HII Hosts Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer at Newport News Shipbuilding

September 09, 2025 at 15:30 PM EDT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Sept. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HII (NYSE: HII) hosted Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division today.

The visit included a tour of the shipyard and a roundtable discussion with community leaders at the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School focused on workforce development and national security.

“As we work to restore American maritime dominance, I enjoyed visiting Newport News Shipbuilding to see first-hand how they are leading the way, including through the impressive programs they are offering at The Apprentice School,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “The Department of Labor is proud to support our next generation of skilled shipbuilders, and by collaborating with shipyards like NNS, we will continue to create new opportunities for American workers while protecting national security.”

“We are honored Secretary Chavez-DeRemer invested time to meet some of the talented shipbuilders who are advancing our critical national security mission,” said Xavier Beale, NNS vice president of human resources. “Ensuring we have the skilled shipbuilders necessary to build the submarines and aircraft carriers our U.S. Navy needs is a team effort between our partners locally, regionally and nationally.”

As NNS continues to hire skilled tradespeople to meet the U.S. Navy’s growing demand for nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, federal programs managed by the Department of Labor are critical to the shipyard’s efforts.

DCS25-189-31

Photos accompanying this release are available at: http://hii.com/news/hii-hosts-secretary-of-labor-lori-chavez-deremer-at-newport-news-shipbuilding/.

NNS is also working with the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base office and Hampton Roads Workforce Council to build the next generation shipbuilding workforce through targeted investments in growing the region’s talent pipeline.

Another training pipeline is the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School. Funded by HII to train and develop the next generation of shipyard leaders, The Apprentice School offers four- to eight-year, tuition-free apprenticeships in 19 trades and seven optional programs.

The Apprentice School accepts more than 200 apprentices per year. Apprentices work a 40-hour week and are paid for all work, including time spent in academic classes.

For more information about The Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School, please visit www.as.edu/.

About HII

HII is a global, all-domain defense provider. HII’s mission is to deliver the world’s most powerful ships and all-domain solutions in service of the nation, creating the advantage for our customers to protect peace and freedom around the world.

As the nation’s largest military shipbuilder, and with a more than 135-year history of advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities extending from ships to unmanned systems, cyber, ISR, AI/ML and synthetic training. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information, visit: