Blumenthal tours Pawcatuck's Research and Development Solutions
Mar. 20—STONINGTON — Less than a mile from the bustle of downtown Westerly, over the Connecticut border in a 1970s-era building heavy on concrete and glass, there's a Pawcatuck company just as comfortable designing war simulation software and reducing light pollution on the deck of destroyers as it is maintaining security at the Newport Folk Festival.
Employees at Research and Development Solutions Inc. welcomed U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., for a tour of its 99 Mechanic St. facility Monday. Among other things, the company produces software and monitoring equipment used by the Naval Submarine School in Groton.
Company officials said those resources may eventually be used to train the Australian military in the wake of last week's announcement that Australia will purchase up to five nuclear-powered attack submarines from the United States.
The partnership between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, announced in 2021, has promised additional work for General Dynamics' Electric Boat division in Groton, a longtime leader in the design and construction of nuclear submarines.
Electric Boat already has contracts for two Virginia-class attack submarines per year as well as the first two Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines that will replace the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines and bring a steady influx of jobs to the area through 2030.
Blumenthal said the impact on jobs extends beyond Electric Boat. The need for a workforce to support subcontractors and suppliers has been an omnipresent refrain in southeastern Connecticut and in Washington, D.C.
"I hear it constantly," he said. "And by the way, I hear it from the Pentagon: 'Where are you going to find people to do these jobs?'"
For RSDI's president and chief technology officer, John C.L. Evans, it's all about innovation. He pointed to both the company's diverse services and the way it hires people to deliver them.
Evans, who lives in Lyme, also serves as the chief of his town's fire department and as its emergency management director.
At one point when he was in search of a new building for RDSI, Evans thought about addressing the lack of affordable housing options by finding a place that could accommodate office space as well as apartments for young engineers. But he said the property the company was looking at sold to another buyer before RDSI could turn the idea into reality.
It's an issue that came up in Hartford this year when state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, broached the lack of affordable housing with state economic development officials. She suggested using tax incentives to encourage companies either to partner with developers or become developers themselves.
Evans said competing with other contractors and the government for employees requires a new way of thinking about how to attract young workers in a job market with many open positions and not enough people to fill them.
"We have to get creative at this point," he said.
The 31-year-old company, headquartered in Virginia, came to Pawcatuck at the end of 2021. Evans said staff members are in the process of moving another office in Newport, R.I., to Quonset Point, "about two doors down" from Electric Boat's Rhode Island facility.
Elise Adams, who oversees seven electrical and mechanical engineers for the company, said internships and providing mentoring opportunities to high school and college students are important ways to build a workforce.
Nic Fort, product manager with the company's bridge light program, said the company recently hired a student from Ella T. Grasso Technical High School in Groton trained in commercial electrical skills. The student "quickly adapted" to the specialized demands of small electronics, according to Fort.
The bridge light program was devised to address deficiencies cited in a report from the U.S. Navy after seven U.S. sailors aboard the USS Fitzgerald were killed in a 2017 collision off Japan's coast as two ships were trying to merge into heavy traffic, according to the Associated Press. An underwater gash sent water flooding into two sleeping compartments at a time when most of the nearly 300 sailors on board would have been asleep.
Fort said the technology they came up with, which is produced in-house, reduces the light on the bridge of a ship so they can see more clearly what's going on beyond the ship.
"It actually allows the sailors to see what's outside the bridge and make their attentiveness at night that much greater," he said.
The region is home to the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board's Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative, which has taken the lead in Connecticut when it comes to bolstering job prospects for young people and helping local employers find qualified workers.
Blumenthal said apprenticeship and training programs are critical.
"We need about five more Grasso Techs and 10 more Three Rivers," he said, the latter reference being to the Norwich-based community college.
The company also runs a cybersecurity training program for municipal officials that launched recently in eastern Connecticut. Evans said he hopes the pilot program will soon extend to other regions across the state.
He described the cybersecurity focus as a natural extension of the company's offerings for the commercial, public and defense sectors.
"Our company started as an electronic warfare training company, so we have background in training and software development," he said. "This is kind of an interesting area for us to stretch our capabilities."
