Ingalls Shipbuilding donates more than $89,000 to Bishop State Community College

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division, Pascagoula, Miss., has donated $89,786.90 to Bishop State Community College for the purchase of 20 welding machines and wire feeder boxes to support Ingalls' pre-employment program at Bishop State.

Ingalls conducts an 11-week pre-employment welding program and a four-week pre-employment shipfitter program at Bishop State's Carver Campus in Mobile, Ala. Students in the programs are guaranteed positions at Ingalls if they complete their training and meet all other conditions of employment.

The pre-employment partnership began in October 2013. To date, Ingalls has hired 104 graduates from the program; 60 students currently are enrolled.

Ingalls and Bishop State worked together to design the program's curriculum based on skills needed by the shipyard's workforce. By going through the program, graduates arrive at Ingalls with requisite skills and therefore bypass some in-yard training, helping Ingalls move employees into full production earlier. The program is for Alabama residents and aims to help decrease the unemployment rate in the state through technical education.