The Westerly Education Center said it’s been awarded $750,000 from the U.S. Office of Naval Research . The grant is intended to boost the center’s capacity and equipment for workforce training and education, specifically to train people to build submarines.
The Education Center was launched in 2017 to provide job training for the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyards in North Kingstown and Groton. Electric Boat is hiring hundreds of people to build new submarines. According to the Rhode Island Office of Postsecondary Education, so far nearly 900 people trained at the center are working at Electric Boat.
The center said it will use the grant for staff positions and to purchase equipment for its teaching labs.