BlueForge Alliance, a nonprofit, neutral integrator that supports the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) initiatives, recently awarded Philadelphia-based Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC), a manufacturing consulting firm, a $1 million contract to address the demand for increased work force and capacity in the SIB.
SIB is a group of industry partners that provide components, products and services for the design, construction, maintenance and modernization of the U.S. Navy submarine fleet.
DVIRC will create and deploy a regional strategy and taskforce with the goal of increasing the number of manufacturing suppliers, targeting underserved populations, expanding a trained labor market, and connecting more people across Southeastern Pennsylvania’s defense industrial base work force to the mission.
“The U.S. Navy and its civilian workforce are building the most advanced sea-based strategic deterrent the world has ever known,” Chris Scafario, DVIRC president and CEO, said. “DVIRC is both honored and humbled to help find and contribute some of the additional workforce and manufacturing supply chain capacity needed to achieve the required submarine cadence.”
DVIRC supports the profitable growth of small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers. In Southeast Pennsylvania, it supports more than 5,500 manufacturers, approximately 25 percent within the defense industrial base.