Electric Boat targets veterans at latest job fair
Groton — Navy Cmdr. Thomas "Tom" Buecker, 47, went to his first real job interviews Friday.
Buecker, director of tactical development at the Undersea Warfighting Development Center Tactical Analysis Group in Groton, is planning to retire after 25 years in the Navy.
He was one of about 100 veterans who gathered at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus for a veterans job fair held by Electric Boat, which several officials said was the first of its kind.
Most of the attendees were men.
The company's workload has increased and it needs employees.
In 2016, 1,800 new hires are expected, about half of whom will replace those who retire or otherwise leave, EB president Jeffrey Geiger said earlier this year.
Of those, 600 are expected to be hired in Groton.
The company expects to reach a workforce of 18,000 by 2030, compared to the 14,000 workers it has now as a result of work on the Virginia-class submarine and the Ohio-class replacement programs.
"It's very easy to dwell on the localized benefit ... it's a big deal for the state in terms of this kind of job growth, but the fact of the matter is that it's happening because of a national priority, and because the folks who rank the threats that are out there right now are very focused on the fact that the work that's happening at Electric Boat is really the center of what our country needs right now," said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who brought a recent print edition of the New York Times with a front page article about Russia bolstering its submarine force.
EB is taking a more targeted approach to hiring.
The company has added a new university and college relations position, to handle outreach in those areas, and a veterans coordinator.
More than 20 percent of EB's workforce is from the "veterans community," said Maura Dunn, vice president of human resources.
Buecker is looking to start a second career but still wants to have an impact on the submarine force, which a job at EB would enable him to do. He's interested in an engineering job with the company.
On a tactical level, Buecker said, he sees the importance of the work EB does. He also was appreciative of EB's effort to reach out to veterans.
He said veteran job fairs are usually smaller and easier to navigate, since the job seekers all have common ground.
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