“Nothing Gets Done Without Welding” Post-Event Report 2026 Maritime Workforce Forum May 19, 2026

Prepared by: Ann Avary, Director, Center of Excellence for Marine Manufacturing & Technology

Overview

The 2026 Maritime Workforce Forum, convened at the Port of Bellingham, brought together leaders from industry, ports, education, labor, economic and workforce development, and government to address one of the most pressing constraints facing the maritime sector: skilled workforce capacity, particularly in welding and fabrication.

Designed as a working session rather than a traditional conference, the Forum emphasized real-time problem solving, shared insight, and actionable strategies to align workforce development efforts with industry demand.

Strategic Context: Aligning Workforce Development with the Maritime Industrial Base

The insights from the 2026 Maritime Workforce Forum reinforce a broader national imperative: workforce development is now central to rebuilding the U.S. Maritime Industrial Base (MIB).

At the federal level, the Maritime Action Plan positions workforce capacity as a critical lever for restoring shipbuilding competitiveness, strengthening supply chains, and ensuring national and economic security. The Plan identifies four core pillars, including rebuilding shipyard capacity, reforming workforce education and training, and protecting the Maritime Industrial Base, underscoring that industrial expansion cannot occur without parallel workforce investment.

This national strategy directly aligns with what was observed at the Forum:

• Demand is immediate and spans vessel construction, repair, and modernization

• Workforce shortages are already constraining production timelines

• Infrastructure investments at ports and shipyards require a ready and scalable talent pipeline

Welding as the Critical Link Between Policy and Production

The Forum’s emphasis on welding as a foundational skill is further validated by national workforce data. According to the American Welding Society, the United States will need approximately 320,500 new welding professionals by 2029, driven by industry growth and a significant wave of retirements.

This data highlights a key reality:
Welding is not simply a workforce issue; it is a production and capacity issue.

Within the maritime sector, welding underpins:

• Shipbuilding and vessel fabrication

• Maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO)

• Port and waterfront infrastructure development

As noted during the Forum by Steve Dibert, PSNS, “nothing gets done without welding,” a statement that directly reflects its role as the keystone trade within the maritime industrial base.

The Maritime Industrial Base: Workforce as the Limiting Factor

The Maritime Industrial Base encompasses the full ecosystem required to build and sustain vessels, including:

• Shipyards and repair facilities

• Suppliers and manufacturing systems

• Skilled trades workforce

Federal analyses and industry stakeholders consistently emphasize that workforce availability is one of the primary constraints limiting the ability to scale shipbuilding and maritime production.

The Maritime Action Plan explicitly calls for:

• Expanded maritime training and education pathways

• Credentialing reforms

• Increased support for workforce recruitment and retention

These priorities mirror the Forum’s conclusions that scaling the workforce will require:

• Early awareness strategies

• Expanded technical training capacity

• Investment in instructor development

• Stronger alignment between education systems and industry demand

Key Maritime Workforce Forum Themes and Insights

1. Infrastructure Investment Drives Workforce Capacity

In his keynote address, Port of Bellingham Commissioner Michael Shepard emphasized that infrastructure is foundational to workforce expansion.

• Planned investments—including the reclamation of approximately 15 acres of marine trades land and installation of a 300–400-ton travel lift—reflect a long-term commitment to growing maritime industrial capacity

• The message was clear: workforce strategies must be matched with physical infrastructure investment to achieve scale

2. Demand Extends Across New Build and Repair

Panel discussions reinforced that workforce demand spans the full lifecycle of maritime operations:

• New vessel construction

• Maintenance and repair

• Refit and modernization work

In some cases, new builds are replacing older vessels due to cost efficiencies, reinforcing the need for a consistent and adaptable workforce pipeline.

3. Workforce Shortages Are Immediate and Impacting Production

Employers conveyed a consistent and urgent message:

• Hiring demand is immediate and unmet

• Workforce gaps are already limiting production capacity and timelines

This reinforces that the workforce challenge is not future-oriented - it is a present-day constraint on industry growth.

4. Welding is Essential, In-Demand, and Highly Competitive

Welding emerged as the central occupation underpinning maritime industry capacity:

• Critical across shipbuilding, repair, and infrastructure

• Resilient to automation and AI displacement

However, maritime employers are competing for talent with other industries, including:

• Energy

• Construction

• Aerospace

• Natural Resources

In response, employers are increasingly focused on:

• Competitive compensation packages

• Benefits and retirement offerings

• Overall job quality and retention strategies

5. Awareness is the Primary Barrier to Entry

Across panels, the most consistently cited challenge was lack of awareness of maritime careers.

• Panelists emphasized the need for earlier exposure, particularly at the middle school level

• The concept of “awareness, awareness, awareness” emerged as a defining takeaway

Consensus: Workforce pipeline challenges begin long before postsecondary education.

6. Public Investment Plays a Critical Role

Federal programs were identified as essential tools for sustaining and expanding capacity, including:

• Small Shipyard Grant Program

• Port Infrastructure Development Program

These investments support:

• Facility modernization

• Equipment upgrades

• Long-term industry competitiveness

7. Ports as Economic Engines and Conveners

The ports panel highlighted the multi-faceted role ports play in workforce development:

• Economic drivers of regional growth

• Conveners connecting industry, education, and workforce systems

• Advocates for policy and investment

• Stewards of long-term infrastructure

Ports are investing not only in immediate needs, but in legacy infrastructure that will shape the workforce landscape for decades.

8. Maritime Careers Offer Strong Opportunity - But Low Visibility

Panelists underscored the value of maritime careers:

• Family-wage jobs

• Career stability and advancement

• High demand across sectors

However, the Forum reinforced a key disconnect:

• These opportunities are not widely understood or visible to prospective students and workers

9. Education and Training Systems Must Expand and Align

There was broad agreement on the need to:

• Expand technical training programs, particularly in welding

• Strengthen alignment between education providers and industry demand

• Accelerate dual credit and career-connected learning pathways

The emphasis was on speed, scale, and relevance—ensuring programs move at the pace of industry need.

10. Faculty Development is a Critical Constraint

A key takeaway from the welding-focused discussions was the importance of instructor capacity.

Need to support faculty across:

• K-12 CTE programs

• Community and technical colleges

• Apprenticeship systems

Priority areas include:

• Industry-aligned professional development

• Safety and modern curriculum integration

• Ongoing instructor support to maintain program quality and relevance

11. We’re on the right track

·      Washington State has strong partnerships, innovative models, and growing momentum.

·      The work now is to continue scaling coordinated solutions that meet both current and future industry demand.

Implications for Washington State and the MAC Model

Washington State is uniquely positioned within this national context. With its concentration of:

• Shipyards and marine trades

• Advanced manufacturing and aerospace overlap

• Port-led infrastructure investment

Washington State represents a critical node in the national Maritime Industrial Base.

The MAC Welding & Fabrication Project directly addresses the structural challenge identified at both the Forum and federal levels:

• Creating standardized, industry-aligned training pathways

• Expanding access across regions and populations

• Building faculty capacity and scalable programs

This work reflects a broader shift:
Workforce development is no longer a parallel effort - it is core infrastructure for industrial growth.

Cross-Cutting Conclusion

The Forum reinforced a clear and urgent conclusion:

Washington State has strong and sustained demand signals for maritime workforce development - but scaling the workforce will require coordinated investment across infrastructure, education systems, faculty capacity, and early career awareness.

While progress is underway, panelists emphasized that this work requires:

• Continued momentum

• Cross-sector collaboration

• Long-term commitment

Next Steps and Opportunities

Based on Forum discussions, several priority opportunities emerged:

• Expand middle and early high school career awareness efforts

• Increase capacity in welding and fabrication training programs

• Invest in faculty recruitment and professional development

• Strengthen dual credit and pathway alignment statewide

• Continue leveraging federal and state infrastructure funding opportunities

Bottom Line

The Forum affirmed that we’re on the right track, with strong alignment across industry, education, and public partners.

It also underscored a critical reality:

The pace of workforce development must accelerate to meet growing demand.

The convergence of Forum insights, national policy, and workforce data points to a single conclusion:

The ability to rebuild and scale the U.S. maritime industrial base will depend on how quickly and effectively we can expand the skilled trades workforce - especially in welding.

The opportunity and urgency are clear: align statewide efforts with national strategy to ensure that Washington’s workforce system is not only responsive but leading in building the talent pipeline required for maritime resurgence.