In an effort to find a solution, East Bay boat builders have teamed up with the Community College of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, June 4, 2006

BY ARTHUR KIMBALL-STANLEY
Journal Staff Writer

The Rhode Island boat-building industry is growing, but finding employees with the background needed is proving to be a major impediment to meeting demand for many builders.

Gerry DiSchino, chief executive officer of the Hinckley Company, a boat builder based in Portsmouth, said he could easily add another 25 people to his Rhode Island location.

"We could do that tomorrow if we could find them," he said. "We don't get a lot of people applying, and none at the skill levels we need. We need to do a better job or marketing the industry. We need to let them know that there are good jobs available out there."

Whether working with fiberglass or carbon, doing electronics work or fixing a diesel engine, the managers of Rhode Island's boat-building industry say they can't find the right people.

"We've needed people for a while," said Kenneth Maderio, the foreman at the carbon shop at Hall Spars & Rigging. "We're turning away work because we don't have enough guys. At this point we have our loyal customer base, and that's who we take care of."

To help alleviate this problem, East Bay boat builders have teamed up with the Community College of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. They have created a new composite boat-building training program to prepare students to work in industries that use composites such as glass and carbon fiber.

The 200-hour course is made up of topics that range from the history of composite construction to hands-on composite application. The course, which is held at the workshop for Goetz Custom Boats, turns people with no experience in boat building into the prospective employees boat-building companies are eagerly looking for.

"The companies that will be hiring these people are the companies that are driving the industry," said Bob Delaney, director of project development at CCRI's Division of Lifelong Learning. "The technology students are being trained in is very transferable. These are skills that are also needed in the auto industry, or by companies such as Titlist and Air Bus. They are all using the same kind of technology."

Having a training course so students can hit the ground running, according to many managers at boat-building shops, is essential. "With composites you can either make a soupy mess out of the whole thing or do it in a more organized clean fashion," Eric Goetz, founder and president of Goetz Custom Boats, said. "It's not super complicated, but it requires a certain amount of knowledge. We could train them on the job, but if we can get guys it's easier for them to really take off."

Brian Aldrich, 21, who recently completed the CCRI course and now works at Goetz boats, said he had been on boats for years, but was looking for a way to transition into boat building.

Aldrich said the idea of working with materials such as carbon fibers, which are as strong as steel but 100 times lighter, was what hooked him on the industry.

"I've always been around boats, dabbling in little projects here there, but I wanted to get into actually building them," he said. "A certain part of this work is definitely just the labor. But for other parts you need to know what you are doing. You actually have to have knowledge about the material being used."

Aldrich said he starts each workday at 6 a.m. and doesn't leave until about 3:30 p.m. Working with his hands for eight or nine hours a day, he said, leaves him worn out.

"You definitely have to have a good work ethic and drive to do this kind of thing," he said. "It takes a toll on your body. When I get home, sometimes I want to work on my own projects, but usually I'm just out."

Finding eager workers like Aldrich, even those who have not been trained, is also a problem. According to Caesar Delponte, the office manager at C and C Fiberglass, many applicants don't come back after they get a peek at the kind of work they would be asked to do.

"It's not something everyone would want to do," he said. "You are dealing with hazardous materials and chemicals, wearing a respirator all day. It's not being a carpenter out in the fresh air all day long."

Other schools that offer classes in boat building include the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, and technical schools, such as the New England Institute of Technology and MotoRing Technical Training School. Whether it's teaching students how to fix engines or how to assess boats for damage, these schools can give students the training needed to show up at a boat yard ready to work.

For those who have the skills, the jobs are there and should continue to be there for some time. "Once we hire somebody they stay here," Carl Nordstrom, the human resources and safety director at New England Boat works, said. "We work twelve months out of the year, and in the time I've been around, we've had no lay offs."

Moreover, as world leaders in custom boat building, Nordstrom said this is one manufacturing job that is in Rhode Island to stay. "This is a very good time to be in this business," he said. "We seem to constantly have a good backlog. . . . We've been around 200 years, and we'll probably be around another 200."

akstanle@projo.com / (401) 277-7485