In September 2021, TMG, Inc. was awarded a long-term contract from General Dynamics Electric Boat to provide Program Management and implementation services for the Pennsylvania Pipeline Project: Philadelphia Region Workforce Pilot building upon nine months of planning and development earlier in the year. The Program Executive Office for Strategic Submarines (PEO SSBN) and the Shipbuilding Industrial Base Task Force (SIBTF) within the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), in collaborations with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) started this program to understand and take action on shared defense industrial base workforce challenges and gaps to meet the current and future maritime construction demand signal. TMG's contract directly supports the Navy's focus on workforce and trade skills to implement an economic development initiative committed to building sustainable talent pipelines in the Philadelphia region, energizing the shipbuilding industry and their suppliers.
The Pennsylvania Pipeline Project focuses on educating small and medium-sized employers on how to improve their talent acquisition and retention by building relationships and talent pipelines at area high schools, community colleges, and CTE centers. Since 2002, TMG has proven our Talent Acquisition and Retention model through partnerships with Newport News Shipbuilding Welder & Fitter New Hire Modernization Program and the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, as well as system implementations for private businesses including Mar-Bal and DENTSPLY. TMG is currently in the 6th year of Program Management of the New Horizons Regional Education Center's Good Life Solution "Build" Hampton Roads program, which has resulted in 28 Hampton Roads Employers recruiting and hiring 187 full-time jobs and retaining 143 productive and engaged teammates for 77% first-year retention rate. The NNS, V3, and GLS programs have been recognized as award-winning best practices by the Association for Training Development (ATD) and VCU's Wilder School of Public Affairs Innovation in Government Award.
After formally launching in May of 2021, the Philadelphia Pilot is in full swing, having just completed a major milestone of partnering over 26 employers with 20 participating area High Schools, Community Colleges, and CTE Centers that meet their skills requirements. The initial commitment from participating employers is 79 new jobs beginning in the summer of 2022. The number of employers, participating institutions, and jobs is expected to increase throughout the next few months. In year one of the two-year program, the companies focus on recruiting and hiring. At year two, the focus is on helping the new employee find a way to hone their skills and contribute to the company's success. According to TMG Program Manager Joe Barto, what makes the TMG model different is "not how many employers hire or how many they hire, but how many employees stay as productive and engaged teammates."
The US Navy's Executive Director of PEO SSBN, Matt Sermon, has been vital to the implementation and execution of the Philadelphia Region Workforce pilot. Mr. Sermon acknowledged that the Philly pilot is only an initial step in addressing the scale and urgency around the defense industrial base workforce challenges. Those efforts are well underway to expand these efforts across the region. "This piece that we are doing right here is the key. It's the centerpiece on how we can prove that we can do it differently. Building a skilled workforce is just as important – if not more important – than investments in infrastructure, capability, and capacity. Our defense industrial base workforce is just as much a part of our national defense team as our sailors who crew these ships. Our nation depends upon it. This cannot fail," said Sermon.
Below are some of the press releases related to the Project. All of these and more can be found on our website Press page HERE.
