Huntington Ingalls Industries Builds in Virginia

Headquartered in Newport News, HII, formerly known as Huntington Ingalls Industries, is America’s largest military shipbuilding company. Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of HII, is the nation’s sole designer, builder, and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for the U.S. Navy.

Founded as the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company in 1886, NNS has been serving the area and the nation for 140 years. NNS employs over 25,000 Virginians, making it the Commonwealth’s largest industrial employer and the nation’s largest shipbuilding company.

HII has long relied on the Hampton Roads region’s world-class port facilities, access to major military commands, and diverse real estate to accommodate its long-term management and facility needs. Additionally, Virginia’s economic incentives, infrastructure, and talent pipeline have contributed to Huntington Ingalls’ growth for more than a century. 

So in 2020, when the company made the decision to add unmanned systems into its business model, Virginia was ready to assist with both workers and innovative partners.

Generational Talent

With ready access to an extensive pipeline that draws from the thousands of highly skilled service members entering the civilian workforce each year, it’s no surprise that Hampton Roads is a magnet for quality talent.

Considered a national model, the Apprentice School at Newport News Shipbuilding offers four- to eight-year, tuition-free apprenticeships in 19 trades and nine advanced programs. Through partnerships with Virginia Peninsula Community College, Tidewater Community College, and Old Dominion University, Apprentice School attendees can earn associate’s degrees in business administration, engineering, and engineering technology, and bachelor’s degrees in mechanical or electrical engineering.

As a longstanding Virginia business, many of the shipbuilders employed at the Newport News campus are third-and fourth-generation shipbuilders. This generational workforce has designed, constructed, overhauled, and repaired more than 800 ships for the U.S. Navy and commercial customers.

Virginia has a very coherent structure for workforce development from public school education, community colleges, and the four-year institutions. The whole system is nationally recognized as being top-tier. I think that’s where it starts. We have an education system that can provide that workforce.

Mike Petters, President and CEO, Huntington Ingalls Industries (2011–2022)

A History of Innovation in Virginia

The 2020 expansion into unmanned technology wasn’t the first extensive investment HII had made to help develop a 21st-century workforce in Hampton Roads.

In 2018, NNS began one of the largest hiring initiatives in its history. Through a partnership with the Commonwealth, NNS announced a plan to hire approximately 7,000 people, including creating 2,000 new jobs, all over a five-year period to support the building of Columbia-class submarines.

Over the same period, NNS retrained employees to incorporate new digital shipbuilding technology and made nearly $1 billion in capital investments in facilities and technology infrastructure.

Full Steam Ahead 

With access to a reliable workforce pipeline and a history of significant return on investment, it should come as no surprise that HII chose to establish its state-of-the-art Unmanned Systems Center of Excellence in the City of Hampton, creating 250 new jobs.

The 22,000-sq.-ft. facility was completed in early 2021, and structural development of the main facility was completed later that same year.

HII is a national leader in advanced manufacturing, and this additional investment is a powerful testament to Virginia’s talent, business environment, and highly skilled workforce, and builds on the company’s century-old legacy in Virginia.