DVIRC Secures $1M U.S. Navy Contract to Expand Submarine Workforce & Capacity in Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA – The Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC) has been awarded a $1M contract by BlueForge Alliance to address the urgent demand for increased workforce and capacity in the U.S. Submarine Industrial Base (SIB). DVIRC will create and deploy a regional strategy and taskforce to spur enterprise engagement, elevate opportunities to expand capacity, and connect more people to the mission across Southeastern Pennsylvania’s defense industrial base workforce. 

“The U.S. Navy and its civilian workforce are building the most advanced sea-based strategic deterrent the world has ever known. 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,” said Chris Scafario, President & CEO, DVIRC. 

“The Navy is on a generational journey to recapitalize its sea-based strategic deterrence and to guarantee a capable and enduring undersea presence in times of peace and conflict,” said Rear Admiral Scott Pappano, Program Executive Officer, Strategic Submarines. “Achieving that goal means strengthening supply chains to ensure America’s submarine industrial base has the capability, capacity, and skilled workforce to maintain our existing fleet and manufacture one Columbia and two Virginia class submarines per year beginning in Fiscal Year 2028— which amounts to a five-fold increase in submarine construction rates.”

“With its talented manufacturing workforce, concentration of key suppliers, and history as a maritime center of gravity, the Delaware Valley region is a big part of making that happen,” Admiral Pappano concluded. “I thank the DVIRC for partnering with us on this no fail mission.”  

Rear Admiral Scott Pappano
Program Executive Officer, Strategic Submarines