College harkens to boat-building industry’s needs

CALAIS – For about a year it looked as though the boat building program in Eastport had sunk, but Washington County Community College officials launched a more buoyant curriculum on Thursday, in line with industry demands.

Boat building has been part of this state’s economy since 1607, yet earlier this year the college program that trained students for the industry was placed on hold to allow college officials time to retool the curriculum. School officials blamed the one-year shutdown on poor enrollment.

The retooling is done, and President Bill Cassidy said Thursday he believes the improved two-year program would, with the help of the industry, grab the attention of students. The college has launched an aggressive recruitment program to attract the 20 students needed to make the program profitable.

Classes will be held in the same place, at the Marine Technology Center at Deep Cove in Eastport and will begin in August 2005.

The boat-building industry is a major player in the state’s economy. The $612 million industry is nearly 100 percent controlled by people who live in Maine. The industry employs nearly 5,000 people, and more than 1,500 of those jobs are in Washington County.

So when Cassidy announced earlier this year that the program would be placed on hiatus, there was an outcry from industry leaders as well as educators. But Cassidy promised a new and improved program would be ready for next year’s freshman class. Thursday, he made good on that promise. “We should be going and growing. Not curtailing what we do,” he said of higher education. “That is our job in this community and in this school.”

The college eventually plans to build on the two faculty members who will run the program. “This curriculum has been redesigned at this point so that we can deliver that program to freshmen next year with the resources of those two instructors. Then as we go along we’ve got to look at our resources and see the following year what we will need to do for the second half of the program,” said Darin McGaw, dean of Student and Community Affairs.

The college has produced a slick brochure that promises students an understanding of the principles of boat design, drafting and marine systems, and the skills needed for lofting, building and maintaining wood and fiberglass boats.

The Marine Systems classes, Casey said, were an important part of the curriculum because they covered such subjects as electrical, refrigeration and air conditioning. The industry wants employees who can do more than build boats, he said.

McGaw said the average industry wage was $12 to $15.

In addition to a revamped program, McGaw said, the college spent $300,000 in grants and local donations to renovate the school pier. Another $20,000 was spent on the school’s travel lift, a crane that lifts boats in and out of the water. In addition, the college renovated some of the classrooms at the marine center buildings.

For a tour, call 853-2518, or to enroll in the program, call 454-1000.