20 or more coastal NC counties. We know that NC sells just about half a billion dollars in boats and boating supplies each year, but we haven’t touched the much greater and more important role that boating plays in the economy of rural counties through boat manufacture, repair, sales, services and related boating tourism. And we can’t begin to do this until funding is provided for critical studies that are needed for dredging.
Consider Florida. Studies were conducted in seven waterfront counties, studies that qualified and quantified the current economic impact of boating, estimated the influence of waterways on property value, and then assessed the financial costs for failing to maintain the waterways for the boating population. These studies can be found by going to http://www.aicw.org/studies.htm and looking the seven county summaries. In Martin County alone, (pop: 135,000), the existing waterways impacts include $326.2 million in business volume, $123.5 million in personal income, 4,237 jobs, and $588 million in property values. The expected impacts of the waterways assuming a cessation of waterways maintenance showed a decrease of: $177.8 million in business volume, $64.1 million in personal income, 2,209 jobs, and $292 million in property value. That is only one county.
In 2005, North Carolina will receive $4.1 million plus 8.2 million for maintenance dredging for its two ports and funding to maintain the Dismal Swamp Canal for navigation. The boating industry in the state has over 20,000 employees, 3,500 marine business, 350,000 voting boat owners and an almost unknown economic impact for its waterways. Our SBTDC Marine Trades Services, NC Sea Grant, UNCW, ECU and others are working together to develop surveys that can provide answers. Your funding suggestions are critical for a state without an industry trade association that can lobby and create the political pressure that drives funding.
Training and Education Initiatives Growing for Boatbuilding and Marine Trades
We should credit ABYC, NMMA, and Professional Boatbuilding for their efforts in proding marine businesses across the country to invest in education and training. Their efforts have helped owners of boat building and boatyard businesses become aware of the importance of employing certified workers throughout a wide range of mechanical and production areas. These national groups have come together to conduct a conference for educators called Conference on Marine Industry Technical Training (COMMITT) to be held February 3-5, 2005 in Ft. Lauderdale. See http://www.abycinc.org/comitt/index.cfm.
Eastern Region Provides Support for COMMITT Participation
Following a funding request by the Marine Trades Services, the North Carolina's Eastern Region has agreed to send marine trades training representatives from Carteret, Onslow, Craven and Pamlico county community colleges to the COMMITT conference. This recognizes the ongoing Laminator Certification Courses and Composite Boat Builder Certification Courses through ABYC, 4-Stroke Outboard classes with AMTECH, existing training programs with area boat builders, and the growing cooperation through Carteret County’s MARTEC (Marine Training and Education Center) programs.
Changes in National and Statewide Training and Re-Training Programs
On the web edition of this newsletter, (follow the ticker at the bottom of the home page: www.NCwaterways.com), you will find an article from the Portsmouth Herald’s by Kris Maher of the Wall Street Journal. It starts with the comment “Workers can’t find jobs, and companies can’t find workers” and provides comments on the evolution in solving the “skills gap” problems that lead to labor shortages and wage inflation. See the full article below: scroll or click here.
Time to Contact Your Tax Accountant
Keeping up with changes in tax laws can be daunting. The new American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 implements sweeping changes to an already complex tax code. The legislation created 274 amendments to the Internal Revenue Code with the addition of 34 new code sections. Do you know what impact it will have on your business?
2004 IBEX Productive for North Carolina
SBTDC Marine Trades staff worked with over 20 NC exhibiting companies and met with 14 out-of-state companies discussing business relocation to the state or business expansion within the state.
From the Portsmouth Herald: http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/11252004/biz_nati/50573.htm
Skills gap’ leads to contrast in labor trends
By Kris Maher
Wall Street Journal
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - One conundrum that continues to vex the U.S. job market is this: Workers can’t find jobs, and companies can’t find workers.
A Labor Department report released Friday on employment trends by state showed that nearly 350,000 workers in Pennsylvania were unemployed in October. Yet according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, a state agency whose mission is to attract and retain businesses, 24 percent of businesses in the state can’t find enough qualified workers.
This mismatch is explained by what economists call a "skills gap" that is leading to labor shortages - and wage inflation - in some sectors of the economy, even as other sectors experience excess labor, which is putting downward pressures on wages in those industries.
Labor economists contend that closing the gap should be a national priority for the U.S., yet few see easy solutions. The issue is "much talked about and poorly understood," says Michael Handel, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
In theory, workers in a free-market economy should have plenty of incentive to remain competitive in the labor market by getting a good education and acquiring strong skills. But for some reason, that’s not happening enough - especially in heavily industrialized states like Pennsylvania that have relied for so long on manufacturing jobs that didn’t require a high level of education.
Among the 50 states, Pennsylvania ranks 46th in the percentage of its labor force with education levels beyond high school. Currently, only 3 percent of working-age Pennsylvanians are enrolled in part-time, postsecondary education, compared with 6 percent for the country as a whole.
Over the years, the federal government has tried its hand at various training and retraining programs, but the results have been mostly disappointing. Critics say earlier programs often provided inadequate or outdated training, or targeted a specific population - Native Americans or inner-city residents, for example - without tying the training to industry needs. Unlike in Japan or China, the decentralized education system in the U.S. has prevented companies and educational institutions from working together more broadly.
"A lot of the mission of education resists commercialization," Mr. Handel says.
That is beginning to change, as state governments put pressure on state-supported community colleges and other learning institutions to form partnerships with the business sector. The success of such programs hinges on the ability of intermediary groups - whether they are organized by state or local government, industry alliances or community groups - to coordinate the labor needs of employers with courses offered by schools, while at the same time providing support to workers, including child care, mentoring and transportation.
One such initiative is the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board, which was created under the auspices of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and in response to concerns voiced by several large employers about the quality of the regional labor force. To determine employers’ needs, the board has created nine "clusters" of industry-related companies, from life sciences to advanced materials and diversified manufacturing to education. The clusters help ensure that training is targeted to industry types in particular regions. In the Lancaster area, for example, workers might be steered toward woodworking jobs, while in the northern part of the state, training might be geared toward the powdered-metal industry, where 60 percent of the work force will reach retirement age during the next 10 years.
Not all of the programs in the state are geared to displaced workers. Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, established to foster growth of the state’s high-technology sector, created a master’s-degree program in advanced electronics that enables three universities to train students. The universities and companies participate in a research consortium. In two years, the group, which has 46 member companies from Cisco Systems to Sony, has attracted three high-technology companies to the area and helped to produce 63 master’s-degree graduates.
But most programs are aimed at people such as Suzette Kineston, who was laid off by the U.S. Postal Service in Pittsburgh two years ago. She visited a career center overseen by the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board, which provided guidance and eventually helped to pay for her books and tuition at a two-year nursing program at the Community College of Allegheny County. Not only did the program help her land a job at Allegheny General Hospital, but it also gave her a new perspective on the payoff of education.
The 30-year-old single mother now plans to return to college to earn a bachelor’s degree. "With the economy the way it is, you need two or three degrees to have something to fall back on," she says.
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Recent program development and funding by ABYC, Professional BoatBuilder, NMMA, the NC Eastern Region, our statewide SBTDC, local community colleges and the state’s FIT program are on the right track.
The SBTDC is a business development service of The University of North Carolina operated in partnership with the US Small Business Administration. This website and newsletters are a product of the Marine Trades Services of the Small Business and Technology Development Center and are in part funded by the SBA. For additional information, contact Mike Bradley (252) 728-2144 or MBradley@SBTDC.org.
| This material is based on work supported by the US Small Business Administration (SBA). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. |